(ill?p  i.  1.  Ml  IGtbrarij 


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SFZiEZTDID  ZiIBRART  ZiDITIOITS. 

BYRON'S  WORKS,  complete  in  1  vol.  Svo.,  including  all  his 
Suppressed  and  Attributed  Poems. 

0^  This  edition  has  been  carefully  compared  with  the  recent  London  edition 
of  Mr.  Murray,  and  made  complete  by  the  addition  of  more  than  fifty  pages  of 
poems  heretofore  unpublished  in  England.  Among  these  there  are  a  number 
that  have  never  appeared  in  any  American  edition  ;  and  the  Publishers  believe 
they  are  warrented  in  saying,  that  this  is  the  must  complete  edition  of  Lord  By- 
ron's Poetical  Works,  ever  published  in  the  United  States. 

COWPER  AND  THOMSON'S  PROSE  AND  POETICAL 
WORKS,  complete  in  1  vol.  8vo.,  including  two  hundred  and  fifty  Letters,  and 
sundry  Poems  of  Covpper,  never  before  published  in  this  country  ;  and  of  Thom- 
son a  new  and  interesting  Memoir,  and  upwards  of  twenty  new  Poems,  for  the 
first  time  printed  from  his  own  Manuscripts,  taken  from  a  late  edition  of  the 
Aldiiie  Poets,  now  publishing  in  London. 

The  distinguished  Professor  Silliman,  speaking  of  this  edition,  observes,  "  I 
am  as  much  gratified  by  the  elegance  and  fine  taste  of  your  edition,  as  by  the 
noble  tribute  of  genius  and  moral  excellence  which  these  delightful  authors 
have  left  for  all  future  generations  ;  and  Cowper,  especially,  is  not  less  con- 
spicuous as  a  true  Christian  moralist  and  teacher,  than  as  a  poet  of  great  power 
and  exquisite  taste." 

GOLDSMITH'S  ANIMATED  NATURE,  in  4  vols.  Svo.,  il- 
lustrated with  eighty-five  copperplates. 

*^*  Goldsmith  can  never  be  made  obsolete,  while  delicate  genius,  exquisite 
feelings,  fine  invention,  the  most  harmonious  metre,  and  the  happiest  diction 
are  at  all  valued. 

This  is  a  work  that  should  be  in  the  library  of  every  family,  being  written 
by  one  of  the  most  talented  authors  in  the  English  languatre. 

MILTON,  YOUNG,  GRAY,  BEATTIR  AND  COLLINS' 
POETICAL  WORKS,  complete  in  1  vol.  Svo. 

THE  WORKS  OF  LAURENCE  STERNE,  in  1  vol.  Svo. 
with  a  life  of  the  author,  written  by  himself. 

The  beauties  of  this  author  are  so  well  known,  and  his  errors  in  style  and  ex- 
pression so  few  and  far  between,  that  one  reads  with  renewed  delight  his  deli- 
cate turns,  &c. 

THE  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  ROGERS,  CAMPBELL, 
MONTGOMERY,  LAMB,  AND  KIRK  WHITE,  complete  in  1  vol.  Svo. 

THE  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  MRS.  HEMANS,  complete 
in  1  vol.  Svo. 

"  As  no  work  in  the  English  language  can  be  commended  with  more  confi- 
dence, it  will  argue  bad  taste  in  a  female  in  this  country  to  be  without  a  com- 
plete edition  of  the  writings  of  one  who  was  an  honor  to  her  sex  and  to  human- 
it)^  and  whose  productions-,  from  first  to  last,  contain  no  syllable  calculated  to 
call  a  blush  to  the  cheek  of  modesty  and  virtue.  There  is,  moreover,  in  Mrs. 
Hemans'  poetry  a  moral  purity,  and  a  religious  feeling,  which  commend  it,  in 
an  especial  manner,  to  the  discriminating  reader.  No  parent  or  guardian  will 
be  imder  the  necessity  of  imposing  restrictions  with  regard  to  the  free  perusal 
of  every  production  emanating  from  this  gifted  woman.  There  breathes 
through.out  the  whole  a  most  eminent  exemption  from  impropriety  of  thought  or 


MISCELLANEOUS  WORKS. 

Miction;  and  there  is  at  times  a  pensiveness  of  tone  a  winning  sadn^^^^^ 

n  0  e  serious  compositions,  which  tells  of  a  soul  which  ^^^  b^^  "hf^f  f^on.  the 

contemplation  of  lerrestrial  things,  to  divine  commumngs  with  beings  ot  a  pa.er 

'''jOSEPHUS'S   (FLAVIUS)    WORKS.     By  the  late  William     , 
Whiston,  A.  M.     From  the  last  London  edition,  complete  in  2  vo»s   8vo. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  every  family  in  our  country  has  a  «°Py  f  j^/f  f^;^ 
Bible-and  as  the  presumption  is,  the  greater  portion  often  consult  Us  pa  e^^^^^ 
we  take  the  liberty  of  saying  to  all  those  that  do,  that  the  perusal  of  the  ^^rlt 
in<Ts  of  Josenhus  will  be  found  very  interesting  and  instructing.  •   ^  ,,^„u,g 

\U  those  who  wish  to  possess  a  beautiful  and  correct  ^^^  f  .^^'^^^^^^^^  -p,! 
^•ork,  would  do  well  to  purchase  this  edition.  It  is  for  sale  at  a  ^h^  pr.nc  pai 
boofitores  in  the  United  States,  by  country  merchants  generally  in  the  South 
em  and  Western  states,  and  at  a  very  low  price.  i      u     f 

BORDER'S  VILLAGE  SERiMONS,  or  101   plain  and  sho.t 
Discourses   on  the  principal  doctrines  of  the   Gospel;  ^^^J^j::^ 

..Imrl  Prayer,  with  some  general  prayers  for  families,  scliool»,  S-c.  at  tlie  eiia 
''"T^Lt^er^rs'',' wHl'.r7'cC;ieri.ed  b,  a  bea„.if„l  simplicity,  the  entire 

-;i:i:ii\?s,tra,t%'n,v-r^o;-f  ^  ^:^{^B^"-^ 

into  parish  churches,  where  before  it  was  comparatively  unknoNvn. 
"This  work  fully  deserves  the  immortality  it  has  ^"ained. 
This  is  a  fine  library  edition  of  this  invaluable  work,  and  when  we  say  that 

""bIGLAND'S  natural    history   of    animals,   12 

colored  plates.  _  „-rT-.-r^oi     ,^        i 

BIGLAND'S  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  BIRDS,  12  coloi- 

fid  dI&Igs 

PERSIA.     A  DESCRIPTION  OF.     By  Shoberl,  with  12  co" 

'°  Thlse  w?rks  are  sot  up  in  a  very  superior  style,  and  well  deserve  an  intro- 
ductiorto  a^sheTvfs  of  eVe";  fam'ily  Fibrary,  i  they  are  very  interesting,  and 
particularly  adapted  to  the  juvenile  class  of  readers.         ^^^^^^         .^, 

THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  FAMILY  RELIGION:  with  a  se- 
lection of  Hymns  and  Prayers,  adapted  to  Family  Worship,  and  Tables  for  the 

HiaTte^i;  manner!  It  contains  an  able,  elaborate  and  ^^'S  3'  ^ -true tive  Essay 
on  the  obligation,  nature  and  importance  of  Family  Religion  ,  and   ^^e  hope, 

^^^^;^^:;;i^£^ne:^:d^n^^il^S:Sously  engaged  in  pro- 
mo^in'The  welfare  and   happiness  of  the  human  family,  in  speaking  of  this 

3£iii:^^sSSXa;^s,r^=^L= 

sicrn  to  make  use  of  the   book  as  an  aid  to  family  ^f  S^*^  ';^/ '  "  J  I^J^^e^^ee 

fes:tss;tX"t^"et.TfK:-,^:ss,r.^^^ 


MISCELLANEOUS  WORKS. 

There  are  many  who,  tlirough  timidity  or  some  natural  defect,  feel  incompetent 
to  extemporaneous  prayer  in  the  presence  of  others  ;  to  such  we  recommend  a 
form,  while  at  the  same  time  we  do  not,  as  a  general  rule,  believe  it  to  be  the 
best  way  to  animate  and  express  devotional  feeling.  We  have  known  some 
who,  by  the  use  of  forms  of  prayer  in  the  family,  have  succeeded  in  overcoming 
their  oppressive  timidity,  and  afterwards,  without  their  aid,  have  directed  the 
devotions  of  others  in  an  edifying  manner.  Extemporaneous  prayer,  when  it 
can  be  offered  to  edification,  is  the  best  mode  of  addressing  the  throne  of  grace, 
but  in  other  cases,  forms  of  prayer  may  be  used  with  great  propriety." 

LECTURES  ON  SCRIPTURE  FACTS  AND  PROPHECY. 
By  W.  B,  Collyer,  D.  D.  In  1  vol.  8vo.  A  new  edition  of  this  distinguished 
author's  works.  Few  persons  will  rise  from  the  perusal  of  this  book  without 
acknowledging,  that  their  thoughts  and  affections  have  been  elevated  by  the 
fervent  and  pious  eloquence  of  the  writer. 

THE  DAUGHTER'S  OWN  BOOK  ;  Or  Practical  Hints  from 
a  Father  to  his  Daughter.     In  1  vol.  18mo. 

The  publishers  are  very  confident,  from  the  great  demand  for  this  invaluable 
little  work,  that  ere  long  it  will  be  found  in  the  library  of  every  young  lady. 

BENNET'S  (Rev.  John)  LETTERS  TO  A  YOUNG  LADY, 
on  a  variety  of  subjects  calculated  to  improve  the  heart,  to  form  the  manners, 
and  enlighten  the  understanding.  "That  our  daughters  may  be  as  polished 
coj-ners  of  the  Temple." 

The  publishers  sincerely  hope  {for  the  happiness  of  mankind)  that  a  copy  of 
this  invaluable  little  work  will  be  found  the  companion  of  every  young  lady,  as 
much  of  the  happiness  of  every  family  depends  on  the  proper  cultivation  of  the 
female  mind. 

CARPENTER'S  NEW  GUIDE.  Being  a  complete  Book  of 
Lines,  for  Carpentry,  Joinery,  &c.,  in  1  vol.  4to. 

The  Theory  and  Practice  well  explained,  and  fully  exemplified  on  eighty-four 
copper-plates,  including  some  observations,  &c.,  on  the  strength  of  Timber;  by 
Peter  Nicholson.  Tenth  edition.  This  invaluable  work  superseded,  on  its 
first  appearance,  all  existing  works  on  the  subject,  and  still  retains  its  original 
celebrity. 

Every  Carpenter  in  our  country  should  possess  a  copy  of  this  invaluable  work. 

HIND'S  POPULAR  SYSTEM  OF  FARRIERY,  taught  on 
a  new  and  easy  plan,  being  a  Treatise  on  all  the  diseases  and  accidents  to 
which  the  Horse  is'  liable.  With  considerable  additions  and  improvements, 
adapted  particularly"  to  this  country,  by  Thomas  M.  Smith,  Veterinary  Sur- 
geon, and  member  of  the  London  Veterinary  Medical  Society,  in  1  vol.  r2mo. 

The  publisher  has  received  numerous  flattering  notices  of  the  great  practical 
value  of  this  work.  The  distinguished  editor  of  the  American  Farmer,  speak- 
ing of  the  work,  observes  : — "  We  cannot  too  highly  recommend  this  book,  and 
therefore  advise  every  owner  of  a  horse  to  obtain  it." 

NEW  SONG  BOOK.  Grigg's  Southern  and  Western  Songster; 
being  a  choice  collection  of  the  most  fashionable  songs,  many  of  which  are 
original,  in  1  vol.  18mo. 

Great  care  was  taken  in  the  selection  to  admit  no  song  that  contained,  in  the 
slightest  degree,  any  indelicate  or  improper  allusions— and  with  great  propriety 
it  may  claim  the  title  of  "  The  Parlour  Hong  Book  or  Songster,"  The  immor- 
tal Shakspeare  observes, — 

"  The  man  that  hath  not  music  in  himself. 

Nor  is  not  moved  with  concord  of  sweet  sounds, 
'  Is  fit  for  treasons,  stratagems,  and  spoils." 

SAY'S  POLITICAL  ECONOMY.  A  Treatise  on  Political 
Economy,  or  the  Production,  Distribution,  and  Consumption  of  Wealth.  By 
Jean  Bap»4ste  Say.  Fifth  American  edition,  with  Additional  Notes,  by  C.  C. 
Biddle,  Esq.,  in  1  vol.  Bvo. 


MISCELLANEOUS  WORKS. 

The  editor  of  the  North  American  Review,  speaking  of  Say,  observes,  that 
•'  he  is  the  most  popular,  and  perhaps  the  most  able  writer  on  Political  Econo- 
my, since  the  time  of  Smith." 

The  distinguished  biographer  of  the  author  in  noticing  this  work,  observes— 
"  Happily  for  science  he  commenced  that  study  which  forms  the  basis  of  his 
admirable  Treatise  on  Political  Economy,  a  work  which  not  only  improved  un- 
der his  hand  with  every  successive  edition,  but  has  been  translated  into  most 
of  the  European  languages." 

This  work  has  been  introduced  as  a  text  book  into  the  principal  Universities 
and  Colleges  of  our  country,  as  well  as  in  Europe. 

It  would  be  beneficial  to  our  country  if  all  those  vvho  are  aspiring  to  office, 
were  required  by  their  constituents  to  be  conversant  with  the  pages  cf  Say. 

RUSH  ON  THE  MIND.  New  fine  edition.  1  volume,  Svo. 
This  work  is  valuable  and  highly  interesting  for  intelligent  readers  of  every 
profession  :  it  is  replete  with  curious  and  acute  remarks,  both  medical  and  meta- 
physical, and  deserves  particular  praise  for  the  terseness  of  its  diction. 

A  DICTIONARY  OF  SELECT  AND  POPULAR  QUOTA- 
TIONS, which  are  in  daily  use  :  taken  from  the  Latin,  French,  Greek,  Span- 
ish, and  Italian  languages  ;  together  with  a  copious  collection  of  Law  maxims 
and  Law  terms;  translated  into  English,  with  illustrations,  historical  and  idio- 
matic.    Sixth  American  edition,  corrected  with  additions.     1  vol.  12mo. 

In  preparing  this  Sixth  edition  for  the  press,  care  has  been  taken  to  give  the 
work  a  thorough  revision,  to  correct  some  errors  which  had  before  escaped  no- 
tice, and  to  insert  many  additional  Quotations,  Law  maxims  and  Law  terms. 
In  this  state  it  is  offered  to  the  public  in  the  stereotype  _form.  This  little  work 
should  find  its  way  into  every  Family  Librar}'. 

SENECA'S  MORALS.  By  way  of  abstract  to  which,  is  added, 
a  Discourse  under  the  title  of  an  After-Thought,  by  Sir  Roger  L'Estrange,  Knt. 
Anew  fine  edition,  in  1  vol.  18mo. 

A  copy  of  this  valuable  little  work  should  be  found  in  every  famiV/  library. 

MALTE-BRUN'S  NEW  AND  ELEGANT  QUARTO  AT- 
LAS,  exhibiting  the  five  great  divisions  of  the  globe,  Europe,  Asia,  Africa, 
America,  and  Oceanica,  with  their  several  empires,  kingdoms,  states,  territo- 
ries, and  other  sub-divisions,  corrected  to  the  present  time  ;  and  containing  forty 
maps,  drawn  and  engraved  particularly  to  illustrate  the  Universal  Geography, 
by  M.  Malte-Brun. 

The  Atlas  is  particularly  adapted  for  Colleges,  Academies,  Schools,  and  pri- 
vate families.  There  is  no  work  that  ever  was  published  in  this  country  which 
has  received  more  numerous  and  flattering  recommendations. 

THE  AMERICAN  CHESTERFIELD;  or  "Youth's  Guide 
to  the  Way  to  Wealth,  Honour,  and  Distinction,"  &c. 

"  We  most  cordially  recommend  the  American  Chesterfield  to  general  atten- 
tion ;  but  to  young  persons  particularly,  as  one  of  the  best  works  of  the  kind 
that  has  ever  been  published  in  this  country.  It  cannot  be  too  highly  appreci- 
ated, nor  its  perusal  be  unproductive  of  satisfaction  and  usefulness." 

QUESTIONS  ON  THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  ROMANS,  de- 
signed for  Bible  Classes  and  Sunday  Schools,  by  Charles  Hodge,  Pro.  Theol. 
Seminary,  Princeton. 

THE  PASTOR  AT  A  SICK  BED,  AND  AN  AFFLICTED 
FAMILY'S  COMPANION.  This  is  a  new  work  from  the  German,  and  is 
one  among  the  most  valuable  and  popular  works  of  the  day.     In  1  vol.  12mo. 

HITCHCOCK'S  NEW  AND  POPULAR  METHOD  OF 
TEACHING  THE  ART  OF  BOOK-KEEPING.     In  three  parts. 

*jf*  Publir, private,  and  social  libraries,  and  all  who  purchase  to  sell  again, 
supplied  on  the  most  reasonable  terms  with  every  article  in  the  Bvok  and  Stationary 
line;  including  new  novels,  and  all  new  ivorks  in  every  department  uf  literature 
and  science.     Jill  orders  will  be  thankfully  rcce'ved  and  promptly  attended  to. 


LIBRARY  OF  USEFUL  KNOWLEDGE. 

CATTLE; 

THEIR 

BREEDS,  MANAGEMENT,  AND  DISEASES; 

WITH  AN  INDEX. 


PUBLISHED   UNDER    THE   SUPERINTENDENCE   OF 

THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  DIFFUSION  OP  USEFUL  KNOWLEDGE. 

PRESEJ^TEG  BY 
BURTON  H.  SMITH 

PHILADELPHIA  .* 

GRIGG  &  ELLIOT,  9  NORTH  FOURTH  STREET. 

1836. 


COMMITTEE. 


Chairman— The  Right  Hon.  the  LORD  CHANCELLOR,  F.R.S.,  Memb.  Nat.  Inst,  of  Francs, 

Vice-Ckairman—rhe  Right  Hon.  Lord  J.  ROSSELL,  M.P.,  Paymaster  of  the  Forces. 

Treasurer— WlhlAAU  TOOKE,  Esq.,  M.P.,  F.R.S. 


W.  Allen,  Esq.,  F.R.  &  R.A.S. 

Rt.  Hon.  Vise.  Allhorp,  M.P., 
Chancellor  of  the  Exch. 

Capt.  F.  Beaufort,  R.N.,F.R.,  and 
R.A.S. ,  Hydrographer  to  the  Ad- 
miralty. 

SirC.  Bbll,  F.R.S.L.  &.E. 

G.  Burrows,  M.D. 

O.  Hav  Cameron,  Esq. 

The  Ri.  Rev.  the  Bishop  of  Chi- 
chester, D.D. 

William  Colson,  Esq. 

R.  D.  Craijj,  Esq. 

Wm.  Crawford,  Esq. 

J.  Fred.  Daniell,  Esq.  F.R.S. 

H.  T.  Delabeche,  Esq.,  V.P.  Geol. 
Soc. 

The  Rt,  Honourable  Lord  Den  man. 

T.  Drummond,  Esq.  R.E.,  F.R. 
A.S. 

Rt.  Hon. Viscount,  Ebrington,  M.P 

C.  L,  EasUake,  Esq.  R.A, 


T.  F.  Ellis,  Esq.,  A.M.,  F.R.A.S. 
Sir  Henry  Ellis,  F.R.S.  Sec.  A.S. 

Prin.  Lib.  Brit.  Mus. 
John  Elliotson,  M.D.,  F.R.S. 
Thomas  Falconer,  Esq. 
I.   L.   Goldsmid,    Esq.,  F.R.    and 

R.A.S. 
B.  Gompertz,  Esq.,F.R&  R.A.S. 
G.  B.  Greenough,  Esq.  F.R.  Ac  L.S. 
H.  Hallam,  Esq.,  F.R.S.,  M.A. 
M.  D.  Hill,  Esq.  M.P. 
Rowland  Hill,  Esq.  F.R. A.S. 
Edwin  Hill,  Escj. 
The  Rt.  Hon.  fcfir  J.  C.  Hohhouse, 

Bart.  M.  P. 
David  Jardine,  Esq.,  M.A. 
Henry  B.  ICcr,  Esq. 
'J'he  Rt.  Hon.  the  Earl  of  Kerry. 
Tbos.  Hewitt  Key,  tsq.,  M.A. 
George  C.  Lewis,  Esq.  M.A. 
James  Loch,  Esq.,  M.P.,  F.G.S. 
George  Long,  Esq.,  M.A. 


J.  W.  Duhbock,  Esq.,  F.R.,  R.A., 

and  L.S.S. 
H.  Maiden,  Esq.,  M.A. 
A.  T.  Malkin,  Esq.  M.A. 
James  Manning,  Esq. 
J.   Herman   Merivale,  Esq.,  M.A., 

F.A.S. 
James  Mill,  Esq. 
W.  H.Ord,Esq.  M.P. 
The  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  H.  Parnell,  Bart., 

M.P. 
Dr.  Roget,  Sec.  R.S.,  F.R.A.S. 
Sir  M.  A.  Shee,  P.R.A.,  F.R.S. 
J.  Abel  Smith,  Esq.,  M.P. 
John  Taylor,  Esq.,  F.R.S. 
Dr.  A.  T.  Thompson,  F.L.S. 
John  Ward,  Esq. 
H.  Waymouth,  Esq. 
J.  Whishaw,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.R.S. 
John  Wood,  Esq. 
John   Wrottesley,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F. 

R.A.S. 


THOMAS  COATES,  Esq.,  Secretary,  59,  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields. 


LOCAL  COMMITTEES. 


^nfflesm—Uew  E.  Williams. 

Rev.  W.  Johnson. 

Mr.  Miller. 
^s!.-jiiTtvii—J.  F.Kingston,  Esq. 
Barnstaple Bancraft,  Esq. 

\\illiam  Gribble,  Esq. 
Bihton—Rev.  W.  Leigh. 
Birminffham-llev.    John     Corrie, 
F.R.S.,  Chairman. 

Paul  M.  James,  Esq.,  Treasurer. 

W.  Redfern,  Esq.,  Hon.  Set. 
Bii(iiJort—Wm.  Foster.  Esq. 

James  Williams,  Esq. 
Bristol — J.  N.  Sanders,  Esq.,  Chair- 
man. 

J.  Reynolds,  Esq.,  Treas. 

J.  B.  Estlin,  Esq.,  F.L.S.,  Sec. 
Calcutta— l^or6  Wm.  Bentinck. 

Sir  Edward  Ryan. 

James  Young,  Esq. 
Camhrid.ge — Rev.  James  Bowstead, 
M.A. 

Rev.  Professor  Henslow,  M.A., 
F.L.S.  &G.S. 

Rev.     Leonard    Jenyns,     M.A. 
F.L.S. 

Rev.  John  Lodge,  M.A. 

R.   W.    Rothman,    Esq.    M.A., 
F.R.A.S.  &G.S. 

Rev.  Geo.  Peacock,  M.A.,  F.R.S. 
and  G.S. 

Re-.'.     Prof.     Sedgwick,     M.A., 
F.R.S.  &.  G.S. 

Professor  Smyth,  M.A. 

Rev.  C.  Thirlwall,  M.A. 
Canterbury — Alex.  B.  Higgins,  Esq. 

John  Brent,  Esq. 

Dr.  Harry  Wm.    Carter,   M.D., 
F.R.S.E. 

William  Masters,  Esq. 
Canton— J.  F.  Davis,  Esq.  F.R.S. 
Cardigan — 'I'he  Rev.  J.  Bhickwell. 
Carnarvon — R.  A.  Poole,  Esq. 

William  Roberts,  Esq. 
C/ifstcr— Hayes  Lyon,  Esq. 

Henry  Potts,  Esq. 
Chichestcr—Di.  Forbes,  F.R.S. 

C.  C.  Dendy,  Esq. 
Coventry— At.  Gregory,  Esq. 
Corfu — John  Crawford,  Esq. 

Mr.  Plato  Petrides. 
Drvhigh— John  Madocks,  Esq. 

Thos.  Evans.  Esq. 
Z>erA)/— Joseph  Strutt,  Esq. 

Edward  Strutt,  Esq.,  M.P. 


Devonjiort     and     Stonchouse — John 
Cole,  Esq. 

—  Norman,  Esq. 

Lt.-Col.     C.     Hamilton     Smith, 
F.R.S. 
Etruria — Jos.  Wedgwood,  Esq. 
£j:cter—J.  Tyrrell,  Esq. 

John  Milford,  Esq.  (Coaner.) 
Glasgow — K.  Finlay,  Esq. 

Professor  Mylne. 

Alexai'.der  McGrigor,  Esq. 

Charles  Tennant,  Esq. 

Jamgs  Cowper,  Esq. 
Glamorganshire— Dr.  Malkin,  Cow- 
briilge. 

W.  Williams,  Esq.  Aberpergwm. 
Guernsey — F.  C.  Lukis,  Esq. 
Hull— 3.  C.  Parker,  Esq. 
Keighley,  Yorkshire— Rev .  T.  Dury, 

M.A. 
Launccston — Rev.  J.  Barfitt. 
Leamington    Spa — Dr.  Loudon, 

BI.D. 
Lreds—S.  Marshall,  Esq. 
L:ivt3—i.  AV.  Woollgar,  Esq. 
Liccrpvol  Local  .Association — W.  W. 
Currie,  Esq.,  Chairman. 

3.  Mulleneux,  Esq.,  Treas. 

Rev.  W.  Shepherd. 

J.  Aslitou  Yates,  Esq. 
LudloTo—r.  A.  Knight,  Esq.,P.H.S. 
Maidenhead — R.     Gooldeii,     Esq., 

F.L.S. 
JWairfsturae— Clement    T.     Smyth, 
Esq. 

John  Case,  Esq. 
Malmcsbury — B.  C.  Thomas,  Esq. 
Manchester    Local    .Association — G. 
W.  Wood,  Esq.  Chairman. 

Benj.  Hevwood,  Esq.,  Treas. 

T.  W.  Winstanley,  Esq.,  Hon. 
See. 

Sir  G.  Philips,  Bart.,  M.P. 

Benj.  Gott,  Esq. 
Merthyr   Tydvil^J.  3.  Guest,  Esq., 

M.P. 
Minchinhampton — John  Ball,  Esq. 
Monmouth — J.  H.  Moggridge,  Esq. 
JVeath — John  Rowland,  Esti. 
JVewcastle — Rev.  W.  Turner. 
JVcwport,  Isle  of  Wight — 

Abr.  Clarke,  Esq. 

T.  Cooke,  Jun.,  Esq. 

R.  G.  Kirkpatrick,  Esq. 
JVewport  Pagnell—3.  Millar,  Esq. 


J\rcictoiC7i   Montgomeryshire — 

William  Pugh,  Esq. 
J^'orwich—Rt.  Hon.  Lord  Suffield. 

Rich.  Bacon,  Esq. 
Ojford—Bt.  Daubeny,  F.R.S.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Chemistry. 

Rev.  Professor  Powell. 

Rev.  John  Jordan,  B.A. 

Rev.  R.  Walker,  M.A.,  F.R.S. 

E.W.  Head,  Esq.  M.A. 

W.  R.  Browne,  Esq.,  M.A. 
Penang— Sir  B.  H.  Malkin.  • 
Plymouth — H.     Woollconibe,    Esq. 
F.A.S.,  Chairman. 

Snow  Karris,  Esq.,  F.R.S. 

E.  Moore,  M.D.,  F.L.S.,  Sec. 

G.  Wightwick,  Esq. 
Presteign—Dr.  A.  W.  Davies,  M.D. 
Rippon—Re\.     H.     P.    Hamilton, 
A.M.,  F.R.S.  &  G.S. 

Rev.  P.  Ewart.  M.A. 
Ruthen — Rev.  the  Warden  of. 

Humphreys  Jones,  Esq. 
Ryde,  Isle  of    }VigJit—Six  Rd.   Si- 
meon, Bart.,  M.P. 
Shcfficld—3.  H.  Abiaham,  Esq. 
Shepton  Mallet — G.  F.   Burroughs, 

Esq. 
Shrewsbury— R.  A.    Slaney,  Esq., 

M.P. 
South  Pcthcrton—3.  Niclioletts  Esq. 
St.  Asaph — Rev.  Geo.  Strong. 
Stockport. — Henry  Marsland,  Esq., 
Treasurer. 

Henry  Coppock,  Esq.,  Sec. 
Tavistock — Rev.  W.  Evans. 

John  Rnndle,  Esq. 
Truro — Richard  Taunton,  M.D. 

Henry  Sewell  Stokes,  Esq. 
Tunbridge  Wells— Hr.  Yeats,  M.D. 
Wartcick — Dr.  Conolly. 

The  Rev.  W.  Field,  {Learn.) 
PFato/orrf— Sir  John  Newport, Bart. 
Wolverhampton — J.  Pearson,  Esq. 
Worcester— Ur.  Corbet,  M.D. 

Dr.  Hastings,  M.D. 

C.  H..Hebb,  Esq. 
^reaiAam— Thomas  Edgworth,  Esq. 

J.    E.   Bowman,    Esq.,    F.L.S., 
Treasurer. 

Major  William  Lloyd. 
Yarmouth— C.  E.  Rumbold,  Esq., 
M.P. 

Dawson  Turner,  Esq. 
Fori-Rev.  J.  Kenrick,  A.M. 


THOMAS  COATES,  Esq.,  Secretary,  59,  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields. 


PRfeFACE 


In  preparing  this  volume  on  "  Cattle,"  the  author  has  often  had  reason  to 
d'lgpjore  the  want  of  materials,  and  which  he  has  been  enabled  to  obtain 
only  by  correspondence  with  competent  individuals,  and  the  personal  in- 
spection of  the  present  state  of  cattle,  in  the  greater  part  of  the  British 
empire.  To  tiiOSe  noblemen  and  agriculturists  from  whom  he  derived 
information,  the  more  highly  estimated  by  him,  because  most  readily  and 
courteously  granted,  he  begs  to  return  his  warmest  thanks.  His  obliga- 
tion to  Mr.  Berry,  for  the  admirable  history  of  the  Short-Horns,  will  not 
be  soon  forgotten. 

He  has  endeavoured  to  lay  before  the  public  an  accurate  and  faithful 
account  of  the  cattle  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  He  does  not  expect 
to  please  every  one  who  reads  his  work  or  who  has  contributed  towards  it; 
for  long  experience  has  taught  him  that,  although  there  is  some  excellence 
peculiar  to  each  breed,  there  is  none  exempt  from  defect;  and  the  honest 
statement  of  this  defect  will  not  satisfy  the  partisan  of  any  one  breed,  or 
or  of  any  variety  of  that  breed.  He  has  passed  lightly  over  the  subject 
of  the  general  management  of  cattle,  in  order  to  avoid  trenching  on  the 
work  on  "  British  Husbandry,"  now  publishing  under  the  superintendence 
of  the  Society. 

The  diseases  of  cattle  was  a  favourite  topic  with  the  writer,  but  here,  too, 
he  painfully  felt  the  deficiency  of  materials  for  a  treatise  worthy  of  such  a 
subject.  One  branch  of  veterinary  science  has  rapidly  advanced.  The  dis- 
eases of  the  horse  are  better  understood  and  better  treated;  but,  owing  to 
the  absence  of  efficient  instruction  concerning  the  diseases  of  cattle  in  the 
principal  veterinary  school,  and  the  incomprehensible  supineness  of  agri- 
cultural societies,  and  agriculturists  generally,  cattle  have  been  too  much 
left  to  the  tender  mercies  of  those  who  are  utterly  ignorant  of  their  struc. 
ture,  the  true  nature  of  their  diseases,  the  scientific  treatment  of  them,  and 
even  the  very  first  principles  of  medicine. 

With  the  few  practitioners  scattered  through  the  country,  Avho  had  praise- 
worthily  devoted  themselves  to  the  study  of  the  maladies  of  cattle,  the 
author  entered  into  correspondence;  and  he  derived  from  them  a  liberal 
assistance  which  does  honour  to  the  profession  whose  character  they  are 
estabhshmg.  j'r.r^ir^K^^    ,• 


iv  PREFACE. 

To  many  of  the  contributors  to  that  valuable  periodical,  "  The  Veterina- 
rian," he  is  under  considerable  obligation,  which  has  been  duly  and  grate- 
fully acknowledged.  He  has  likewise  had  recourse  to  various  foreign 
authorities;  for,  although  far  behind  us  in  the  cultivation  of  the  breed  of 
cattle,  many  continental  writers,  and  continental  agriculturists  generally, 
have  set  us  a  laudable  example  of  attention  to  the  diseases  of  these 
animals. 

The  author  ventures  to  hope  that  the  information  derived  from  these 
sources,  as  well  as  from  his  own  practice,  may  have  enabled  him  to  lay 
before  his  readers  a  treatise  on  "  Cattle"  not  altogether  unsatisfactory; 
and  that,  particularly  with  regard  to  the  maladies  of  the  ox,  so  often  grossly 
misunderstood  and  shamefully  treated,  he  may  have  succeeded  in  laying 
down  some  principles  which  will  guide  the  farmer  and  the  practitioner 
through  many  a  case  heretofore  perplexing  and  almost  uniformly  fatal.  At 
all  events,  he  will  have  laid  the  foundation  for  a  better  work,  when  com- 
mon sense,  and  a  regard  to  the  best  interests  of  husbandry,  shall  have  in- 
duced agriculturists  to  encourage,  or  rather  to  demand  a  higher  degree  of 
general  education  in  veterinary  practitioners,  and  shall  have  founded,  south 
of  the  Tweed,  those  schools  for  professional  instruction  in  every  branch 
of  the  veterinary  art  which  have  been  successfully  established,  and  are 
honourably  considered  on  the  continent. 

W.  YOUATT. 

Nassau  Street,  Middlesex  Hospital., 
London. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
Preface  ,.,.....«  iii 

Introduction         .......••! 

Chapter  I.— THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  OX.  .  2 

His  Zoological  character — domesticated  before  the  Flood — fossil  bones. 

Chapter  II.— THE  BRITISH  OX.  .  .         4 

No  satisfactory  description  of  cattle  by  early  writers — The  Lancashire  and  the 
Devon  ox — The  ox  of  central  Africa — the  backley  of  Southern  Africa — the  Scotch  bull 
— the  Swiss  cows — Return  to  our  native  cattle — in  the  feudal  times — occasional  wild 
cattle — those  of  Chillingham  Park — Present  cattle  classed  according  to  the  size  of  their 
horns — the  middle-horns  probably  the  original  breed — they  are  found  where  the  natives 
retreated  from  their  invaders — essentially  the  same  wherever  found. 

Chapter  III.— THE  MIDDLE-HORNS.  .  11 

The  North  Devons — The  proper  form  and  shape  of  cattle — the  Devons  tried  by  this 
test — Lord  Western's  cattle — the  Devonshire  cow — the  working  properties  of  the 
Devon  ox — his  disposition  to  fatten — Experiments — value  of  tlie  cow  for  the  dairy — 
attempted  crosses — the  Vale  of  Exeter — South  Devon  cattle — clouted  cream — Cornish 
cattle — principally  North  Devons — crosses — Dorsetshire  cattle — mixture  of  Devon  and 
Dorset — Somersetshire  cattle — pure  Devons  on  the  borders  of  Devon — gradual  change 
of  character — the  old  Somersets — the  present  cattle — Cheddar  cheese — The  Herefords 
— description  of  them — comparison  between  them  and  the  Devons — fattening  proper- 
ties— experiments — Gloucestershire  cattle — the  old  Gloucesters — the  present  breed 
in  the  hilly  district — in  the  vale  of  Berkeley — crosses — Gloucester  cheese — single  and 
double — SassEX  cattle — description — comparison  with  Devons  and  Herefords — Sussex 
cow — crosses — West  Sussex  cattle — Kentish  cattle — Wales — general  character  of  the 
Welsh  cattle — Pembrokes— Glamorgans — former  character  of  them — present  breed — 
late  improvement — Mr.  David's  breed — Monmouthshire  cattle — Carmarthens — Car- 
digans— Cattle  of  Brecknockshire  and  Radnorshire — Cattle  of  North  Wales — 
Anglesey  cattle — the  passage  of  the  Menai — c.';osses — improvements — Welsh  tradi- 
tions— The  Carnarvons — The  cattle  of  Merioneth,  Montgomery,  Denbigh,  Flint, 
Scotland — the  West  Highland  cattle — the  Hebrides — Description  of  the  true  Kyloe 
— early  anecdotes — Mr.  Moorhouse — Hebridean  management — The  outer  Hebrides — 
the  tacksman — Arran — the  Duke  of  Hamilton's  improvements — general  management 
—  Bute — Argyleshire — the  cattle — rearing — Cantire — dairy-management — Inver- 
ness— the  ferry  of  Kyle-Rhea — the  shealings — overstocking — the  trysts — North 
Highland  cattle — the  Shetlanders  —  description  —  management — the  Holmes — the 
Orkneys — Caithness — Sir  John  Sinclair's  valuable  improvements — present  ciiaracter 
of  the  cattle  —  diseases — strange  superstitions — Sutherland — introduction  of  sheep 
husbandry — different  breeds — management — superstitions — Ross  and  Cromarty — 
peculiarity  of  the  cattle — Mr.  Mackenzie's  valuable  account  of  Ross — Nairn,  Moray, 
Banff — the  Banffshire  breed — Lord  Findlater's  improvements — Aberdeen — descrip- 
tion of  the  cattle — the  Kintore  ox — the  polled  cattle — the  Buchan  cows — Kincar- 
dineshire— the  Mearns  ox — the  cottar  of  the  present  and  olden  time — Angus — the 
horned  breed  —  Fife  —  description  of  the  cattle  —  origin  —  the  Durhams  in  Fife  — 
Perth  —  character  of  the  cattle — Stirling  —  the  Carses  —  David  Dun,  the  Scot- 
tish Bakewell — Falkirk  tryst — Kinross,  Clackmannan,  Dumbarton — the  wintering 
grounds — the  Ayrshires  in  Dumbarton — their  produce — Renfrew — Ayrshire — State 
of  the  county  fifly  years  ago — present  state — cattle — opinions  of  their  origin — their 
value  as  dairy-cows — produce — profit — boyening — Dunlop  cheese — fattening  properties 
of  the  Ayrshires — management — calves — Lanark — the  Strathaven  veal — the  Willow- 


Ti  CONTENTS. 

bank  dairy — West  Lothian — tlic  cattle— grazing — Mid-Lothian — tlie  original  and 
present  cattle — the  Caledonian  dairy — East  Lothian — Mr.  Ronnie's  cattle — Rox- 
burgh— Berwick — the  cradle  of  Scottish  agriculture — Mr.  Pringlc,  the  first  cultivator 
of  turnips  in  drills — the  progress  of  improvement — Selkirk — change  in  its  character. 

Chapter  IV.— POLLED  CATTLE.  .  Page  154 

Galloway — Description  of  the  Galloways — Mr.  Murc's  breed — his  Queen  of  the  Scots 
— general  excellence  of  the  Galloways — Dumfries — the  Galloways  of  a  larger  size 
here — Angus — the  polled  cattle — comparison  between  them  and  tlie  Galloways — Mr. 
Watson's  valuable  breed — Norfolk — the  original  breed  horned — source  of  the  present 
breed — travels  of  the  Galloway  cattle — fairs — the  Earl  of  Albemarle — Mr.  Coke — 
Suffolk — description — extraordinary  instances  of  produce — Devonsiiihe  nats — York- 
shire polls. 

Chapter  V.— THE  IRISH  CATTLE.  .  179 

The  aboriginal  breed  middle-horns — the  Kerry  cow — the  prevailing  breed  were  pro- 
bably tlie  Cravens — Improvement  slower  in  Ireland  than  in  England — I\Ir.  Waller's 
improvements  in  Meath — Lord  Masscrene — Lord  Farnham — the  Earl  of  Rosse — Sir 
H.  V.  Tempest — Mr.  Conolly — modern  improvers — exportation  of  Irish  cattle — cattle 
salesmen — Irish  butter. 

Chapter  VI.— THE  LONG-HORNS.  .  188 

Originally  from  Craven — the  larger  and  smaller  breed — early  improvers — the  black- 
smith of  Linton — Sir  Thomas  Gresley — Mr.  Webster — Bloxedge — Robert  Bakcwell 
— his  principles — his  success — anecdotes — errors  of  hi-s  successors — Twopenny — Mr. 
Fowler  —  Shakspeare  —  Description  of  D — Mr.  Fowler's  sale  —  Mr.  Prinscp  —  Mr. 
Mundy — Description  of  the  improved  Leicesters — strangely  rapid  deterioration  and 
disappearance  of  them — Westmoreland — Lancashire — the  native  breed  now  rarely 
seen — crosses — introduction  of  short-horns — Mr.  Kirk's  long-horns — Derbyshire — 
description  of  cattle — Cheshire  breed  injured  by  the  introduction  of  short-horns — 
management  of  the  dairy — Cheshire  cheese — Nottinghamshire — Leicestershire — 
Rutland  —  Huntingdon  —  Cambridge  —  Cambridge  butter  —  Northampton  —  Bed- 
ford— experiments  at  Woburn — Buckinghamshire — Berkshire — Hampshiue — crosses 
— Isle  of  Wigiit — Wiltshire — the  long-horns  almost  extinct — crosses  of  all  kinds — 
cheese  —  Oxfordshire — Warwickshire — Worcestershire — Staffordshire  —  tlie  old 
StafFords — the  StafTords  of  the  present  day — introduction  of  the  short-horns — SiiRca*- 
bhire — the  old  Shropshires— the  present  breed. 

Chapter  VII.— THE  SHORT-HORNS.  .  22G 

.  Description  of  the  old  breed— Sir  W.  Quentin — Mr.  Milbank — Mr.  C.  Colling — 
history  of  his  purchase  of  Hubback — Favourite — the  Durham  ox — cross  with  the  polled 
Galloway — Bolingbroke — Johanna — Lady — prices  fetched  by  Lady's  progeny — sale  of 
Mr.  C.  Ceiling's  stock — Mr.  R.  Colling — sale  of  his  stock — Mr.  Change  of  Newton — 
Mr.  Mason  of  Chilton — Mr.  G.  Coates's  Short-Horn  Herd-Book — history  of  remark- 
able short-horns — Lord  Althorp  a  successful  breeder — the  milking  properties  of  the 
improved  short-horn  undervalued — not  calculated  for  work  —  Lord  Althorp's  bull 
Firby — The  improved  Yorkshire  cow — she  unites  the  two  qualities — quantities  of 
milk  yielded  by  her — description  of  her — Cumberland — Mr.  Bates  first  crossed  the 
Kyloe  with  the  short-horns  —  Mr.  Maynard's  experiments  —  Yorkshire  —  North 
Riding  once  occupied  by  black  cattle  alone — succeeded  by  the  old  Holderness— crossed 
with  the  improved  breed — West  Riding — every  variety  of  cross  in  it — Mr.  Mitton's 
Badsvvorth — East  Riding — liiNcoLNsiiiRE — the  unimproved  Lincolns — the  Turnills — 
the  present  improved  Lincolns — the  Lincolnshire  ox — Essex — the  calf-feeding — the 
dairy — Epping  butter — Epping  sausages — Middlesex — Booth's  establishment  at  Brent- 
ford— tlie  number  of  cattle  sold  in  Smithfield — how  supplied — cruelties  practised 
there — the  number  of  cows  kept  in  London — the  milk-business — Laycock's  dairy — 
Rhodcs's  dairy — Surry. 

Chapter  VIII.— THE  FOREIGN  BREEDS  OF  CATTLE.  266 

The  Aldcrncy — quantity  and  excellence  of  milk,  flittcns  readily — Najorc  cattle — 
buSalo  and  Indian  cattle. 


CONTENTS. 


Chu-ter   IX.— the    structure    AND    DISEASES   OF    THE    HEAD    OF 
THE  OX.  .  .  .  Page  271 

The  skeleton — the  head — shortness  and  breadth  of  forehead  in  the  bull — fine  small 
head  in  the  female — extent  of  frontal  sinuses — inflammation  of  them — the  horns — 
history  of  their  growth — treatment  of  fracture  of  them — age  as  indicated  by  the  horns 
— tricks — manuflicture  of  beautiful  horns — the  distinguishing  character  of  the  different 
breeds — influence  of  sex — horned  Galloways — comparison  between  the  iiorned  and 
hornless  cattle — uses  of  horn — The  brain,  smaller  than  in  the  horse — intelligence  of 
cattle — peculiar  conformation  of  the  brain  and  spinal  marrow — The  ear — difference  of 
in  different  cattle — diseases  of— The  eye — fracture  of  the  orbit — wound? — tumours — 
The  eyelids — eruption  on  them — enlargement  of  haw — inflammation  of  the  eye — 
cataract — gutta  sercna — cancer — Fracture  of  the  skull — Hydatids  in  the  brain — water 
in  the  head — apoplexy — inflammation  of  the  brain — locked  jaw — epilepsy — palsy — 
rheumatism — tail-slip — neurotomy — madness. 

Chvpter  X.— THE  ANATOMY,  USES,  AND  DISEASES,  OF  THE  NOSTRILS 
AND  MOUTH.  .  ,  .  308 

The  msal  bones — sense  of  smelling  more  acute  than  the  horse — bleeding  from  the 
nose — leeches  in  it — polypus — coryza — glanders — farcy — The  bones  of  the  mouth — the 
lips — the  bars  of  the  mouth — the  pad  teeth  in  the  upper  jaw — the  teeth — tlie  age  indi- 
cated by  them — tlie  long  tongue  of  the  ox — the  os  hyoides — gloss-anthrax  or  blain^ 
thrush  in  the  mouth — the  glands  and  blood-vessels  of  the  neck — the  parotid  gland — 
barbs  or  paps — the  soft  palate — the  pharynx. 

Chapter  XI.— ANATOMY  AND  DISEASES  OF  THE  NECK  AND  CHEST.   338 

The  muscles  of  the  neck  and  chest — the  crest  of  the  bull — form  and  size  of  the  neck 
— arteries  of  the  neck — bleeding — the  fleam  preferred — bleeding  places — the  milk-vein 
with  reference  to  bleeding — The  heart — inflammation  of  its  bag — the  bone  of  the  heart 
— the  pulse — the  capillary  vessels — inflammation — Fever — inflammatory  fever — quar- 
ter-evil— black  quarter — typhus  fever — the  veins — varicose  veins — The  structure  and 
form  of  the  chest — the  brisket — indications  of  its  different  forms — The  ribs — proper 
form  and  direction  of — the  spine — reasons  of  its  difference  from  that  of  the  horse — the 
larynx — the  round  curled  form  of  the  epiglottis — the  windpipe — tracheotomy — the 
sweetbread — the  bronchial  tubes — catarrh  or  hoove — epidemic  catarrh — the  malignant 
epidemic — murrain — long  account  of  the  epidemics  of  different  times — sore  throat — 
inflammation  of  the  pharynx — puncturing  the  pharynx — bronchitis — multitude  of 
■worms  often  found  in  the  air-passages — bronchitis  in  Jamaica — inflammation  of  the 
lungs — acute  pneumonia — epidemic  ditto — pleurisy — chronic  pleurisy — consumption — 
importance  of  recognizing  the  peculiar  cough  of  consumption. 

Chapter  XII.— THE  STRUCTURE  AND  DISEASES  OF  THE  GULLET  AND 
STOMACH.  ...  414 

The  peculiar  structure  of  the  gullet  of  ruminants — choking — the  cssophagus-probang 
— stricture  of  the  gullet — rupture  of  ditto — the  cesophagean  canal — the  rumen  or  paunch 
— the  reticulum  or  honeycomb — the  manyplus  or  manifolds — the  abomasum  or  fourth 
stomach — the  cesophagean  canal  continued — the  muscular  pillars  of  its  floor — they  yield 
to  a  solid  substance — circumstances  under  which  fluids  pass  over  them  into  the  third 
and  fourth  stomachs,  or  between  them  into  the  rumen — the  food  macerated  in  the  rumen 
— passes  through  all  the  compartments  of  it — thrown  into  the  reticulum — its  honeycomb 
structure — tlie  pellet  formed — forced  into  the  cesophagean  canal — reascends  the  gullet 
— remasticatcd — returned — passes  along  the  canal  into  the  manyplus — the  leaves  of  the 
manyplus — the  fibrous  parts  of  tlie  food — indigestible  substances  in  the  paunch — con- 
cretions in  ditto — distention  of  the  rumen  from  food — ditto  from  gas — hoove — the 
stomach-pump — the  chloride  of  lime — loss  of  cud — poisons — yew — corrosive  sublimate 
— diseases  of  the  reticulum — diseases  of  the  nianyfolds — clew-bound — fardel-bound — 
malformation  of  manyplus — diseases  of  the  fourth  stomach — vomiting. 

Chapter  XIIL— THE  ANATOMY  AND  DISEASES  OF   THE  SPLEEN, 

LIVER,  AND  PANCREAS.  .  .  457 

Anatomy  and  function  of  the  spleen — inflammation  of  it — enlargement — The  liver 
— inflammation  of  it — hcemorrhage — jaundice  or  yellows — The  pancreas. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter  XIV.— THE  ANATOMY  AND  DISEASES  OF  THE  INTESTINES.  460 

The  duodenum — jejunum  —  ileum — csecum  —  colon — rectum — enlargement  of  the 
mesenteric  glands — inflammation  of  tlio  bowels — wood  evil — moor  ill — diarrhoea — 
dysentery — inflammation  of  the  duodenum — colic — strangulation — the  cords  or  gut-tie 
— introsusception — inversion  of  the  rectum — constipation — calculi — worms — dropsy — 
hernia  or  rupture. 

Chapter  XV.— THE  URINARY  ORGANS  AND  THEIR  DISEASES.         503 

The  kidneys — red  water — black  water — inflammation  of  the  kidneys — the  ureters — 
the  bladder — urinary  calculi — stone  in  the  kidney — ureters — bladder — urethra — rup- 
ture of  the  bladder — inversion  of  ditto. 

Chapter  XVI.— BREEDING— PARTURITION.  .  522 

The  principles  of  breeding — like  produces  like — comparative  influence  of  sire  and 
dam — suitableness  to  the  soil  and  climate — utility — good  feeding — how  far  in  and  in — 
Abortion  or  slinking — symptoms  of  pregnancy — treatment  before  calving — natural 
labour — the  ergot  of  rye — mechanical  assistance — unnatural  presentation — free-mar- 
tins— the  Caesarean  operation — embryotomy — inversion  of  tlie  womb — rupture  of  ditto 
— protrusion  of  the  bladder — retention  of  the  foetus — attention  after  calving — the 
cleansing — flooding — dropping  after  calving — puerperal  or  milk  fever — sore  teats — 
garget. 

Chapter  XVII.— THE  DISEASES  AND  MANAGEMENT  OF  CALVES.  557 

Navel  ill — constipation — diarrhoea — hoove — castration — French  method  of  castration. 

Chapter  XVIII.— THE  DISEASES  OF  THE  MUSCULAR  SYSTEM  AND 
THE  EXTREMITIES.  .  .  562 

Rheumatism  —  swellings  of  the  joints — ulcers  about  the  joints  —  opened  joints — 
sprains — diseases  of  the  feet — foul  in  the  feet — shoeing. 

Chapter  XIX.— THE  DISEASES  OF  THE  SKIN.  570 

Structure  of  the  skin — sensible  and  insensible  perspiration — hide-bound — mange — 
leprosy — lice — warbles — angle-berries — warts. 

Chapter  XX.— A  LIST  OF  THE  MEDICINES  USED  IN  THE  TREATMENT 
OF  THE  DISEASES  OF  CATTLE.  .  577 

iEthiop's  mineral — aloes — alteratives — alum — ammonia — anodynes — antimonial  pow- 
der— blue  vitriol — butyr  of  antimony — antispasmodics — astringents — blisters — cala- 
mine— calombo — calomel — camphor — cantharides — carraways — castor  oil — catechu — 
caustics — chalk — chamomile — charges — chloride  of  lime — clysters — cordials — corrosive 
sublimate — croton — diaplioretics — digitalis — diuretics — drinks — elder — emetic  tartar — 
Epsom  salts — fomentations — gentian — ginger — Glauber's  salts — Goulard's  extract — 
hellebore,  black — iodine — i])ecacuanha — laudanum — linseed — linseed  oil — lunar  caustic 
— mashes — mercurial  ointment — mint — myrrh — nitre — pitch — poultices — ergot  of  rye 
— common  salt — sctons — spirit  of  nitrous  etlier — spirit,  rectified — sugar  of  lead — sul- 
phur— tar — tonics — turpentine,  common — turpentine,  spirit  of— vinegar — white  lead — 
white  vitriol. 


CATTLE. 


INTRODUCTION. 

If  this  volume  of  '  The  Farmers'  Series'  is  devoted  to  the  history, 
general  management,  and  medical  treatment  of  an  animal  less  connected 
with  our  commerce  and  our  pleasure,  and  less  endowed  with  intelligence 
and  courage,  and  many  a  noble  quality,  than  '  the  horse,'  we  shall  yet  find 
in  'cattle,'  a  subject  more  identified  with  our  agricultural  prosperity,  and 
with  the  comforts,  and  the  very  continuance  of  life.  If  an  ox  is  not  indi- 
vidually so  valuable  as  a  horse,  yet,  in  the  aggregate,  cattle  constitute  a 
much  greater  proportion  of  the  wealth  of  the  country;  for  although  Great 
Britain  contains  a  million  and  a  half  of  horses,  she  has  to  boast  of  more 
than  eight  millions  of  catde,  unrivalled  in  the  world. 

One  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  head  of  catde  are  annually  sold  in 
Smithfield  alone,  without  including  calves,  or  the  dead-market — the  car- 
cases sent  up  from  various  parts  of  the  country.  If  we  reckon  this  to  be  a 
tenth  part  of  the  cattle  slaughtered  in  the  United  Kingdom,  it  follows  that 
1,600,000  cattle  are  sent  to  the  butcher  every  year;  and,  averaging  the 
life  of  the  ox  or  the  cow  at  five  years,  the  value  of  British  cattle,  estimated 
at  10/.  per  head,  will  be  eighty  millions  sterling.  1,200,000  sheep,  36,000 
pigs,  and  18,000  calves,  are  also  sent  to  Smithfield  in  the  course  of  a  year, 
and  if  we  reckon  these  to  be  a  tenth  of  the  whole  number,  and  allow  only 
two  years  as  the  average  duration  of  the  lives  of  sheep  and  pigs,  and  value 
the  calves  at  2/.  10s.  each,  the  pigs  at  2/.,  and  the  sheep  at  1/.  10s.,  we 
shall  arrive  at  the  additional  sum  of  nearly  forty  millions ;  so  that  we  may 
safely  compute  the  actual  value  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  swine,  to  be  nearly 
120  millions  sterling. 

AUIiough  much  has  been  done  by  agricultural  societies  to  improve  the 
breed  and  the  general  treatment  of  these  animals,  and  much  valuable  instruc- 
tion is  to  be  found  scattered  in  many  a  volume,  no  one  has  yet  attempted 
to  collect  these  fragments  of  'useful  knowledge,'  and  to  add  to  them  his 
own  experience ;  and  in  one  very  important  part  of  our  subject,  there  has 
been  the  most  unaccountable  neglect,  for  there  is  scarcely  in  the  English 
language  a  work  on  the  preservation  of  the  health,  and  the  prevention  and 
cure  of  the  diseases,  of  cattle  and  sheep,  on  which  any  dependence  can  be 
placed.  Although  a  tenth  part  of  the  sheep  and  lambs  die  annually  of 
disease,  (more  than  four  millions  perished  by  the  rot  alone  in  the  winter 
of  1829-30,)  and  at  least  a  fifteenth  part  of  the  neat  cattle  are  destroyed 
by  inflammatory  fever  and  milk  fever,  red  water,  hoose,  and  diarrhcea;  and 
the  country  incurs  a  loss  of  nearly  ten  millions  of  pounds  annually,  the 
agriculturist  knows  not  where  to  go  for  information  on  the  nature  and 
the  cure  of  the  maladies  of  which  they  die ;  and  is  either  driven  to  confide 
2 

T  il. 


a  CATTLE. 

in  the  boasted  skill  of  the  ignorant  pretender,  or  make  up  his  mind  that 
it  is  in  vain  to  struggle  against  the  evils  which  he  cannot  arrest,  and  lets 
matters  take  their  course. 

There  are  two  great  sources  of  the  mortality  of  cattle  and  sheep,  and  the 
loss  of  agricultural  property,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  which  is  the  worst, 
the  ignorance  and  obstinacy  of  the  servant  and  the  cowleach,  or  the  igno- 
rance and  supineness  of  the  owner. 

Veterinary  schools,  that  owed  their  origin  to  the  ravages  of  epidemics 
among  cattle,  and  that  were  established  for  the  express  purpose  of  teach- 
ing '  a  more  systematic  knowledge  of  the  management  of  sheep  and  cows,' 
have  shamefully  neglected  their  trust.  The  horse  has  gradually  absorbed 
the  whole  of  their  attention ;  he  alone  has  been  heard  of  in  the  lectures 
and  practice  of  these  schools ;  and,  until  within  a  very  few  years,  the  best 
veterinary  practitioner  was  uneducated  and  uninformed  in  matters  relating 
to  cattle. 

A  great  deal  has  been  written  in  different  books  respecting  the  peculiari- 
ties of  the  different  breeds,  and  their  adaptation  to  different  purposes,  and 
the  points  which  may  be  said  to  be  characteristic  of  each,  and  on  which 
their  excellence  mainly  depends :  but  the  opinions  of  the  writers  are  often 
too  much  at  variance  with  each  other ;  and  the  farmer  too  frequently  rises 
from  the  perusal  of  them  puzzled  rather  than  instructed,  and  even  led 
astray  from  his  interest  instead  of  being  guided  in  its  pursuit. 

The  subject  of  the  present  work  will  be  the  Natural  History,  the  different 
Breeds,  the  Structure,  (more  particularly  with  reference  to  their  beauties 
and  defects,)  the  utility  for  various  purposes,  and  the  Diseases,  and  General 
Management  of  Cattle,  with  their  most  rational  and  successful  treatment ; 
and  if  we  may  be  enabled  to  rouse  the  farmer  to  strive,  and  perhaps  suc- 
cessfully strive,  to  rescue  a  few  of  his  oxen  from  that  destruction  of  which 
he  has  been  an  almost  passive  spectator ;  and  to  direct  his  attention — the 
attention  of  the  little  farmer,  and  the  cottager,  as  well  as  the  wealthier 
and  more  influential  individual — to  that  which  should  not  have  been  so 
long  and  so  utterly  neglected,  our  main  and  most  valuable  purpose  will 
be  accomplished. 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  OX. 

The  Ox  belongs  to  the  class  mammalia,  animals  having  mammas,  or 
teats;  (see  'The  Horse,  p.  62,)  the  order  ruminantia,  ruminating,  or 
chewing  their  food  a  second  time ;  the  tribe  bovidae,  the  ox  kind ;  the 
GENUS  bos,  the  ox,  the  horns  occupying  the  crest,  projecting  at  first  side- 
ways, and  being  porous  or  cellular  within;  and  the  sub-genus  bos  taunts, 
or  the  domestic  ox. 

Distinguished  according  to  their  teeth,  they  have  eight  incisors,  or  cutting 
teeth,  in  the  lower  jaw,  and  none  in  the  upper.  They  have  no  tusks,  but 
they  have  six  molars,  or  grinding  teeth,  in  each  jaw,  and  on  each  side. 

The  whole  would,  therefore,  be  represented  as  follows: — (see  '  The 
Horse,'  p.  63):— 

The  ox,  incisors  f ,  canines  ^,  molars  -|-f .    Total,  30  teeth. 

The  native  country  of  the  ox,  reckoning  from  the  time  of  the  flood,  was 


THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  OX.  3 

the  plains  of  Ararat,  and  he  was  a  domesticated  animal  when  he  issued 
from  the  ark.  He  was  found  wherever  the  sons  of  Noah  migrated,  for  he 
was  necessary  to  the  existence  of  man  ;  and  even  to  the  present  day, 
wherever  min  has  trodden,  he  is  found  in  a  domesticated  or  wild  state. 
The  earliest  record  we  have  of  the  ox  is  in  the  sacred  volume.  We  are  told 
that,  even  in  the  antediluvian  age,  and  soon  after  the  expulsion  from 
Eden,  the  sheep  had  become  the  servant  of  man ;  and  the  inference  is  not 
improbable,  that  the  no  less  useful  ox  Avas  subjugated  at  the  same  time. 
It  is  recorded,  that  Jubal,  the  son  of  Lamech,  and  who  was  probably 
born  during  the  life-time  of  Adam,  was  the  father  of  such  as  dwell  intents, 
and  of  such  as  have  cattle,* 

Being  domesticated  before  the  flood,  the  ox  would  not  be  neglected  by 
Noah  and  his  sons  afterwards ;  and  as  the  families  of  men  spread  abroad 
after  the  confusion  of  tongues,  the  ox  would  be  carried  with  them,  as  con- 
stituting one  of  the  most  valuable  portions  of  their  wealth.  When  Abra- 
ham was  in  Egypt,t  one  hundred  and  eighty  years  before  there  is  any 
mention  of  the  horse,  Pharaoh  presented  him  with  sheep  and  oxen. 

The  records  of  profane  history  confirm  this  account  of  the  early  domes- 
tication and  acknowledged  value  of  this  animal,  for  it  was  worshipped  by 
the  Egyptians,  and  venerated  among  the  Indians,  The  Indian  legends 
say  that  it  was  '  the  first  animal  that  was  created  by  the  three  kinds  of 
gods,  who  were  directed  by  the  Supreme  Lord  to  furnish  the  earth  with 
animated  beings,'  The  traditions  of  every  Celtic  nation  enrol  the  cow 
among  the  earliest  productions,  and  represent  it  as  a  kind  of  divinity. 

The  parent  race  of  the  ox  is  said  to  have  been  much  larger  than  any  of 
the  present  varieties.  The  Urus,  in  his  wild  state  at  least,  was  an  enor- 
mous and  fierce  animal,  and  ancient  legends  liave  thrown  around  him  an  air 
of  mystery.  In  almost  every  part  of  the  Continent,  and  in  every  district 
of  England,  skulls,  evidently  belonging  to  cattle,  have  been  found,  far 
exceeding  in  bulk  any  now  known.  There  is  a  fine  specimen  in  the 
British  Museum  :  the  peculiarity  of  the  horns  will  be  observed,  resembling 
smaller  ones  dug  up  in  the  mines  of  Cornwall,  preserved  in  some  de- 
gree in  the  wild  cattle  of  Chillingham  Park,  and  not  quite  lost  in  our 
native  breeds  of  Devon  and  East  Sussex,  and  those  of  the  Welsh  moun- 
tains and  the  Highlands,  The  combat  of  Guy,  Earl  of  Warwick,  with  the 
dun  cow,  the  skull  of  which  is  yet  preserved  in  the  castle  of  Warwick, 
will  sufficiently  prove  the  comparatively  large  size  of  some  of  the  wild  cat- 
tle of  that  day.  We  have  reason,  however,  to  believe  that  this  referred 
more  to  individuals  than  to  the  character  of  the  breed  generally,  for  there 
is  no  doubt  that,  within  the  last  century,  the  size  of  the  cattle  has  progres- 
sively increased  in  England,  and  kept  pace  with  the  improvement  of 
agriculture. 

We  will  not  endeavour  to  follow  the  migrations  of  the  ox  from  Western 
Asia,  nor  the  change  in  size,  and  form,  and  value,  which  it  underwent,  ac- 
cording to  the  diflTerence  of  climate  and  of  pasture,  as  it  journeyed  on 
towards  the  west,  for  there  are  no  records  of  this  on  which  dependence  can 
be  placed  ;  (the  historians  of  early  days  were  poor  naturalists  ;)  but  we 
will  proceed  to  the  subject  of  the  present  work,  the  British  Ox. 

*  Gen,  iv.  20,  t  Gen,  xii.  16. 


4  CATTLE. 

CHAPTER  II.      , 

THE  BRITISH  OX. 

In  the  earliest  and  most  authentic  account  that  we  possess  of  the  British 
Isles,  the  Commentaries  of  Caesar,  we  learn  that  the  Britons  possessed  great 
numbers  of  cattle  ;  that  they  comparatively  neglected  the  plough,  and  lived 
on  the  flesh  and  the  milk  of  these  animals.  The  fondness  for  this  kind  of 
food,  on  account  of  which  foreigners  sometimes  attempt  to  ridicule  the 
Englishman,  is  inherited  from  ancestors  of  the  remotest  date.  No  satis- 
factory description  of  these  cattle  occurs  in  any  ancient  author ;  but  they 
would  seem,  with  occasional  exceptions,  to  have  possessed  no  great  bulk 
or  beauty.  The  poets  have  celebrated  the  intelligence,  or  fidelity,  or  some 
interesting  quality  of  almost  every  species  of  agricultural  property  but 
the  heavy  and  seemingly  stupid  ox — not  so  uninteresting,  however, 
as  many  have  imagined  him  to  be,  when  he  is  closely  observed,  and  his 
habits  and  capabilities  watched. 

Cattle  are  like  most  other  animals,  the  creatures  of  education  and  cir- 
cumstances. We  educate  them  to  give  us  milk,  and  to  acquire  flesh  and  fat. 
There  is  not  much  intelligence  required  for  these  purposes.  It  fares  with 
the  ox,  as  with  all  our  other  domesticated  dependents,  that  when  he  has  lost 
the  wild  freedom  of  the  forest,  and  become  the  slave  of  man,  without  ac- 
quiring the  privilege  of  being  his  friend,  or  receiving  instruction  from  him, 
instinct  languishes,  without  being  replaced  by  the  semblance  of  reason. 
But  when  we  press  him  into  our  immediate  service — when  he  draws  our 
cart  and  ploughs  our  land — he  rapidly  improves  upon  us  ;  he  is,  in  fact, 
altogether  a  diflferent  animal :  when  he  receives  a  kind  of  culture  at  our 
hands,  he  seems  to  be  enlightened  with  a  ray  of  human  reason,  and 
warmed  with  a  degree  of  human  affection.  The  Lancashire  and  the  De- 
vonshire ox  seem  not  to  belong  to  the  same  genus.  The  one  lias  just  wit 
enough  to  find  his  way  to  and  from  his  pasture ;  the  other  rivals  the  horse 
in  activity  and  docility,  and  often  fairly  beats  him  out  of  the  field  in  stout- 
ness and  honesty  in  work.  He  is  as  easily  broken  in,  and  he  equals  him 
in  attachment  and  gratitude  to  his  feeder. 

It  is,  however,  in  other  countries  where  the  services  of  the  ox  are  more 
extensive,  and  his  education  more  complete,  that  we  are  to  look  for  that 
development  of  intellect,  which  his  sluggish  nature  would  scarcely  promise 
here.  Burchell,  in  the  1st  vol.  of  his  Travels  into  the  Interior  of  Africa, 
p.  128,  says : — 

'  These  oxen  are  generally  broken  in  for  riding,  when  they  are  not  more 
than  a  year  old.  The  first  ceremony,  is  that  of  piercing  their  nose  to  re- 
ceive the  bridle ;  for  which  purpose  they  are  thrown  on  their  back,  and  a 
slit  is  made  through  the  septum,  or  cartilage  between  the  nostrils,  large 
enough  to  admit  a  finger.  In  this  hole  is  thrust  a  strong  stick  stripped  of 
its  bark,  and  having  at  one  end  a  forked  bunch  to  prevent  it  passing 
through.  To  each  end  of  it  is  fastened  a  thong  of  hide,  of  a  length 
sufficient  to  reach  round  the  neck  and  form  the  reins ;  and  a  sheep  skin, 
with  the  wool  on,  placed  across  the  back,  together  with  another  folded  up, 
and  bound  on  with  a  rein  long  enough  to  pass  several  times  round  the 
body,  constitutes  the  saddle.  To  this  is  sometimes  added  a  pair  of  stirrups, 
consisting  only  of  a  thong  with  a  loop  at  each  end  slung  across  the  sad- 
dle.    Frequently  the  loops  are  distended  by  a  piece  of  wood  to  form  an 


THE  BRITISH  OX.  5 

easier  rest  for  the  foot.  While  the  animal's  nose  is  still  sore,  it  is  mounted 
and  put  in  training,  and  in  a  week  or  two  is  generally  rendered  sufficiently 
obedient  to  its  rider.  The  facility  and  adroitness  with  which  the  Hotten- 
tots manage  the  ox  has  often  excited  my  admiration:  it  is  made  to  walk, 
trot,  or  gallop,  at  the  will  of  its  master;  and  being  longer-legged  and  rather 
more  lightly  made  than  the  ox  in  England,  travels  with  greater  ease  and 
expedition,  walking  three  or  four  miles  in  an  hour,  trotting  five,  and  gal- 
loping on  an  emergency  seven  or  eight.' 

Major  Denham,  in  his  Travels  into  Central  Africa,  gives  the  following 
amusing  account  of  some  of  these  excursions : — 

'  The  beasts  of  burden  used  by  the  inhabitants,  are  the  bullock  and  the 
ass.  A  very  fine  breed  of  the  latter  are  found  in  the  Mandara  valleys. 
Strangers  and  chiefs  in  the  service  of  the  sheikh  or  sultan  alone  possess 
camels.  The  bullock  is  the  bearer  of  all  the  grain  and  other  articles  to  and 
from  the  markets.  A  small  saddle  of  plaited  rushes  is  laid  on  him,  when 
sacks  made  of  goat  skins,  and  filled  with  corn,  are  lashed  on  his  broad  and 
able  back.  A  leather  thong  is  passed  through  the  cartilage  of  his  nose, 
and  serves  as  a  bridle,  while  on  the  top  of  the  load  is  mounted  the  owner, 
his  wife,  or  his  slave.  Sometimes  the  daughter  or  the  wife  of  a  rich 
Shouaa  will  be  mounted  on  her  particular  bullock,  and  precede  the  loaded 
animals,  extravagantly  adorned  with  amber,  silver  rings,  coral,  and  all 
sorts  of  finery;  her  hair  streaming  with  fat,  a  black  rim  of  kohal,  at  least 
an  inch  wide,  round  each  of  her  eyes,  and  I  may  say  arrayed  for  conquest 
at  the  crowded  market.  Carpet  or  robes  are  then  spread  on  her  clumsy 
palfry — she  sits  jambe  de  ga,  jambe  de  lei — and  with  considerable  grace 
guides  her  animal  by  the  nose.  Notwithstanding  the  peaceableness  of  his 
nature,  her  vanity  still  enables  her  to  torture  him  into  something  like  ca- 
perings  and  curvetings.' 

It  is,  however,  in  the  southern  part  of  Africa  that  the  triumph  of  the  ox 
is  complete.  His  intelligence  seems  to  exceed  any  thing  that  we  have 
seen  of  the  horse,  and  he  is  but  little  inferior  to  that  most  sagacious  of  all 
quadrupeds,  the  dog.  Among  the  Hottentots  these  animals  are  their  do- 
mestics, and  the  companions  of  their  pleasures  and  fatigues;  they  are  both 
the  protectors  and  the  servants  of  the  CafTre,  and  assist  him  in  attending 
his  flocks,  and  guarding  them  against  every  invader.  While  the  sheep 
are  grazing,  the  faithful  backely,  as  this  kind  of  oxen  is  called,  stands  and 
grazes  beside  them.  Still  attentive,  however,  to  the  looks  of  its  master, 
the  backely  flies  round  the  field,  obliges  the  herds  of  sheep  that  are  stray- 
ing to  keep  within  proper  limits,  and  shows  no  mercy  to  robbers,  who 
attempt  to  plunder,  nor  even  to  strangers ;  but  it  is  not  the  plunderers  of 
the  flock  alone,  but  even  the  enemies  of  the  nation,  that  these  backelies  are 
taught  to  combat.  Every  army  of  Hottentots  is  furnished  with  a  proper 
herd  of  these  creatures,  which  are  let  loose  against  the  enemy.  Being 
thus  sent  forward,  they  overturn  all  before  them ;  they  strike  down  with 
their  horns,  and  trample  with  their  feet,  every  one  who  attempts  to  oppose 
them,  and  thus  often  procure  their  masters  an  easy  victory,  before  they  have 
begun  to  strike  a  blow. 

'  An  animal  so  serviceable  is,  as  may  be  supposad,  not  without  its  re- 
ward. The  backely  lives  in  the  same  cottage  with  its  master,  and  by  long 
habit  gains  an  affection  for  him ;  for  in  proportion  as  the  man  approaches 
to  the  brute,  so  the  brute  seems  to  attain  even  to  the  same  share  of  human 
sagacity.  The  Hottentot  and  his  backely  thus  mutually  assist  each  other; 
and  when  the  latter  happens  to  die,  a  new  one  is  chosen  to  succeed  him, 
by  a  council  of  the  old  men  of  the  village.  The  new  backely  is  then  joined 
with  one  of  the  veterans  of  his  own  kind,  from  whom  he  learns  his  art, 
2* 


6  CATTLE. 

becomes  social  and  diligent,  and  is  taken  for  life  into  human  friendship 
and  protection.' — Illustrations  of  Natural  History ^  p.  88. 

There  is  a  well  authenticated  story  of  a  Scotch  bull,  which  shows  simi- 
lar, but  not  equal  sagacity.  'A  gentleman  in  Scotland,  near  Laggan,  had 
a  bull  which  grazed  with  the  cows  in  the  open  meadows.  As  fences  are 
scarcely  known  in  that  part,  a  boy  was  kept  to  watch,  lest  the  cattle  should 
trespass  on  the  neighbouring  fields,  and  destroy  the  corn.  The  boy  was 
fat  and  drowsy,  and  was  often  found  asleep;  he  was,  of  course,  chastised 
whenever  the  cattle  trespassed.  Warned  by  this,  he  kept  a  long  switch, 
and  with  it  revenged  himself  with  an  unsparing  hand,  if  they  exceeded 
their  boundary.  The  bull  seemed  to  have  observed  with  concern  this  con- 
sequence of  their  transgression,  and  as  he  had  no  horns,  he  used  to  strike 
the  cows  with  his  large  forehead,  and  thus  punish  them  severely,  if  any 
of  them  crossed  the  boundary.  In  the  mean  time  he  set  them  a  good 
example  himself,  never  once  straying  beyond  the  forbidden  bounds,  and 
placing  himself  before  the  cows  in  a  threatening  attitude  if  they  approached 
them.  At  length  his  honesty  and  vigilance  became  so  obvious,  that  the 
boy  was  employed  in  weeding,  and  other  business,  without  fear  of  their 
misbehaviour  in  his  absence.' — Instinct  Displayed,  Letter  34. 

Captain  Cochrane,  in  his  Travels  in  Columbia,  vol.  ii.  p.  251 ,  places  them 
in  another,  and  not  uninteresting  point  of  view :  '  I  was  suddenly  aroused 
by  a  most  terrific  noise,  a  mixture  of  loud  roarings  and  deep  moans,  Avhich 
had  the  most  appalling  efllsct  at  so  late  an  hour.  I  immediately  went  out, 
attended  by  the  Indians,  when  I  found  close  to  the  rancha,  a  large  herd  of 
bullocks  collected  from  the  surrounding  country  ;  they  had  encompassed  the 
spot  where  a  bullock  had  been  killed  in  the  morning,  and  they  appeared 
to  be  in  the  greatest  state  of  grief  and  rage :  they  roared,  they  moaned, 
they  tore  the  ground  with  their  feet,  and  bellowed  the  most  hideous  chorus 
that  can  be  imagined,  and  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  they  could 
be  driven  away  hy  nien  and  dogs.  Since  then,  I  have  observed  the  same 
scene  by  daylight,  and  seen  large  tears  rolling  down  their  cheeks.  Is 
it  instinct  merely,  or  does  something  nearer  to  reason  tell  them  by  the 
blood,  that  one  of  their  companions  has  been  butchered  ?  I  certainly 
never  again  wish  to  view  so  painful  a  sight:  they  actually  appeared  to  be 
reproaching  us. 

If  cattle  exhibit  some  of  the  good  qualities  of  superior  animals,  or  even 
of  man  himself,  they  likewise  have  some  of  his  failings.  Vanity  forms  as 
distinguishing  an  attribute  of  the  female  of  this  species,  as  of  some  others. 
The  account  of  the  Swiss  cows  is  not  a  little  amusing,  although  we  believe 
that  it  is  somewhat  exaggerated. 

'  In  the  Swiss  Canton  of  Appensell,  pasturage  being  the  chief  employ- 
ment of  the  inhabitants,  the  breeding  of  cattle,  and  the  subsequent  manage- 
ment of  the  dairy,  are  carried  to  the  greatest  perfection.  The  mountaineer 
lives  with  his  cows  in  a  perpetual  exchange  of  reciprocal  acts  of  kindness; 
the  latter  affording  almost  every  requisite  he  needs,  and  in  return  they  are 
provided  for,  and  cherished  by  him,  and  sometimes  more  so  than  his  own 
children.  They  are  never  ill  treated  nor  beaten,  for  his  voice  is  sufficient 
to  guide  and  govern  the  whole  herd,  and  there  reigns  a  perfect  cordiality 
between  them. 

'  In  the  Alps,  the  fine  cattle  are  the  pride  of  their  keepers,  who  adorn 
the  best  of  them  with  an  harmonious  set  of  bells,  chiming  in  accordance 
with  the  celebrated  ranz  des  vaches.  The  finest  black  cow  is  adorned 
with  the  largest  bell,  and  the  two  next  in  appearance  wear  smaller  ones. 
Early  in  the  spring,  when  they  are  removed  to  the  Alps,  or  to  some 
change  of  pasture,  he  dresses  himself  in  all  his  finery,  and  proceeds  along, 


THE  BRITISH  OX.  7 

singing  the  ranz  des  vaches,  followed  by  three  or  four  fine  goats :  next 
comes  the  finest  cow  adorned  with  the  great  bell,  then  the  other  two  with 
the  smaller  bells,  and  these  are  succeeded  by  the  rest  of  the  cattle  walking 
one  after  another,  and  having  in  their  rear,  the  bull  with  a  one-legged 
milking  stool  on  his  horns,  while  the  procession  is  closed  by  a  sledge 
bearing  the  dairy  implements. 

'  It  is  surprising  to  see  the  pride  and  pleasure  with  which  the  cows  stalk 
forth,  when  ornamented  with  their  bells.  One  would  hardly  imagine  that 
these  animals  are  sensible  of  their  rank,  and  affected  by  vanity  and  jealousy; 
and  yet  if  the  leading  cow  is  deprived  of  her  honours,  she  manifests  her 
disgrace  by  lowing  incessantly,  and  abstaining  from  food,  and  losing  con- 
dition. The  happy  rival  on  whom  this  badge  of  superiority  has  devolved, 
becomes  the  object  cf  her  vengeance,  and  is  butted,  and  wounded,  and  per- 
secuted by  her  in  the  most  furious  manner,  until  she  regains  her  bell,  oris 
entirely  removed  from  the  herd.' — lUuslralions  of  Natural  History ,  p.  72. 

Having  thus  somewhat  vindicated  the  intellectual  power  and  worth  of  the 
subject  of  our  work,  we  return  to  the  agricultural  state  of  the  country  when 
the  Romans  invaded  Britain.  Caesar  tells  us,  that  the  Britons  neglected 
tillage,  and  lived  on  milk  and  flesh  ;  and  other  authors  corroborate  this 
account  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  the  British  Islands.  It  was  that  occu- 
pation and  mode  of  life  which  suited  their  state  of  society.  The  island 
was  divided  into  many  petty  sovereignties  ;  no  fixed  property  was  secure ; 
and  that  alone  was  valuable,  which  might  be  hurried  away  at  the  threatened 
approach  of  an  invader.  Many  centuries  after  this,  when,  although  one 
sovereign  seemed  to  reign  paramount  over  the  whole  of  the  kingdom,  there 
continued  to  be  endless  contests  among  the  feudal  barons,  and  still  that 
property  alone  was  valuable  which  could  be  secured  within  the  walls  of  the 
castle,  or  driven  beyond  the  invader's  reach,  an  immense  stock  of  pro- 
visions was  always  stored  up  in  the  various  fortresses,  both  for  the  vassals 
and  the  cattle  ;  or  it  was  contrived  that  the  latter  should  be  driven  to  the 
demesnes  of  some  friendly  baron,  or  concealed  in  some  inland  recess. 
When  the  winter  had  passed  over  in  the  castle  of  one  of  the  Despencers, 
and  the  usual  stock  of  provisions  was  comparatively  exhausted,  there  yet 
remained  in  salt  in  the  latter  part  of  the  spring,  no  fewer  than  eighty  oxen, 
six  hundred  bacons,  and  six  hundred  sheep. 

When,  however,  the  government  became  more  powerful  and  settled, 
and  property  of  every  kind  was  proportionably  secured,  as  well  as  more 
equally  divided,  the  plough  came  into  use  ;  and  those  agricultural  pro- 
ductions were  oftener  cultivated,  the  reaping  of  which  was  sure  after  the 
labour  of  sowing  had  been  expended.  Catde  were  now  comparatively 
neglected,  and  for  some  centuries  injuriously  so.  Their  numbers  dimi- 
nished, and  their  size  appears  to  have  diminished  too  ;  and  it  is  only 
within  the  last  fifty  years  that  any  serious  and  successful  efforts  have  been 
made  materially  to  improve  them. 

In  the  comparative  roving  and  uncertain  life  which  our  earlier  and  later 
ancestors  led,  their  cattle  would  sometimes  stray  and  be  lost.  The  country 
was  then  overgrown  with  forests,  and  the  beasts  betook  themselves  to  the 
recesses  of  these  woods,  and  became  wild,  and  sometimes  ferocious.  They 
by  degress  grew  so  numerous,  as  to  be  dangerous  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  neighbouring  districts.  One  of  the  chronicles  informs  us,  that  many 
of  them  harboured  in  the  forests  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  metropolis. 
Strange  stories  are  told  of  some  of  them,  and  doubtless,  when  irritated, 
they  were  fierce  and  dangerous  enough.  As,  however,  civilization  ad- 
vanced, and  the  forests  became  thinned  and  contracted,  these  animals  were 


8  CATTLE. 

seldomer  seen,  and  at  length  almost  disappeared.  A  few  of  them  yet  re- 
main in  Chatelherault  Park,  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  in  La- 
narkshire ;  and  in  the  park  of  Chillingham  Castle  in  Northumberland,  the 
seat  of  the  Earl  of  Tankerville.  They  are  thus  described  in  the  latter 
place  by  Mr.  Cully,  in  his  valuable  observations  on  live  stock : — 

'  The  wild  breed,  from  being  untameable,  can  only  be  kept  within  walls 
or  good  fences,  consequently  very  few  of  them  are  now  to  be  met  with, 
except  in  the  parks  of  some  gentlemen,  who  keep  them  for  ornament,  and 
as  a  curiosity.  Those  I  have  seen  are  at  Chillingham  Castle,  in 
Northumberland,  a  seat  belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Tankerville.  Their 
colour  is  invariably  of  a  creamy  white,  snuzzle  black ;  the  whole  of  the 
inside  of  the  ear,  and  about  one-third  of  the  outside,  from  the  tips  down- 
wards, red  ;  horns,  white,  with  black  tips,  very  fine,  and  bent  upAvards  ; 
some  of  the  bulls  have  a  thin  upright  mane,  about  an  inch  and  a  half  or 
two  inches  long.  The  weight  of  the  oxen  is  from  thirty-five  to  forty-five 
stone,  and  the  cows  from  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  stone  the  four  quarters 
(fourteen  pound  to  the  stone).  The  beef  is  finely  marbled,  and  of  excellent 
flavour.  From  the  nature  of  their  pasture,  and  the  frequent  agitation 
ihey  are  put  into  by  the  curiosity  of  strangers,  it  is  scarcely  to  be  expected 
they  should  be  very  fat ;  yet  the  six  year  old  oxen  are  generally  very 
good  beef;  from  Avhence  it  may  be  fairly  supposed,  that  in  proper  situa- 
tions they  would  feed  well. 

'  At  the  first  appearance  of  any  person  they  set  off  in  full  gallop,  and, 
at  the  distance  of  about  two  hundred  yards,  make  a  wheel  round,  and 
come  boldly  up  again,  tossing  their  heads  in  a  menacing  manner ;  on  a 
sudden  they  make  a  full  stop  at  the  distance  of  forty  or  fifty  yards,  looking 
wildly  at  the  object  of  their  surprise  ;  but  upon  the  least  motion  being 
made,  they  all  again  turn  round,  and  fly  off"  with  equal  speed,  but  not  to 
the  same  distance,  forming  a  shorter  circle,  and  again  returning  with  a 
bolder  and  more  threatening  aspect  than  before  ;  they  approach  much 
nearer,  probably  within  thirty  yards,  when  they  again  make  another 
stand,  and  then  fly  ofl";  this  they  do  several  times,  shortening  their  dis- 
tance, and  advancing  nearer  and  nearer,  till  they  come  within  such  a 
short  distance,  that  most  people  think  it  prudent  to  leave  them,  not 
choosing  to  provoke  them  further. 

'  The  mode  of  killing  them  was  perhaps  the  only  remains  of  the  gran- 
deur of  ancient  hunting.  On  notice  being  given  that  a  wild  bull  would 
be  killed  on  a  certain  day,  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbourhood  came 
mounted  and  armed  with  guns,  &c.,  sometimes  to  the  amount  of  an 
hundred  horse,  and  four  or  five  hundred  foot,  who  stood  upon  walls,  or 
got  into  trees,  while  the  horsemen  rode  off"  the  bull  from  the  rest  of  the 
herd  until  he  stood  at  bay,  when  a  marksman  dismounted  and  shot.  At 
some  of  these  huntings  twenty  or  thirty  shots  have  been  fired  before  he 
was  subdued.  On  such  occasions  the  bleeding  victim  grew  desperately 
furious,  from  the  smartings  of  his  wounds  and  the  shouts  of  savage  joy 
that  were  echoing  on  every  side.  But,  from  the  number  of  accidents 
that  happened,  this  dangerous  mode  has  not  been  practised  of  late  years ; 
the  park-keeper  alone  generally  shooting  them  with  a  rifle  gun  at  one 
shot. 

'  When  the  cows  calve,  they  hide  their  calves  for  a  week  or  ten  days  in 
some  sequestered  situation,  and  go  and  suckle  them  two  or  three  times 
a  day.  If  any  person  come  near  the  calves,  they  clap  their  heads  close 
to  the  ground,  and  lie  like  a  hare  in  form,  to  hide  themselves  :  this  is  a 
proof  of  their  native  wildness,  and  is  corroborated  by  the  following  cir- 


THE  BRITISH  OX.  9 

cumstance  that  happened  to  Mr.  Bailey,  of  Chillingham,  who  found  a 
hidden  calf,  two  days  old,  very  lean,  and  very  weak ;  on  stroking  its  head 
it  got  np,  pawed  two  or  three  times  like  an  old  bull,  bellowed  very  loud, 
stepped  back  a  few  steps,  and  bolted  at  his  legs  with  all  its  force;  it  then 
began  to  paw  again,  bellowed,  stepped  back,  and  bolted  as  before;  but 
knowing  its  intention,  and  stepping  aside,  it  missed  him,  fell,  and  was  so 
very  weak  that  it  could  not  rise,  though  it  made  several  efforls;  but  it  had 
done  enough.  The  whole  herd  were  alarmed,  and  coming  to  its  rescue, 
obliged  him  to  retire;  for  the  dams  allow  no  person  to  touch  their  calves 
without  attacking  them  with  impetuous  ferocity.  When  any  one  happens 
to  be  wounded,  or  is  grown  weak  and  feeble,  through  age  or  sickness,  the 
res-t  of  the  herd  set  on  it  and  gore  it  to  death.' 

The  breeds  of  cattle,  as  they  are  now  found  in  Great  Britain,  are  almost 
as  various  as  the  soil  of  the  different  districts,  or  the  fancies  of  the  breeders. 
They  have,  however,  been  verj^  conveniendy  classed  according  to  the 
comparative  size  of  the  horns :  the  long  horns,  originally,  so  far  as  our 
country  is  concerned,  from  Lancashire,  much  improved  by  Mr.  Bakewell, 
of  Leicestershire,  and  established  through  the  greater  part  of  the  midland 
counties ;  the  short  horns,  originally  from  East  York,  improved  in  Dur- 
ham, mosdy  cultivated  in  the  northern  counties,  and  in  Lincolnshire, 
and  many  of  them  found  in  every  part  of  the  kingdom  where  the  farmer 
attends  much  to  his  dairy,  or  a  large  supply  of  milk  is  wanted ;  and  the 
middle  horns,  not  derived  from  a  mixture  of  the  two  preceding,  but  a  distinct 
and  valuable  and  beautiful  breed,  inhabiting  principally  the  north  of  Devon, 
the  East  of  Sussex,  Herefordshire,  Gloucestershire;  and,  of  diminished 
bulk,  and  with  somewhat  diffeient  character,  the  cattle  of  the  Scottish 
and  the  Welsh  mountains.  The  Alderney,  with  her  crumpled  horn,  is 
found  on  the  southern  coast,  and,  in  smaller  numbers,  in  gendemen's 
parks  and  pleasure  grounds  every  where ;  while  the  polled,  or  hornless 
catde,  prevail  in  Suffolk,  and  Norfolk,  and  in  Galloway,  whence  they 
were  first  derived. 

These,  however,  have  been  intermingled  in  every  possible  way.  They 
are  found  puie  only  in  their  native  districts,  or  on  the  estates  of  some 
opulent  and  spirited  individuals.  Each  county  has  its  own  mongrel  breed, 
often  difficult  to  be  described,  and  not  always  to  be  traced — neglected 
enough,  yet  suited  to  the  sod  and  to  the  climate;  and,  among  litde  farmers, 
maintaining  their  station,  and  advantageously  maintaining  it,  in  spite  of 
attempts  at  supposed  improvements  by  the  intermixture  or  substitution  of, 
foreign  varieties. 

The  character  of  each,  so  far  as  it  can  be  described,  and  the  relative 
value  of  each  for  breeding,  grazing,  the  dairy,  or  the  plough,  will  be  con- 
sidered before  we  inquire  into  the  structure  or  general  and  medical  treat- 
ment of  catde.  Much  dispute  has  arisen  as  to  the  original  breed  of  British 
catde.  The  batde  has  been  stoutly  fought  between  the  advocates  of  the 
middle  and  the  long  horns.  The  short  horns  and  the  polls  can  have  no 
claim  ;  the  first  is  evidendy  of  foreign  extraction,  and  the  latter,  although 
it  has  existed  in  certain  districts  from  time  immemorial,  was  probably  an 
accidental  variety. 

We  are  very  much  disposed  to  adjudge  the  honour  to  the  'middle  horns.' 
The  long  horns  are  evidently  of  Irish  extraction,  as  in  due  place  we  shall 
endeavour  to  show. 

Britain  has  shared  the  fate  of  other  nations,  and,  oftener  than  them, 
although  defended  by  the  ocean  on  every  side,  she  has  been  overrun  and 
subjugated  by  ferocious  invaders.     As  the  natives  retreated  before  the  foe. 


10  CATTLE. 

they  carried  with  them  some  portion  of  the  wreck  of  their  property.  We 
have  stated  that  their  property,  in  early  times,  consisted  principally  in 
cattle.  They  naturally  drove  along  with  diem  as  many  as  they  could,  when 
they  retired  to  the  fortresses  of  North  Devon  and  Cornwall,  or  the  more 
mountainous  regions  of  Wales,  or  when  they  took  refuge  even  in  the  wealds 
of  East  Sussex;  and  there  retaining  all  their  prejudices  and  customs  and 
manners,  they  were  jealous  of  the  strict  preservation  of  that  which  prin- 
cipally reminded  them  of  their  native  country  before  it  had  yielded  to  a 
foreign  yoke. 

In  this  manner  probably  was  preserved  the  ancient  breed  of  British 
cattle.  Difference  of  climate  gradually  wrought  some  change,  and  par- 
ticularly in  their  bulk.  The  rich  pasture  of  Sussex  fattened  the  ox  of  that 
district  into  its  superior  size  and  weight.  The  plentiful  but  not  so  luxu- 
riant herbage  of  the  north  of  Devon  produced  a  somewhat  smaller  and 
more  active  animal,  while  the  occasional  privations  of  Wales  lessened  the 
bulk  and  thickened  the  hide  of  the  Welsh  runt.  As  for  Scotland,  it,  in  a 
manner,  set  its  invaders  at  defiance ;  or  its  inhabitants  retreated  for  a 
while,  and  soon  turned  again  on  their  pursuers.  They  were  proud  of  their 
country,  and  proud  of  their  cattle,  their  choicest  possession ;  and  there, 
too,  the  cattle  were  preserved,  unmixed  and  undegenerated. 

Thence  it  resulted,  that  in  Devon,  in  Sussex,  in  Wales,  and  in  Scot- 
land, the  catde  have  been  the  same  from  time  immemorial ;  while  in  all  the 
Eastern  coast,  and  through  every  district  of  Britain,  the  breed  of  catde 
degenerated,  or  at  least  lost  its  original  character;  it  consisted  of  a  variety 
of  animals,  brought  from  every  neighbouring  and  some  remote  districts, 
mingled  in  every  possible  variety,  yet  generally  conlbrming  itself  to  the 
soil  and  the  climate. 

The  slightest  observation  will  convince  us  that  the  cattle  in  Devonshire, 
Sussex,  Wales,  and  Scodand,  are  essentially  the  same.  They  are  middle- 
horned;  tolerable,  but  not  extraordinary  milkers,  and  remarkable  for  the 
quality  rather  than  the  quantity  of  their  milk;  active  at  work;  and  with 
an  unequalled  aptitude  to  fatten.  They  have  all  the  characters  of  the 
same  breed,  changed  by  soil  and  climate  and  time,  yet  litde  changed  by 
the  intermeddling  of  man.  We  may  almost  trace  the  colour,  namely,  the 
red  of  the  Devon,  the  Sussex,  and  the  Hereford ;  and  even  where  the  black 
alone  are  now  found,  the  memory  of  the  red  prevails ;  it  has  a  kind  of 
superstitious  reverence  attached  to  it  in  the  legends  of  the  country ;  and  in 
almost  every  part  of  Scodand,  and  in  some  of  the  mountains  of  Wales,  the 
milk  of  the  red  cow  is  considered  to  be  a  remedy  for  every  disease,  and  a 
preservative  from  every  evil.  Every  one  who  has  had  opportunities  of 
comparing  the  Devon  catde  with  the  Avild  breed  of  Chatelherault  park,  or 
Chillingham  casde,  has  been  struck  with  the  great  resemblance  in  many 
points,  notwithstanding  the  difference  of  colour,  while  they  bear  no  like- 
ness at  all  to  the  catde  of  the  neighbouring  country. 

For  these  reasons  we  consider  the  middle  horns  to  be  the  native  breed 
of  Great  Britain,  and  they  shall  first  pass  in  review  before  us. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    MIDDLE    HORNS. 

The  situation  of  Devonshire,  at  nearly  the  western  extremity  of  the  king- 
dom, and  the  undeniable  fact,  that  one  of  the  varieties  of  the  middle  horns 
is  there  found  in  a  state  of  the  greatest  purity,  render  it  the  best  as  well  as 
the  most  convenient  point  whence  to  start. 

DEVONSHIRE. 

The  north  of  Devon  has  been  long  celebrated  for  a  breed  of  cattle  beautiful 
in  the  highest  degree,  and  in  activity  at  work  and  aptitude  to  fatten  un- 
rivalled. The  native  country  of  the  North  Devons,  and  where  they  are 
found  in  a  state  of  the  greatest  purity,  extends  from  the  river  Taw  west- 
ward, skirting  along  the  Bristol  Channel ;  the  breed  becoming  more 
mixed,  and  at  length  comparatively  lost  before  we  arrive  at  the  Parrett. 
Inland  it  extends  by  Barnstaple,  South  Molton,  and  Chumleigh,  as  far  as 
Tiverton,  and  thence  to  Wellington,  where  again  the  breed  becomes  unfre- 
quent,  or  it  is  mixed  before  we  reach  Taunton.  More  eastward  the  So- 
mersets and  the  Welsh  mingle  with  it,  or  supersede  it.  To  the  south 
there  prevails  a  larger  variety,  a  cross  probably  of  the  North  Devon  with 
the  Somerset;  and  on  the  west  the  Cornish  cattle  are  found,  or  contami- 
nate the  breed.  The  true  and  somewhat  prejudiced  Devonshire  man  con- 
fines them  within  a  narrower  district,  and  will  scarcely  allow  them  to  be 
found  with  any  degree  of  purity  beyond  the  boundaries  of  his  native  coun- 
ty. From  Portlock  to  Biddeford,  and  a  little  to  the  north  and  the  south, 
is,  in  his  mind,  the  peculiar  and  only  residence  of  the  North  Devon. 

From  the  earliest  records  the  breed  has  here  remained  the  same;  or  if  not 
quite  as  perfect  as  at  the  present  moment,  yet  altered  in  no  essential  point 
until  within  the  last  thirty  years*.  That  is  not  a  little  surprising  when  it 
is  remembered  that  a  considerable  part  of  this  district  is  not  a  breeding 
country,  and  that  even  a  proportion,  and  that  not  a  small  one,  of  Devon- 
shire cattle,  are  bred  out  of  the  county.  On  the  borders  of  Somerset  and 
Dorset,  and  pardy  in  both,  extending  southward  from  Crewkerne,  the 
country  assumes  the  form  of  an  extensive  valley,  and  principally  supplies 
the  Exeter  market  with  calves.  Those  that  are  dropped  in  February  and 
March,  are  kept  until  May,  and  then  sold  to  the  drovers,  who  convey 
them  to  Exeter.  They  are  there  purchased  by  the  Devonshire  farmers, 
who  keep  them  for  two  or  three  years,  when  they  are  sold  to  the  Somer- 
setshire graziers,  who  fatten  them  for  the  London  market;  so  that  a  por- 
tion of  the  North  Devon,  and  of  the  very  finest  of  the  breed",  come  from 
Somerset  and  Dorset. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  is,  that  the  Devonshire  farmers  were,  until 
nearly  the  close  of  the  last  century,  not  at  all  conscious  that  tliey  possessed 
any  thing  superior  to  other  breeds  ;  but,  like  agriculturists  everywhere  else, 
they  bought  and  bred  without  care  or  selection.  It  is  only  within  the  last 
fifty  or  sixty  years  that  any  systematic  efforts  have  been  made  to  im- 
prove the  breeds  of  cattle  in  any  part  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  we  must 
acknowledge,  that  the  Devonshire  men,  with  all  their  advantages,  and 
with  such  good  ground  to  work  upon,  were  not  the  first  to  stir,  and, 

*  Lord  Somerville,  a  name  justly  esteemed  among  agriculturists,  and  an  excellent 
judge  of  cattle,  and  who,  from  his  residence  in  the  county,  may  be  supposed  to  be  well 
acquainted  with  the  excellences  and  defects  of  this  breed,  gives  a  long  and  very  accu- 
rate and  interesting  account  of  them  in  the  Annals  of  Agricvdture,  to  which  we  would 
refer  the  reader. 


12  CATTLE. 

for  some  time,  were  not  the  most  zealous  when  they  were  roused  to 
exertion.  They  are  indebted  to  the  nature  of  their  soil  and  cUmate  for 
the  beautiful  specimens  which  they  possess  of  the  native  breed  of  our 
island,  and  they  have  retained  this  breed  almost  in  spite  of  themselves. 

A  spirit  of  emulation  was  at  length  kindled,  and  even  the  North  Devons 
have  been  materially  improved,  and  brought  to  such  a  degree  of  perfec- 
tion, that,  take  them  for  all  in  all,  they  would  suffer  from  intermixture  with 
any  other  breed. 

Before,  however,  we  attempt  to  describe  the  peculiarities  of  this,  or  any 
other  breed,  it  may  be  proper  to  give  a  short  sketch  of  the  proper  form 
and  shape  of  catde.  Whatever  be  the  breed,  there  are  certain  conforma- 
tions which  are  indispensable  to  the  thriving  and  valuable  ox  or  cow. 
When  we  have  a  clear  idea  of  these,  we  shall  be  able  more  easily  to  form 
an  accurate  judgment  of  the  breeds  of  the  different  counties  as  they  pass 
before  us.  If  there  is  one  part  of  the  frame,  the  form  of  which,  more 
than  of  any  other,  renders  the  animal  valuable,  it  is  the  chest.  There 
must  be  room  enough  for  the  heart  to  beat,  and  the  lungs  to  play,  or 
sufficient  blood  for  the  purposes  of  nutriment  and  of  strength  will  not  be 
circulated ;  nor  will  it  thoroughly  undergo  that  vital  change,  whicli  is 
essential  to  the  proper  discharge  of  every  function.  We  look,  therefore, 
first  of  all  to  the  wide  and  deep  girth  about  the  heart  and  lungs.  We 
must  have  both  :  the  proportion  in  which  the  one  or  the  other  may  pre- 
ponderate, will  depend  on  the  service  we  require  from  the  animal ;  we 
can  excuse  a  slight  degree  of  flatness  of  the  sides,  for  he  will  be  lighter  in 
the  forehand,  and  more  active  ;  but  the  grazier  must  have  widdi  as  well 
as  depth.  And  not  only  about  the  heart  and  lungs,  but  over  the  whole 
of  the  ribs,  must  we  have  both  length  and  roundness  ;  the  hooped,  as  well 
as  the  deep  barrel  is  essential ;  there  must  be  room  for  the  capacious 
paunch,  room  for  the  materials  from  which  the  blood  is  to  be  provided. 
The  beast  should  also  be  ribbed  home ;  there  sliould  be  little  space  be- 
tween the  ribs  and  the  hips.  This  seems  to  be  indispensable  in  the  ox, 
as  it  regards  a  good  healthy  constitution,  and  a  propensity  to  fatten  ;  but 
a  largeness  and  drooping  of  the  belly  is  excusable  in  the  cow,  or  rather, 
notwithstanding  it  diminishes  the  beauty  of  the  animal,  it  leaves  room  for 
the  udder;  and  if  it  is  also  accompanied  by  swelling  milk  veins,  it  gene- 
rally indicates  her  value  in  the  dairy. 

This  roundness  and  depth  of  the  barrel,  however,  is  most  advantageous 
in  proportion  as  it  is  found  behind  the  point  of  the  elbow,  more  than  be- 
tween the  shoulders  and  legs  ;  or  low  down  between  the  legs,  rather  than 
upwards  towards  t-lie  Avithers  :  for  it  diminishes  the  heaviness  before,  and 
the  comparative  bulk  of  the  coarser  parts  of  the  anirnal,  which  is  always  a 
very  great  consideration. 

The  loins  should  be  wide  :  of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for  they  are  the 
prime  parts ;  they  should  seem  to  extend  far  along  the  back :  and  although 
the  belly  should  not  hang  down,  the  flanks  should  be  round  and  deep. 
Of  the  hips  it  is  superfluous  to  say  that,  without  being  ragged,  they 
should  be  large ;  round  rather  than  wide,  and  presenting,  when  handled, 
plenty  of  muscle  and  fat.  The  thighs  should  be  full  and  long,  close  toge- 
ther when  viewed  from  behind,  and  the  farther  down  they  continue  to  be 
so  the  better.  The  legs  short,  varying  like  other  parts  according  to  the 
destination  of  the  animal ;  but  decidedly  short,  for  there  is  an  almost  in- 
separable connexion  between  length  of  leg  and  lightness  of  carcase,  and 
shormess  of  leg  and  propensity  to  fatten.  The  bones  of  the  legs,  and 
they  only  being  taken  as  a  sample  of  the  bony  structure  of  the  friime, 
generally,  should  be  small,  but  not  too  small — small  enough  for  the  well- 


THE  NORTH  DEVON  CATTLE. 


13 


known  accompaniment,  a  propensity  to  fatten — small  enough  to  please 
the  consumer;  but  not  so  small  as  to  indicate  delicacy  of  constitution,  and 
liability  to  disease. 

Last  of  all  the  hide — the  most  important  thing  of  all — thin,  but  not  so 
thin  as  to  indicate  that  the  animal  can  endure  no  hardship;  moveable,  mel- 
low, but  not  too  loose,  and  particularly  well  covered  with  fine  and  soft  hair 
We  shall  enter  more  fully  and  satisfactorily  into  this  subject  in  the  proper 
place;  but  this  bird's-eye  view  may  be  useful.  We  return  to  the  Devon- 
shire catde. 


[The  Devon  Bull.] 
The  more  perfect  specimens  of  the  North  Devon  breed  are  thus  distin- 
guished.    The  horn  of  the  bicll  ought  to  be  neither  too  low  nor  too  high, 
tapering  at  the  points,  not  too  thick  at  the  root,  and  of  a  yellow  or  waxy 
colour.     The  eye  should  be  clear,  bright,  and  prominent,  showing  much  of 


[The  Working  Devon  Ox.] 


14  CATTLE. 

the  white,  and  it  ought  to  liave  around  it  a  circle  of  a  variable  colour,  but 
usually  a  dark  orange.  The  forehead  should  be  flat,  indented,  and  small; 
for  by  the  smallness  of  the  forehead,  the  purity  of  the  breed  is  very  much 
estimated.  The  cheek  should  be  small,  and  the  muzzle  fine:  the  nose 
shoidd  be  of  a  clear  yellow.  A  black  muzzle  is  disliked,  and  even  a  mot- 
tled one  is  objected  to  by  some  who  pretend  to  be  judges  of  the  true  Devon. 
The  nostril  should  be  high  and  open:  the  hair  curled  about  the  head,  and 
giving,  at  first  appearance,  an  idea  of  coarseness  which  soon  wears  off. 
The  neck  should  be  thick,  and  that  sometimes  almost  to  a  fault. 

Excepting  in  the  head  and  neck  the  form  of  the  bull  does  not  materially 
differ  from  that  of  the  ox,  but  he  is  considerably  smaller.  There  are  some 
exceptions,  however,  to  this  rule,  and  as  an  illustration  of  this,  we  have 
inserted  (p.  13)  the  portrait  of  a  pure  Devon  bull  (belonging  to  Mr.  West- 
ern,) father  of  the  ox  and  the  cow  delineated  at  pages  16  and  17.  We 
may  fancy  that  we  trace  in  this  singular  and  noble  animal,  the  lineaments 
of  the  native,  and  scarcely  reclaimed  British  bull. 

The  head  of  the  ox  is  small,  very  singularly  so,  relatively  to  the  bulk  of 
the  animal,  yet  it  has  a  striking  breadth  of  forehead.  It  is  clean  and  free 
from  flesh  about  the  jaws.  The  eye  is  very  prominent,  and  the  animal 
has  a  pleasing  vivacity  of  countenance  plainly  distinguishing  it  from  the 
heavy  aspect  of  many  other  breeds.  Its  neck  is  long  and  thin,  admirably 
adapting  it  for  the  collar,  and  even  for  the  more  common  and  ruder  yoke. 

The  want  of  the  beautifully  arched  form  of  the  neck,  which  is  seen  in 
the  horse,  has  been  considered  as  a  defect  in  most  breeds  of  cattle.  It  is 
accounted  one  of  the  characters  of  good  cattle,  that  the  line  of  the  neck  from 
the  horns  to  the  withers  should  scarcely  deviate  from  that  of  the  back.  In 
the  Devonshire  ox,  however,  there  is  a  peculiar  rising  of  the  forehand,  re- 
minding us  not  a  little  of  the  blood-horse,  and  essentially  connected  with 
the  free  and  quick  action  by  which  this  breed  has  ever  been  distinguished. 
It  has  little  or  no  dewlap  depending  from  its  throat.  The  horns  are  longer 
than  those  of  the  bull,  smaller  and  fine  even  to  the  base,  and  of  a  lighter 
colour,  and  sometimes  tipped  with  yellow.  The  animal  is  light  in  the 
withers;  the  shoulders  a  little  oblique;  the  breast  deep,  and  the  bosom  open 
and  wide,  particularly  as  contrasted  with  the  fineness  of  the  withers.  The 
fore-legs  are  wide  apart,  looking  like  pillars  that  have  to  support  a  great 
weight.  The  point  of  the  shoulder  is  rarely  or  never  seen.  There  is  no 
projection  of  bone  as  in  the  horse,  but  there  is  a  kind  of  level  line  running 
on  to  the  neck. 

These  are  characteristic  and  important  points.  Angular  bony  pro- 
jections are  never  found  in  a  beast  that  carries  much  flesh  and  fat.  The 
fineness  of  the  withers,  the  slanting  direction  of  the  shoulder,  and  the  broad 
and  open  breast,  imply  both  strength  and  speed,  and  aptitude  to  fatten. 
A  narrow-chested  animal  can  never  be  useful  either  for  working  or 
grazing. 

With  all  the  lightness  of  the  Devonshire  ox,  there  is  a  point  about  him, 
disliked  in  the  blood  or  riding- horse,  and  not  always  approved  in  the  horse 
of  light  draught — the  legs  are  far  under  the  chest,  or  rather  the  breast 
projects  far  and  wide  before  the  legs.  We  see  the  advantage  of  this  in 
the  beast  of  slow  draught,  who  rarely  breaks  into  a  trot,  except  when  he  is 
goaded  on  in  catching  times,  and  the  division  of  whose  foot  secures  him 
from  stumbling.  The  lightness  of  the  other  parts  of  his  form,  however, 
counterbalances  the  appearance  of  heaviness  here. 

The  legs  are  straight,  at  least  in  tlie  best  breeds.  If  they  are  in-kneed, 
or  crooked  in  the  fore-legs,  it  argues  a  defieiency  in  blood,  and  comparative 


THE  NORTH  DEVON  CATTLE.  15 

incapacity  for  work;  and  not  only  for  work,  but  for  grazing  too,  for  they 
will  be  hollow  behind  the  withers,  a  point  for  which  nothing  can  compen- 
sate, because  it  takes  away  so  much  from  the  place  where  good  flesh  and 
fat  should  be  thickly  laid  on,  and  diminishes  the  capacity  of  the  chest  and 
the  power  of  creating  arterial  and  nutritious  blood. 

The  fore-arm  is  particularly  large  and  powerful.  It  swells  out  suddenly 
above  the  knee,  but  is  soon  lost  in  the  substance  of  the  shoulder.  Below 
the  knee  the  bone  is  small  to  a  very  extraordinary  degree,  indicating  a 
seeming  want  of  strength;  but  this  impression  immediately  ceases,  for 
the  smallness  is  only  in  front — it  is  only  in  the  bo-ae:  the  leg  is  deep,  and 
the  sinews  are  far  removed  from  the  bone.  It  is  the  leg  of  the  blood-horse, 
promising  both  strength  and  speed.*  It  may  perhaps  be  objected  that 
the  leg  is  a  little  too  long.  It  would  be  so  in  an  animal  that  is  destined 
only  to  graze;  but  this  is  a  working  animal,  and  some  length  of  leg  is  ne- 
cessary to  get  him  pleasantly  and  actively  over  the  ground. 

There  is  a  very  triflhig  fall  behind  the  withers,  but  no  hollowness,  and 
the  line  of  the  back  is  straight  from  them  to  the  setting  on  of  the  tail.  If 
there  is  any  seeming  fault  in  tlw  beast,  it  is  that  the  sides  are  a  little  too 
flat.  It  will  appear",  however,  that  this  does  not  interfere  with  feeding, 
while  a  deep,  although  somewhat  flat  chest  is  best  adapted  for  speed. 

Not  only  is  the  breast  broad  and  the  chest  deep,  but  the  two  last  ribs  are 
particularly  bold  and  prominent,  leavmg  room  for  the  stomachs  and  other 
parts  concerned  in  digestion  to  be  fully  developed.  The  hips,  or  buckles, 
are  high,  and  on  a  level  with  the  back,  whether  the  beast  is  fat  or  lean. 
The  hind  quarters,  or  the  space  from  the  buckle  to  the  point  of  the  rump, 
are  particularly  long,  and  well  filled  up — a  point  likewise  of  very  conside- 
rable importance  both  for  grazing  and  working.  It  leaves  room  for  flesh 
in  the  most  valuable  part,  and,  like  the  extensive  and  swelling  quarters  of 
the  blood-horse,  indicate  much  power  behind,  equally  connected  with 
strength  and  speed.  This  is  an  improvement  quite  of  modern  date.  The 
fulness  here,  and  the  swelling  out  of  the  thigh  below,  are  of  much  more 
consequence  than  the  prominence  of  fat  which  is  so  much  admired  on  the 
rump  of  many  prize  cattle. 

The  setting  on  of  the  tail  is  high;  it  is  on  a  level  with  the  back,  rarely 
much  elevated,  and  never  depressed.  This  is  another  great  point  in  the 
blood-horse,  as  connected  with  the  perfection  of  the  hind  quarters.  The  tail 
itself  is  long  and  small,  and  taper,  with  a  round  bunch  of  hair  at  the  bottom. 

The  skin  of  the  Devon,  notwithstanding  his  curly   hair,  is  exceedingly 

*  It  is  sometimes  not  a  little  amusing  to  observe  the  seeming  contrariety  of  opinion 
between  excellent  judges  of  cattle,  and  that  on  the  very  essential  points  of  their  confor- 
mation; and  yet,  when  the  matter  is  properly  explained,  the  sliglit  shade  of  difterence 
there  is  between  them.  We  have  now  lying  before  us  letters  from  two  very  skilful  De- 
vonshire farmers.  They  have  been  so  obliging  as  to  give  us  their  opinion  as  to  the  points 
of  the  Devonshire  ox.  One  insists  upon  thut,  on  which  we  confess  we  should  lay  very 
great  stress,  and  without  which  we  should  reckon  any  boast  almost  valueless,  namely, 
small  bones  under  the  knee,  and  a  clean  neck  and  throat.  This  gentleman  we  have 
the  pleasure  of  knowing;  he  has  been  improving  the  size  and  weight  of  the  Devonshire 
ox,  anxiously  preserving  these  points:  nay,  we  know  that  he  did  steal  a  cross  from  one 
of  the  finest-boned  and  lightest  Herefords  he  could  procure.  The  other  has  sound  prin- 
ciples of  breeding,  but  he  is  a  man  of  the  old  school:  he  had  been  educated  in  tlie  belief 
that  what  he  calls  the  true  Devons  are  unrivalled,  and  he  would  deem  it  a  kind  of  sa- 
crilege to  debase  their  blood  by  a  cross  with  any  otJier  breed;  yet  experience  has 
taught  him,  in  spite  of  all  his  prejudices,  and  although  he  will  not  own  it,  that  the  old 
Devons  have  their  f  lults,  and,  among  them,  too  much  flatness  of  chest  and  general  light, 
ness;  he  is,  beside,  a  tillage  farmer.  He  tells  us  that  he  does  not  like  a  fine  neck,  be- 
cause it  is  accompanied  by  too  narrows  aisd  light  a  breast,  and  that  he  does  like  large 
bones,  because  they  will  carry  more  meat.  Why,  these  gentlemen  were,  in  a  measure 
both  right,  but  their  observations  referred  to  cattle,  which,  although  Devons,  were  es- 
nentially  different. 


16 


CATTLE. 


mellow  and  elastic.  Graziers  know  that  there  is  not  a  more  important 
point  than  this.  When  the  skin  can  be  easily  raised  from  the  hips,  it 
shows  that  there  is  room  to  set  on  fat  below. 

The  skin  is  thin  rather  than  thick.  Its  appearance  of  thickness  arises 
from  the  curly  hair  with  which  it  is  covered,  and  curly  in  proportion  to  the 
condition  and  health  of  the  animal.  Good  judges  of  these  cattle  speak  of 
these  curls  as  running  like  little  ripples  of  wind  on  a  pond  of  water.  Some 
of  these  cattle  have  the  hair  smooth,  but  then  it  should  be  fine  and  glossy. 
Those  with  curled  hair  are  somewhat  more  hardy,  and  fatten  more  kindly. 
The  favourite  colour  is  a  blood  red.  This  is  supposed  to  indicate  purity 
of  breed;  but  there  are  many  good  cattle  approaching  almost  to  a  chestnut 
liue,  or  even  a  bay  brown.  If  the  eye  is  clear  and  good  and  the  skin 
mellow,  the  paler  colours  will  bear  hard  work,  and  fatten  as  well  as 
others;  but  a  beast  with  a  pale  skin,  and  hard  under  the  hand,  and  the  eye 
dark  and  dead,  will  be  a  sluggish  worker,  and  an  unprofitable  feeder. 
Those,  however,  that  are  of  a  yellow  colour,  are  said  to  be  subject  to  steal 
(diarrlicea.) 

Some  breeders  object  to  the  slightest  intermixture  of  white — not  even  a 
star  upon  the  forehead  is  allowed;  yet  a  few  good  oxen  have  large  distant 
patches  of  white;  but  if  the  colours  run  into  each  other,  the  beasts  are  con- 
demned as  of  a  mongrel  and  valueless  breed. 

These  are  the  principal  points  of  a  good  Devonshire  ox;  but  he  used  to 
be,  perhaps  he  is  yet,  a  little  too  flat-sided,  and  the  rump  narrowed  too  rap- 
idly behind  the  hip  bones;  he  was  not  sufficiently  ribbed  home,  or  there 
was  too  much  space  between  the  hip  bones  and  the  last  rib;  and  altogether 
he  was  too  light  for  some  tenacious  and  strong  soils.  The  cut  of  the 
working  ox,  in  page  13,  contains  the  portrait  of  one  formerly  belonging  to 
the  Duke  of  Bedford.  It  embodies  almost  every  good  point  of  which  we 
have  spoken. 

Mr,  Western  has  kindly  enabled  us  here  to  add  another  portrait  from 
his  farm.  It  is  a  son  of  the  bull  given  at  page  13,  and  is  a  faithful  repre- 
sentation of  an  ox  beginning  to  fatten,  but  his  characteristic  points  not  yet 
concealed.  Mr.  Western  has  carefully  preserved  this  breed  unmixed  for 
the  last  thirty  years,  and  all  the  cattle  that  he  fattens  are  Devons;  he  rarely 
uses  them  for  the  plough. 


THE  NORTH  DEVON  CATTLE. 


17 


A  selection  from  the  most  perfect  animals  of  the  true  breed — the  bone 
still  small  and  the  neck  fine,  but  the  brisket  deep  and  wide,  and  down  to 
the  kflees,  and  not  an  atom  of  flatness  all  over  the  side — or  one  cross,  and 
only  one  with  the  Hereford,  and  that  stealthily  made — these  have  improv- 
ed the  strength  and  bulk  of  the  North  Devon  ox,  without  impairing,  in  the 
slightest  degree,  his  activity,  his  beauty,  or  his  propensity  to  fatten.* 


''t^^^^?^^f1l 


There  are  few  things  more  remarkable  about  the  Devonshire  cattle  than 
the  comparative  smallness  of  the  cow.  The  bull  is  a  great  deal  less  than 
the  ox,  and  the  cow  almost  as  much  smaller  than  the  bull.  This,  how- 
ever, is  some  disadvantage,  and  the  breeders  are  aware  of  it;  for,  altho\ig!i 
it  may  not  be  necessary  to  have  a  large  bull,  and  especially  as  those  of 
any  extraordinary  size  are  seldom  handsome  in  all  their  pcints,  but  some- 
where or  other  present  coarseness  or  deformity,  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
procure  large  and  serviceable  oxen,  except  from  a  somewhat  roomy  cow. 
These  cows,  however,  although  small,  possess  that  roundness  and  projec- 
tion of  the  two  or  three  last  ribs,  which  make  them  actually  more  roomy 
than  a  careless  examination  of  them  would  indicate.  The  cow  is  particu- 
larly distinguished  for  her  full,  round,  clear  eye,  the  gold  coloured  circle 
round  the  eye,  and  the  same  colour  prevailing  on  the  inside  skin  of  the 
ear.  The  countenance  cheerful,  the  muzzle  orange  or  yellow,  but  the 
rest  of  the  face  having  nothing  of  black,  or  even  of  white  about  it.  The 
jaws  free  from  thickness,  and  the  throat  free  from  dewlap.  The  points 
of  the  back  and  the  hind  quarters  different  from  those  of  other  breeds, 
having  more  of  roundness  and  beauty,  and  being  free  from  most  of  those 
angles  by  which  good  milkers  are  sometimes  distinguished. 

We  are  heie  enabled  to  present  our  readers  with  the  portrait  of  a  cow, 

*  In  the  '  Annals  of  Agriculture,'  vol.  xxx.,  p.  314,  we  have  the  opinion,  in  somewhat 
provincial  terms,  of  a  gt)od  west-country  grazier,  respecting  the  best  form  oftlie  Devon 
cittle.  '  He  buys  at  all  times,  from  Christmas  to  May -day.  North  Devons,  that  are  bred 
from  Portlock  to  Biddeford,  sucli  as  are  five  or  six  years  old.  He  chooses  such  as  are 
small-horned,  and  of  a  yellow-coloured  horn  rather  than  white — small  bones,  as  such 
beasts  thrive  best — rib  bones  round,  not  flat — a  thick  hide  bad — a  very  thin  one  objection- 
able— blade  bones,  chuck — very  thick  and  heavy  in  the  bosom,  as  much  weight  lies  there 
— the  heavier  in  the  shoulder  the  better,  but  not  to  elbow  out — very  wide  and  square 
from  the  points  down  to  the  thighs — middling  in  the  belly — not  cow-bcllicd — not  luck- 
ed up.'     As  a  grazier  he  is  right;  but  this  is  not  the  true  working  Devonshire  ox. 

3* 


18  CATTLE. 

helonging  to  that  indefatigable  agriculturist,  Mr.  Western.  She  was  rising 
four  years  old.  With  regard  to  size  slie  is  a  favourable  specimen  of  the 
Devon  cow.  It  will  be  seen  at  once  how  much  more  roomy  and  fit  for 
breeding  she  is,  than  even  her  somewhat  superior  bulk  would  at  first  in- 
dicate. She  is,  perhaps,  in  a  little  better  condition  than  cows  generally 
are,  or  should  be  in  order  to  yield  their  full  quantity  of  milk. 

Their  qualities  may  be  referred  to  three  points;  their  working,  fattening, 
and  milking. 

Where  the  ground  is  not  too  heavy  the  Devonshire  oxen  are  unrivalled 
at  the  plough.  They  have  a  quickness  of  action  which  no  other  breed 
can  equal,  and  which  very  few  horses  exceed.  They  have  also  a  degree 
of  docility  and  goodness  of  temper,  and  also  stoutness  and  honesty  of 
work,  to  which  many  teams  of  horses  cannot  pretend.  Vancouver,  in  his 
survey  of  Devonshire,  says,  that  it  is  a  common  day's  work  on  fallow 
land  for  four  steers  to  plough  two  acres  with  a  double  furrow  plough. 
Four  good  Devonshire  steers  will  do  as  much  work  in  the  field,  or  on  the 
road,  as  any  three  horses,  and  in  as  quick,  and  often  quicker,  time,  al- 
though many  farmers  calculate  two  oxen  to  be  equal  to  one  horse.  The 
principal  objection  to  the  Devonshire  oxen  is,  that  they  have  not  sufficient 
strength  for  tenacious  clayey  soils:  they  will,  however,  exert  their  strength 
to  the  utmost,  and  stand  many  a  dead  pull,  which  few  horses  could  be  in- 
duced or  forced  to  attempt.  They  are  uniformly  worked  in  yokes,  and 
not  in  collars.  Four  oxen,  or  six  giowing  steers,  are  the  usual  team  em- 
ployed in  the  plough. 

There  is  a  peculiarity  in  driving  the  ox  team,  which  is  very  pleasing  to 
the  stranger,  and  the  remembrance  of  which,  connected  with  his  early  days, 
the  native  does  not  soon  lose.  A  man  and  a  boy  attend  each  team;  the 
boy  chants  that  which  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  any  distinct  tune,  but 
which  is  a  very  pleasing  succession  of  sounds,  resembling  the  counter- 
tenor in  the  service  of  the  cathedral.  He  sings  away  with  unwearied  lungs, 
as  he  trudges  along  almost  from  morning  to  night,  while  every  now  and 
then  the  ploughman,  as  he  directs  the  movement  of  the  team,  puts  in  his 
lower  notes,  but  in  perfect  concord.  When  the  traveller  stops  in  one  of 
the  Devonshire  valleys,  and  hears  this  simple  music  from  the  drivers  of 
the  ploughs  on  the  slope  of  the  hill  on  either  side,  he  experiences  a  plea- 
sure which  this  operation  of  husbandry  could  scarcely  be  supposed  to  be 
capable  of  affTording.  This  chanting  is  said  to  animate  the  oxen  somewhat 
in  the  same  way  as  the  musical  bells  that  are  so  prevalent  in  the  same  coun- 
ty. Certainly  the  oxen  move  along  with  an  agility  that  would  be  scarcely 
expected  from  cattle;  and  the  team  may  be  watched  a  long  while  without 
one  harsh  word  being  heard,  or  the  goad  or  the  whip  applied.  The  op- 
ponents of  ox-husbandry  should  visit  the  valleys  of  north  or  south  Devon, 
to  see  what  this  animal  is  capable  of  performing,  and  how  he  performs  it. 
The  profit  derived  from  the  use  of  oxen  in  this  district  arises  from  the 
activity  to  which  they  are  trained,  and  which  is  unknown  in  any  other  part 
of  the  kingdom.  During  harvest  time,  and  in  catching  weather,  they  are 
sometimes  trotted  along  with  the  empty  waggons,  at  the  rate  of  six  miles 
an  hour,  a  degree  of  speed  which  no  other  ox  but  the 'Devon  has  been  able 
to  stand. 

It  may  appear  singular  to  the  traveller,  that  in  some  of  the  districts  that 
are  supposed  to  be  the  very  head-quarters  of  the  Devon  cattle,  they  are  sel- 
dom used  for  the  plough.  The  explanation,  however,  is  plain  enough. 
The  demand  for  them  among  graziers  is  so  great,  that  the  breeders  obtain 
a  renumerating  price  for  them  at  an  earlier  age  than  that  at  which  they  are 
generally  broken  in  for  the  plough. 


THE  NORTH  DEVON  CATTLE.  19 

They  are  usually  taken  into  work  at  about  two  years,  or  twenty-six 
months  old;  and  they  are  worked  until  they  are  four,  or  five  or  six:  they  are 
then  grazed,  or  kept  on  hay,  and  in  ten  or  twelve  months,  and  without  any 
further  trouble,  they  are  fit  for  the  market.  If  tlie  grass  land  is  good,  no 
corn,  or  cake,  or  turnips,  are  required  for  the  first  winter;  but,  of  course, 
for  a  second  winter  these  must  be  added.  The  grazier  likes  this  breed 
best  at  five  years-old.  and  they  will  usually,  when  taken  from  the  plough, 
fetch  as  much  money  as  at  six.  At  eight,  or  nine  years,  or  older  they  are 
rapidly  declining  in  value. 

Lord  Somerville  states,  that  after  having  been  worked  lightly  on  the 
hills  for  two  years,  they  are  bought  at  four  years  old  by  the  tillage-farmer 
of  the  vales,  and  taken  into  hard  work  from  four  to  six;  and,  what  deserves 
consideration,  an  ox  must  be  tlms  worked,  in  order  for  him  to  attain  his 
fullest  size.  If  he  is  kept  idle  until  he  is  five  or  six,  he  will  invariably  be 
stinted  in  his  growth.  At  six  he  reaches  his  full  stature,  unless  he  is  natural- 
ly disposed  to  be  of  more  than  ordinary  size,  and  then  he  continues  to 
grow  for  another  half-year. 

Their  next  quality  is  thejr  disposition  to  fatten,  and  very  few  rival 
them  here.  They  do  not,  indeed,  attain  the  great  weight  of  some  breeds; 
but,  in  a  given  time,  they  acquire  more  flesh,  and  with  less  consumption  of 
food,  and  their  flesh  is  beautiful  in  its  kind.  It  is  of  that  mottled,  marbled 
character  so  pleasing  to  the  eye,  and  to  the  taste.  Some  very  satisfactory 
experiments  have  been  made  on  this  point. 

Mr.  Carpenter,  a  very  intelligent  farmer,  informs  us,  that  the  Duke  of 
Bedford,  who  has  considerable  property  in  the  county  of  Devon,  had  some 
prime  Hereford  oxen  sent  to  his  Tavistock  estate  in  the  month  of  April, 
and  he  ordered  some  Devons  to  be  bought  in  Crediton  market  at  the 
latter  end  of  the  same  month.  The  Devons  were  not  in  so  good  con- 
dition as  the  Herefords  when  they  were  put  to  grass,  and  cost  about  51. 
per  head  less  than  the  Herefords;  but  at  the  latter  end  of  December, 
when  they  were  all  sold  to  the  butcher,  the  Devons  were  superior  in  fat- 
ness and  in  weight. 

A  more  satisfactory  experiment  was  made  by  the  same  nobleman.  Six 
oxen  were  selected  on  November  16,  1797,  and  fed  until  December  10, 
1798,  and  the  following  was  the  result. 


First  weight. 

Second  weisht. 

Gained. 

Zoor  oil  cake. 

Turnips. 

Hay 

cwt.  qrs.  lbs. 

cwt.  qrs.  lbs. 

cwt.  qrs.  lbs. 

or  stone.        lbs. 

lbs. 

lbs. 

1  Hereford     17    0      1 

18     3       0 

1     2     27 

24.3 

2700 

487 

2  Do.               18     1       0 

21     0     25 

2     3     25 

41.5          423 

2712 

432 

3  Devon         14     1       7 

17    2      7 

3     1       0 

45.4          438 

2608 

295 

4  Do.              14    2      4 

19     1       0 

4    2     14 

64.6          442 

2056 

442 

5  Sussex        16    2      0 

19     3       0 

3     10 

45.4          432 

2655 

392 

6  Leicester    15     2    14 

18     2      0 

2    3    14 

40.2          434 

2652 

400 

An  experiment  of  the  same  nature  was  made,  in  order  to  compare  the 
fattening  properties  of  the  Glamorgan  with  the  Devon.  They  were  fed 
from  January  6,  to  December  1,  1804,  and  the  following  was  the  result. 

First  weight.  Second  weight.  Gain, 

cwt.    qrs.  lbs.  cwt.    qrs.  lbs.  cwt.  qrs.   lbs.  or  stone. 

1  Devon            13       1       7  17      3      7  4      2      0  63 

2  Do.                 16      0     10  20      3     14  4      3      2  67 

3  Glamorgan   13      3      0  16      0     14  3      3     18  54.6 

We  are  aware  that  other  experiments  have  been  instituted,  and  with  dif- 
ferent results.  One  was  made  about  the  same  time  at  Petworth,  by  the  Earl 
of  Egremont.  Nine  oxen,  consisting  of  three  Herefords,  three  of  the  Sus- 


20  CATTLE. 

sex  breed,  and  three  Devons,  were  put  up  to  fat.  They  were  allowed  only 
sixteen  weeks,  ihey  had  not  the  trial  nearly  of  a  twelvemonth,  as  in  the 
Duke  of  Bedford's  experiment,  and  the  Devons  were  found  to  be  lowest  on 
the  list,  and  that  to  a  very  considerable  extent.  These  Devons,  although 
selected  fairly  enough,  were  probably  exceptions  to  their  general  character 
for  rapid  thriving.  We  are,  however,  compelled  to  add,  that  the  Duke 
of  Bedford  has,  to  a  considerable  extent,  changed  his  breed,  at  Woburn, 
and  the  Devons  have,  in  a  great  degree,  given  way  to  the  Herefords.* 

The  North  Devon  oxen  are  rarely  shod,  and  very  rarely  lame.f 

For  the  dairy,  the  North  Devons  must  be  acknowledged  to  be  inferior 
to  several  other  breeds.  The  milk  is  good,  and  yields  more  than  an  aver-, 
age  proportion  of  cream  and  butter;  but  it  is  deficient  in  quantity.  There 
are  those,  however,  and  no  mean  judges,  who  deny  this,  and  select  the 
North  Devons  even  for  the  dairy. 

Mr.  Conyers,  of  Copt  Hall,  near  Eppinir,  a  district  almost  exclusively 
devoted  to  the  purposes  of  the  dairy,  preferred  the  North  Devons  on  ac- 
count ol'  their  large  produce,  whether  in  milk,  butter,  or  by  suckling.  He 
thought  that  they  held  their  milk  longer  than  any  other  sort  that  he  had 
tried;  that  they  were  liable  to  fewer  disorders  in  their  udders;  and  that 
being  of  small  size,  they  did  not  eat  more  than  half  what  larger  cows  con- 
sumed. He  thus  sums  up  his  account  of  them:  '  Upon  an  average,  ten 
cows  give  me  five  dozen  pounds  of  butter  per  week  in  the  summer,  and 
two  dozen  in  the  winter.  A  good  North  Devon  cow  fats  two  calves  a 
year.  My  thirty  North  Devon  cows  have  this  year  (about  1788)  upon  an 
average  produced  a  profit  of  13/.  14s.  per  cow. 

Mr.  Rogers,  veterinary  surgeon  at  Exeter,  and  to  Avhom  we  are  in- 
debted for  some  valuable  hints,  says  that  the  quality  of  the  milk  is  good, 
and  the  quantity  remunerating  to  the  dairyman.  Such  is  not,  however,  the 
common  opinion.  They  are  kept  principally  for  their  other  good  qualities, 
in  order  to  preserve  the  breed;  and  because,  as  nurses,  they  are  indeed 
excellent,  and  the  calves  thrive  from  their  small  quantity  of  milk,  more 
rapidly  than  could  possibly  be  expected. 

This  aboriginal  breed  of  British  cattle  is  a  very  valuable  one,  and  seems 
to  have  arrived  at  the  highest  point  of  perfection  of  which  it  is  capable. 
It  is  heavier  than  it  was  thirty  years  ago,  yet  fully  as  active.     Its  aptitude 

*  Of  the  extent  to  which  prejudice  will  mislead  the  best  judges,  we  heve  a  remarkable 
instance  in  one  of  the  most  zealous  patrons  of  the  short  horns  in  Worcestershire,  who 
thus  speaks  of  the  Devonshire  Cittle  in  the  Farmer's  Mag-azine,  February,  1827.  'Of 
the  late  maturity  of  the  Devons  I  had  an  opportunity  to  form  a  tolerably  correct  opinion 
at  Bridgewater  fur,  wliere  the  best  possible  muster  of  Devonshire  oxen  is  made.  I  saw 
one,  and  only  one  good  ox  among  them.  With  the  exception  of  this  animal,  I  did  not 
see  one  level  carcass,  but  a  want  of  beef  in  the  roasting  parts,  low  and  poor  loins,  coarse 
shoulders,  bad  twist,  and  a  general  want  oftlie  indications  of  inside  proof.' 

He  saw  one  of  these  oxen  atler  it  was  killed  and  he  says,  'I  never  beheld  a  worse 
animal  under  similar  eircumstmces.  The  meat  was  actually  running  about  the  stall, 
being  nothing  more  than  a  mixture  of  flabby  masses,  deficient  of  firmness  of  texture  and 
quality.' 

t  A  writer  in  the  '  Farmer's  Magazine,'  Mr.  Herbert,  thus  describes  the  Devonshire  ox: 
'Nimble  and  free,  outwalking  many  horses,  healthy  and  hardy,  and  fattening  even  in  a 
straw-yard,  good  tempered,  will  stand  many  a  dead  pull,  fat  in  half  the  time  of  a  Sussex, 
earlier  to  the  yolte  than  steers  of  any  other  breed,  lighter  than  the  Sussex;  but  not  so 
well  horned,  thin  fleshed,  light  along  the  tops  of  his  ribs,  a  sparkling  cutter,  and  lean 
well  intermixed  with  liit.' 

Of  the  cow,  he  says,  'Red,  starred,  or  white  faced,  better  horned  than  the  ox,  very 
quiet,  the  playmate  of  the  cliildren,  a  k^ure  brtedcr,  a  good  milker,  a  quick  fittener,  fair 
grass-fed  beef  in  three  months.  The  ox  firom  110  to  13  J  stone,  and  has  been  fed  to  170; 
and  the  cow,  to  70  or  80.' 


THE  NORTH  DEVON  CATTLE.  SI 

to  f\Uten  is  increased,  rather  than  diminished;  and  its  property  as  a  milker 
could  not  be  improved,  without  probable  or  certain  detriment  to  its  grazing 
qualities, 

Mr.  Rogers  tells  us,  that  two  breeders  with  whom  he  is  acquainted, 
have  lately  attempted  to  cross  the  North  Devons  with  the  Herefords,  but 
that  the  result  Avas  not  satisfactory.  We  can  account  for  that.  Those 
points  in  which  the  Devons  were  deficient  thirty  years  ago,  are  now  fully 
suppHed,  and  we  cordially  agree  with  him,  that  all  that  is  now  wanting,  is 
a  judicious  selection  of  the  most  perfect  of  the  present  breed,  in  order  to  pre- 
serve it  in  its  state  of  greatest  purity.  Many  of  the  breeders  are  as  care- 
less as  they  ever  were;  but  the  spirit  of  emulation  is  excited  in  others. 
Mr.  Davy,  of  North  Mollon,  lately  sold  a  four-year  old  bull,  for  which  the 
purchaser  had  determined  to  give  one  hundred  guineas  had  it  been  asked; 
and  Mr.  Henwood  of  Crediton  has  now  twenty-one  cows,  which,  within 
a  month  from  the  period  of  losing  their  milk,  w^ould  average  at  least  ten 
score  per  quarter.  The  Duke  of  Somerset  is  a  zealous  patron  and  impro- 
ver of  the  breed,  and  has  some  beautiful  cattle;  and,  whatever  may  be  the 
case  at  Woburn,  the  Duke  of  Bedford  here  gives  almost  exclusive  prefer- 
ence to  the  Devons.  When  offering  it  as  his  opinion,  that  the  Devonshire 
cattle  are  more  than  usually  free  from  disease,  Mr.  Rogers  gives  a  hint  that 
may  be  useful  in  every  district  of  the  kingdom.  He  attributes,  and  very 
truly,  the  greater  part  of  the  maladies  of  cattle,  and  all  those  of  the  respi- 
ratory system,  to  injudicious  exposuie  to  cold  and  wet;  and  he  asks  whe- 
ther the  height  and  thickness  of  the  Devonshire  fences,  as  affording  a  com- 
fortable shelter  to  the  cattle,  may  not  have  much  to  do  wdth  this  exemp- 
tion from  disease? 

Mr.  Roberts,  veterinary  surgeon  at  South  Molton,  informs  us  that  the 
Nortii  Devons  have  been  crossed  with  the  Guernsey  breed,  and  that  the 
consequence  has  been,  that  they  have  been  rendered  more  valuable  for  the 
dairy;  but  they  have  been  so  much  injured  for  the  plough,  and  for  the  gra- 
zier, that  the  iDreeders  are  jealous  to  preserve  the  old  stock  in  their  native 
purity.  Mr.  Roberts  speaks  of  a  gentleman  of  South  Molton,  who  was 
very  tenacious  in  preserving  unsullied  a  breed  of  first-rate  North  Devons, 
and  who  refused  fifty  guineas  for  a  cow  in  calf.  He  sold  her,  afterwards, 
for  32/,  when  she  was  thirteen  years  old.  When  this  gentleman  sold  off 
his  stock,  twelve  cows  fetched  on  an  average  30/.  each. 

Mr.  Carpenter,  to  whom  we  have  already  alluded,  says  that  '  one  cross 
of  the  North  Devon  with  the  Hereford  is  of  advantage,  as  we  have  addition- 
al size  and  aptitude  to  fatten  without  losing  activity.'  We  apprehend  that 
he  refers  to  the  state  of  these  cattle  some  years  ago,  and  when  they  were 
lighter,  rather  than  to  the  present  improved  breed;  but  he  very  judiciously 
adds  '  it  must  be  one  cross  alone — you  must  not  exceed  the  first  dash — 
or  you  destroy  the  activity  in  labour,  which  is  the  principal  source  of  profit 
to  a  Devonshire  farmer.'  He  adds,  '  never  introduce  heifeis;  butget  a  bull 
of  the  very  best  blood,  and  after  the  first  cross,  return  to  the  best  Devon  bull 
again,  and  continue  until  the  white  face  is  nearly  extinct  before  you  attempt 
to  cross  a  second  time.  The  Durhams  have  been  tried,  but  they  will  not 
work,  and  are  too  much  loaded  with  coarse  plain  meat  in  the  fore-quarter.' 

The  treatment  of  the  calf  is  nearly  the  same  in  every  district  of  North 
Devon.  The  calves  that  are  dropped  at  Michaelmas,  and  some  time  after- 
wards, are  preferred  to  those  that  come  in  February,  notwithstanding  the 
additional  trouble  and  expense  during  the  winter.  The  calf  is  permitted 
to  suck  three  times  every  day  for  a  week.  It  is  then  used  to  the  finger, 
and  warm  new  milk  is  given  it  for  three  weeks  longer.     For  two  mouths 


22  CATTLE. 

afterwards  it  has  plenty  of  warm  scalded  milk,  mixed  with  a  little  finely- 
powdered  linseed-rake.  Its  morning- and  evening  meals  are  then  gradually 
lessened;  and,  when  it  is  four  months  old,  it  is  quite  weaned.* 

Of  the  other  districts  of  Devonshire  little  need  be  said.  Towards  the 
south,  extending  from  Hartlnnd  towards  Tiverton,  the  North  Devons  pre- 
vail, and  in  their  greatest  state  of  purity.  There  are  more  dairies  than  in 
the  north,  and  supplied  principally  by  the  North  Devon  cows,  and  a  few 
of  the  South  Devons.  Such  are  the  differences  of  opinion  even  in  neigh- 
bouring districts,  that  the  later  calves  nre  here  uniformly  preferred,  which 
are  longer  suckled,  and  afterwards  fed  with  milk  and  linseed-meal. 

Advancing  more  to  the  south,  and  towards  tlw  borders  of  Cornwall,  a 
different  breed  presents  itself,  heavier  and  coarser.  We  have  arrived  now 
in  the  neiglibourhood  of  Devonport,  where  larger  cattle  are  required  for 
the  service  of  the  navy;  but  we  must  go  a  little  more  to  the  south,  and  en- 
ter on  the  tract  of  country  which  extends  from  Tavistock  to  Newton  Ab- 
bott before  we  have  the  South  Devons  in  full  perfection.  They  are  a  mix- 
ture of  the  North  Devons  with  the  native  breed  of  the  country;  and  so  adap- 
ted do  they  seem  to  be  to  the  soil,  that  all  attempts  to  improve  them,  so 
far  as  grazing  and  fattening  go,  have  utterly  filled.  They  are  often  14  cwt. 
to  the  four  quarters;  and  steers  of  2j  cwt.  are  got  with  fair  hay  and  grass 
to  weigh  from  six  to  nine  cwt.  They  bear  considerable  resemblance  to 
the  Herefords,  and  sometimes  the  colour  and  the  horn  and  the  white  face 
are  so  much  alike  in  both,  that  it  is  difficuU  to  distinguish  between  them, 
except  that  they  are  usually  smaller  than  tlie  Herefords. 

There  are  few  parts  of  the  country  in  which  there  is  such  bad  manage- 
ment, and  utter  neglect  of  the  preservation  of  the  breed  as  in  this  and  the 
most  eastern  part  of  Devon.  It  is  not  properly  a  grazing  district  except  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Tavistock;  but  young  cattle  are  rather  brought  for- 
ward for  after-grass  or  turnips  elsewhere  than  finished  here  for  the  market, 
and  the  method  in  which  this  is  conducted  is  not  to  be  commended.  If  a 
calf  look  likely  to  fatten,  it  is  suffered  to  run  with  the  cow  ten  or  twelve 
months,  and  then  slaughtered.  If  others  that  had  not  before  shown  a  dis- 
position to  thrive  now  start,  they  are  forwarded  as  quickly  as  may  be,  and 
disposed  of;  and  therefore  it  is,  that  all  those  that  are  retained,  and  by  which 
the  stock  is  to  be  kept  up,  are  the  very  refuse  of  the  farm.  Yet  the  breed 
is  not  materially  deteriorated.  It  has  found  acoiigenial  climate,  and  it  will 
flourish  there  in  spite  of  neglect  and  injury.  The  grand  secret  of  breeding 
is  to  suit  the  breed  to  the  soil  and  climate.  It  is  because  this  has  not  been 
studied,  that  those  breeds  which  have  been  invaluable  in  certain  districts, 
have  proved  altogether  profitless,  and  unworthy  of  culture  in  others.  The 
South  Devons  are  equally  profitable  for  the  grazier,  the  breeder,  and  the 
butcher;  but  their  flesh  is  not  so  delicate  as  that  of  the  North  Devons. 
They  do  for  the  consumption  of  the  navy;  but  they  will  not  suit  the  fasti- 
dious appetites  of  the  inhabitants  of  Bath,  and  the  metropolis. 

*  The  following  account  of  the  principal  cattle  fairs  in  Devonshire,  and  principally 
for  the  sale  of  the  North  Devon  breed,  is  extracted  from  the  Annuls  of  Agriculture: — 

'  Tliose  who  would  seek  this  breed  at  fairs,  will  find  ihem  first  at  Ashbrittle,  a  bordering 
parish  between  the  two  counlius  (Devonshire  and  Somerset),  held  for  oxen  on  the  25tli 
of  February;  but  this  does  not  terminate  as  to  prices.  Bishops  Lydiard,  five  n)iles  to  the 
west  of  Taunton,  on  the  25th  of  March,  for  oxen  ako.  At  this  and  Wellinsfton,  which 
are  greater  fairs  than  Ashbrittle,  prices  of  stock  are  fully  ascertained.  Barnstaple,  the 
Friday  before  the  21st  of  April.  The  great  monthly  markets  of  Taunton,  Wivelis- 
comb,  Tiverton,  and  Moulton,  carry  on  the  business  till  tlie  fairs  of  Crcditon,  the  11th 
of  May.  West  Bagborough,  tl)e  12th,  and  VVivcli>^eonib  the  13th.  North  Moulton, 
first  Wednesday  alter  tlie  I2th  of  May.  Banipton,  Whit-Tuesday:  and  South  Moulton, 
Wednesday  before  the  22d  of  June.' 


NORTH  DEVON  CATTLE.  23 

The  farmers  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dartmoor  breed  very  kw  cattle. 
Their  calves  are  usually  procured  from  East  Devon,  or  even  from  Somer- 
set or  Dorset.  They  are  reared  at  the  foot  of  the  moors  for  the  use  of  the 
miners.  All,  however,  are  not  consumed;  but  the  steers  are  sold  to  the 
farmers  of  the  South  Hams,  who  work  them  as  long  as  they  are  serviceable; 
they  are  then  transferred  to  the  graziers  from  Soniersetshire,or  East  Devon, 
or  Dorset,  by  whom  they  are  probably  driven  back  to  their  native  country, 
and  prepared  for  the  market  of  Bristol  or  London.  A  very  curious  pere- 
grination this,  which  great  numbers  of  the  west-country  cattle  experience. 

As  we  now  travel  eastward,  we  begin  to  lose  all  distinctness  of  breed. 
The  vale  of  Exeter  is  a  dairy  district  and,  as  such,  contains  all  kinds  of 
cattle,  according  to  the  fancy  of  the  farmer.  There  are  a  few  pure  North 
Devons,  more  South  Devons,  and  some  Alderneys;  but  the  majority  are 
mongrels  of  every  description:  many  of  them,  however,  are  excellent  cows, 
and  such  as  are  found  scattered  over  Cornwall,  West  Devonshire,  Somer- 
set, and  part  of  Dorset. 

As  we  advance  along  the  south  and  the  east,  to  Teignmouth,  Exmouth, 
Sidmouth,  and  over  the  hill  to  the  fruitful  vale  of  Honiton,  we  do  not 
find  oxen  so  much  used  in  husbandry.  The  soil  is  either  a  cold  hard  clay, 
or  its  flints  would  speedily  destroy  the  feet  of  the  oxen.  The  same 
variety  of  pure  North  and  South  Devons,  and  natives  of  that  particular 
district,  with  intermixtures  of  every  breed  prevail,  but  the  South  Devons 
are  principally  seen.  Some  of  these  cows  seem  to  unite  the  opposite 
qualities  of  fattening  and  milking.  A  South  Devon  has  been  known,  soon 
after  calving,  to  yield  more  than  two  pounds  of  butter  a  day;  and  many 
of  the  old  southern  native  breed  are  equal  to  any  short  horns  in  the  quan- 
tity of  their  milk,  and  far  superior  to  them  in  its  quality. 

I  must  not  quit  this  part  of  the  country  without  describing  the  clouted 
cream,  which  is  peculiar  to  the  west  of  England.  The  milk  is  suffered 
to  stand  in  a  bell-metal  vessel  four  and  twenty  hours;  it  is  then  placed 
over  a  small  wood  fire,  so  that  the  heat  shall  be  very  gradually  communi- 
cated to  it.  After  it  has  been  over  the  fire  about  an  hour  and  a  half,  and 
is  approaching  to  the  state  of  simmering,  the  vessel  is  struck  every  now 
and  then  with  the  knuckle,  or  is  very  carefully  watched.  As  soon  as  it 
ceases  to  ring,  or  the  first  bubble  appears,  a  slight  agitation  or  simmering, 
previous  to  boiling,  has  commenced;  and  the  secret  of  the  preparation  is 
that  this  simmering  shall  not  proceed  to  boiling.  The  milk  is  immediate- 
ly removed  from  the  fire,  and  set  by  for  twenty-four  hours  more.  At  the 
end  of  this  time  all  the  cream  will  have  arisen,  and  be  thick  enough  to  cut 
with  a  knife.  It  is  then  carefully  skimmed  off".  This  is  a  great  luxury 
with  coffee  or  with  tarts,  and  the  Devonshire  strawberries  and  cream  need 
no  praise. 

The  dairy  people  in  these  districts  say,  that  it  is  the  most  profitable 
way  of  treating  the  milk;  that  five  pounds  of  butter  can  he  obtained  from 
a  given  quantity,  where  only  four  would  be  yielded  by  the  ordinary  meth- 
od; and  that  the  butter  is  moie  saleable,  on  account  of  the  pleasant  taste  it 
has  acquired,  and  which  even  its  occasional  slight  smoky  flavour  scarcely 
impairs.  The  milk  is  proportionably  impoverished;  but  it  also  has  gained 
a  taste  which  renders  it  more  grateful  to  the  pigs;  while  it  never  scours 
them,  but  removes  the  diarrhoea  produced  by  other  food.  The  skim-milk 
cheese  must,  however,  be  abandoned,  or  if  a  little  is  made,  it  is  exceed- 
ingly poor  and  tasteless. 


24  CATTLE. 


CORNWALL. 


For  much  valuable  information  with  regard  to  the  breed  and  management 
of  the  the  cattle  of  Cornwall,  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Karkeek,  veterinary 
surgeon  at  Truro.  This  gentleman  observes,  tliat  fish,  tin,  and  copper 
have  long  been  considered  the  staple  commodities  of  the  county  of  Corn- 
wall, while  agriculture  has  been  viewed  as  a  secondary  object  of  pursuit. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  pasturing  of  cattle,  and  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil,  constituted  the  principal  employment  of  the  early  inhabitants;  but 
their  attention  was  not  long  confined  to  the  vegetable  productions  of  the 
earth  after  they  had  discovered  that  greater  riches  might  be  torn  from  its 
bowels  than  reaped  on  its  surface;  for  although,  when  Caesar  invaded  the 
island,  the  Damnonians  (the  inhabitants  of  Devon  and  Cornwall)  possess- 
ed great  numbers  of  cattle,  yet  in  a  few  centuries  their  pastures  were  ne- 
glected, and  all  their  skill  and  industry  were  exerted  in  digging  up  '  the 
ores  that  speak  the  county's  sterling  praise.' 

Carew,  the  historian  of  Cornwall,  says,  that  '  the  people  devoting  them- 
selves entirely  to  tin,  their  neighbours  in  Devonshire  and  Somersetshire 
hired  their  pastures  at  a  rent,  and  stored  them  with  the  cattle  which  they 
brought  from  their  own  homes,  and  made  their  profits  of  the  Cornish  by 
cattle  fed  at  their  own  doors.  The  same  persons  also  supplied  them  at 
their  markets  with  many  hundred  quarters  of  corn  and  horse-loads  of  bread.' 

The  state  of  agriculture  has,  however,  within  the  last  century  or  two, 
materially  improved  in  this  extreme  Avestern  portion  of  the  kingdom. 

The  native  breed  of  Cornwall  is  still  to  be  found  on  some  of  the  moors 
of  the  western  parts  of  the  county,  and  in  the  possession  of  many  of  the 
little  farmers.  They  are  small,  black,  with  horns  rather  short,  very  coarsely 
boned,  with  large  offals,  and  rarely  weighing  more  than  three  or  four  hun- 
dred weight.  They  bear  an  evident  resemblance  to  the  native  breeds  of 
Wales  and  Scotland.  They  are  very  hardy,  and  calculated  to  endure  the 
changeable  temperature  of  this  peninsular  and  unevenly-surfaced  county. 

Although  uncultivated  and  unimproved,  this  is  far  from  being  a  bad 
breed  of  cattle.  They  are  fair  milkers;  their  thick  hides  keep  out  the  cold 
and  wet,  and  protect  them  from  many  diseases;  they  range  on  the  moors, 
and  coarse  grounds,  and  commons  in  the  summer,  at  little  or  no  expense, 
and  in  the  winter  are  satisfied  with  heath  and  furze,  and  a  small  quantity 
of  straw;  and  when  put  upon  better  keep,  they  get  fat  with  a  rapidity 
scarcely  credible. 

A  more  prevailing  and  a  better  breed  is  an  evident  cross  between  the 
North  Devon  and  the  indigenous  one  of  the  county.  It  is  somewhat 
larger,  with  Avell-formed  head,  and  more  upright  horns,  resembling,  in  the 
manner  in  which  they  are  turned,  those  of  the  wild  cattle  of  Chilingham 
Park.  Their  necks,  like  those  of  the  Devons,  are  thin,  rapidly  narrowing 
from  the  breast  towards  the  head.  Their  chests  are  deep,  but  ratlier  nar- 
rov/,  and  the  legs  a  little  longer  than  in  some  other  favourite  breeds.  Their 
hind  quarters  are  deep  and  full.  They  get  fat  in  their  points,  but  fall  away 
much  in  their  sides,  and  are  thin  in  their  belly-pieces;  they  therefore  weigh 
light,  and  their  hides  are  thin  and  unprofitable.  They  mostly  bear  some 
striking  character  of  the  North  Devon — they  have  the  same  reddish-brown 
coat,  bright  dun  muzzle,  and  ring  about  the  eye. 

In  most  parts  of  Cornwall,  however,  the  extreme  Western  districts 
excepted,  the  true  North  Devons  are  found  equal  to  any  their  native 
country  will  produce.     Many  spirited  farmers  go  to  Barnstaple,  or  South 

Library 
N.  C.  State  College 


THE  CORNWALL  CATTLE.  25 

Molton  and  buy  up  great  numbers  of  one  and  two-year-old  steers,  and 
work  them  until  they  are  eight  or  ten  years  old:  and,  as  often  as  they 
have  opportunity,  they  purchase  elsewhere  the  finest  bulls  and  heifers  that 
can  be  selected,  from  among  the  best  Devonshire  breeders.  Some  had 
objected  to  the  apparently  delicate  frame  and  constitution  of  the  North 
Devon,  but  he  has  always  been  found  sufficiently  hardy  to  endure  even 
the  changeable  clime  of  Cornwall,  where  '  the  smiles  of  summer,  and 
the  rage  of  storms,'  often  succeed  each  other  in  a  few  hours.  The  Rev. 
II.  H.  Tremayne,  and  J.  P.  Peter,  Esq.,  were  diligent  breeders  of  the 
North  Devon  cattle;  and  this  beautiful  animal  did  not  degenerate  under 
their  management. 

The  cows  are  chiefly  of  the  Cornish  and  North  Devon  breeds;  but  in 
the  principal  towns,  -ind  on  the  sea  coast,  a  few  Alderneys  are  kept.  A 
breed  between  the  Cornish  and  the  Alderney  has  been  attempted,  and 
with  considerable  success,  and  uniting  the  rare  qualities  of  abundance  of 
milk  with  aptitude  to  fatten. 

The  Durham  breed  has  lately  been  introduced  by  Mr.  Peter,  and  ap- 
pears to  have  succeeded  well  in  a  few  grazing  districts.  A  cross  between 
the  Devon  cow  and  the  Durham  bull  is  an  evident  improvement,  for 
the  animal  thus  produced  is  profitable  both  for  the  dairy  and  the 
butcher.  It  must,  however,  be  confessed,  that  the  majority  of  the  Cornish 
farmers  are  partial  to  the  North  Devons,  and  they  appear  to  be  better  adapt- 
ed to  the  soil  of  this  country  than  any  other  breed. 

There  is  no  particular  management  of  the  dairy  cow  in  Cornwall.  About 
November,  the  cows  are  turned  for  the  winter  into  crofts  or  little  fields 
that  have  been  kept  up  for  them.  In  the  spring  and  summer,  they  go 
into  larger  or  uninclosed  ground.  The  fattening  beasts  are  generally  fed 
on  turnips  in  the  winter;  and  many  of  them  are  turned  out  from  Februa- 
ry to  June  for  the  home  consumption  of  Devonport  and  Plymouth 
markets. 

Tlie  Cornish  land  is  not  usually  very  rich,  but  the  farmer  is  industrious, 
and  manages  well.  In  many  places  the  sod  is  pared  and  burned  for  wheat; 
and  after  wheat  come  turnips,  which  produce  much  winter  food,  and  a 
great  deal  of  dung,  yet  not  in  sufficient  quantity  for  the  stock.  The 
farmers  are  generally  compelled  to  give  their  young  stock,  and  even  their 
older  beasts,  a  great  deal  of  straw.  Sea-sand  and  sea-weed  are  often  called 
into  requisition  for  manure,  and  are  found  to  be  exceedingly  useful. 

Arthur  Young  describes  the  method  of  rearing  their  calves  vr'hich  is 
still  pursued  in  a  great  part  of  the  county.  They  are  taken  from  the  cow 
between  the  fourth  and  sixth  day.  Raw  milk  is  then  given  to  them  for  ten 
days  or  a  fortnight;  and  afterwards  scalded  milk  and  gruel,  in  the  quantity 
of  three  or  four  quarts  in  the  morning  and  at  night.  A  mixture  of  gruel 
and  milk  is  found  to  be  better  than  scalded  milk  alone.  Some  give  theif 
own  family-broth,  which  is  thought  te  be  as  good  as,  or  better  than,  the 
gruel.  The  calves  are  fond  of  it,  and  thrive  upon  it;  and  the  flavour  of  the 
salted  provisions  increases  the  appetite,  and  promotes  digestion.  One 
quart  ofbroth  or  gruel  is  added  to  two  quarts  of  milk.  A  little  fine  hay  is 
now  placed  before  them,  which  they  soon  begin  to  eat.  For  a  little  while 
after  they  are  turned  to  grass,  this  food  is  continued,  according  to  the 
quantity  of  milk  in  hand,  or  the  goodness  and  quality  of  the  pasture. 
When  they  are  ten  or  fourteen  weeks  old;  they  need  no  more  milk,  and, 
a  considerable  time  before  this,  the  quantity  is  reduced  to  less  than  half. 
In  some  parts,  the  calves  are,  during  the  winter  and  after  the  two  first 
months,  reared  solely  on  hay  and  turnips,  the  turnips  being  shced  fbr 
that  purpose.  Many  of  the  best  breeders  place  two  calves  to  one  cow. 
4 


26  CATTLE. 

In  the  summer,  many  farmers  feed  the  calves  from  the  pail  with  scalded 
milk,  for  a  couple  of  months,  and  then  turn  them  to  grass. 

Very  little  cheese  is  made  in  Cornwall,  and  that  little  is  exceedingly  bad. 
The  butter,  however,  is  excellent;  and  the  Cornish  housewives  are  as  expert 
in  making  the  delicious  clouted  cream  as  any  of  the  Devonshire  ones. 

The  system  of  letting  cows  out  to  labourers  or  poor  people  is  not 
uncommon  in  Cornwall.  It  is  a  great  accommodation  to  the  hirer,  and 
affords  a  good  remuneration  to  the  owner.  The  price  varies  with  the 
situation  and  keep;  but  it  is  usually  from  six  to  eight  pounds,  the  calf 
being  the  property  of  the  owner  of  the  beast. 

A  few  years  ago,  oxen  were  employed  in  husbandry  as  frequently  in 
Cornwall  as  in  any  part  of  Devonshire.  Not  only  the  North  Devons,  but 
the  improved  Cornish  breed,  were  used  for  the  purpose.  Although  small  and 
light,  they  were  active,  docile,  and  hardy.  The  Cornish  plough  is  almost 
as  proverbial  as  the  Devon;  and  it  was  formerly  worked  by  four  oxen,  with 
a  horse  or  two  before  them.  This  practice  is  now  considerably  on  the 
decline,  for  experience  has  proved,  that  both  oxen  and  horses  are  best 
worked  by  themselves.  Oxen  are  also  employed  in  butts  and  wains, 
substitutes  for  a  kind  of  rude  cart  or  waggon,  and  well  adapted  for  the 
beasts  that  are  to  draw  them,  and  the  roads  they  are  to  travel. 

They  are  brought  to  the  yoke  at  three  years  old,  and  worked  until  they 
are  seven  or  eight.  They  are  as  active  as  any  horses;  and,  like  the 
Devons,  they  are  stimulated  much  more  by  the  pleasing  chaunt  of  the 
ploughboy  than  by  the  goad.  They  are  shod,  and  brakes  are  generally 
used  for  this  purpose. 

Of  late  years,  however,  the  use  of  oxen  in  husbandry  is  getting  out  of 
practice.  The  propriety  and  economy  of  this  will  be  discussed  in  the 
proper  place;  but  oxen  are  not  now  generally  seen  even  in  the  plough, 
and  on  the  road  they,  are  very  rarely  employed. 

Except  for  home  consumption,  few  cattle  are  fattened  in  Cornwall, 
and  the  store  beasts  are  usually  sent  to  Somersetshire,  or  other  grazing 
counties. 

DORSETSHIRE. 

The  '  old  Dorset  ox' — but  whether  it  is  the  indigenous  breed  of  the 
county  is  a  matter  of  doubt — has  long  horns.  Some  assert,  and  with  an 
appearance  of  probability,  that  the  true  Dorset  was  a  middle  horn,  some- 
what resembling  the  South  Devon,  but  not  so  large,  and  that  the  long 
horn  is  an  importation  from  the  northern  or  midland  counties,  or  a  mix- 
ture of  the  Hampshire,  the  Wiltshire,  and  perhaps  the  Oxfordshire. 
However,  a  long-horned  breed,  a  rough  sort  of  catde,  and  far  from 
handsome,  has  been  so  many  years  established  in  various  parts  of  the 
county,  that  it  is  regarded  by  some  as  the  original  one.  These  have  been 
crossed  with  the  Devon  bull,  and  evidently  with  advantage:  they  are 
hardy,  good  milkers,  and  fatten  quickly.  They  are  principally  found  in 
the  eastern  and  northern  divisions  of  the  county.  Towards  the  west,  a 
mixture  of  the  Devon  and  the  Dorset  prevails,  and  many  farmers  culti- 
vate the  pure  Devons.  The  climate,  however,  does  not  appear  to  suit 
the  true  Devons,  for  they  do  not  here  grow  to  any  great  size;  and  some 
have  said  that  they  are  even  worse  milkers  than  in  their  native  district, 
ai>d  subject  to  various  diseases,  and  particularly  to  diarrhoea.  Mr.  Nobbs, 
of  Catstoke,  is  decidedly  of  this  opinion. 

The  mixture  of  the  Devon  and  the  Dorset  is  an  improvement  on  both. 
Some  have  obtained  a  still  better  kind  of  cattle  by  crossing  again  with  the 
Durham:    and  others  are,  with   every  probability  of  success,   engrafting 


THE  SOMERSETSHIRE  CATTLE.  27 

the  Hereford  on  the  Dorset  stock.  Three  points  of  superiority  are  said  to 
be  gained  over  the  Devon  cross: — larger  size,  more  hardiness,  and  a  dis- 
position to  yield  a  greater  quantity  of  better  milk. 

The  use  of  oxen  for  husbandry-work,  had  been  for  many  years  declining 
in  this  country;  but  it  has  of  late,  and  to  a  somewhat  extraordinary  degree, 
revived  in  some  districts.  The  oxen  are  oftener  worked  in  collars  than 
in  yokes.  The  cattle  used  for  the  plough  or  the  team  are  principally  the 
pure  North  Devons,  Avhich  are  purchased  at  two  years'  old  in  the  North 
Devon  markets,  worked  two  or  three  years,  and  then  fatted — some  for  the 
London  but  mostly  for  the  home  markets;  sometimes,  however,  a  mix- 
ture of  the  Devon  and  Dorset  is  used  for  draught.  In  the  northern 
part  of  the  county  we  find  crosses  of  almost  every  kind,  including  not 
only  those  from  the  neighbouring  counties  of  Hants  and  Wilts,  but  from 
Oxford,  Gloucester,  Shropshire,  and  Leicestershire. 

In  the  Dorset  dairies,  there  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  a  decidedly  pre- 
vailing breed.  If  the  heifer  is  likely  to  make  a  good  milker,  that  is  all  that 
is  regarded,  and  little  or  no  attention  is  paid  to  the  shape,  or  colour,  or 
size.  About  a  fifth  part  of  Dorsetshire  is  occupied  by  the  vale  of  Black- 
moor,  a  very  rich  pastoral  country,  and  well  adapted  for  the  purposes  of 
the  dairy.  A  considerable  quantity  of  butter  and  cheese  is  made  here.  On 
those  farms  where  most  butter  is  made,  the  Double  Dorset  cheese  is  manu- 
factured from  the  skimmed  milk  alone,  and  which,  when  kept  until  it  be- 
comes '  blue-vinney'd,'  is  very  much  approved;  it  is,  however,  more  ce- 
lebrated in  than  out  of  the  country.  A  great  quantity  of  butter,  both  in  its 
fresh  and  salted  state,  is  sent  to  London. 

A  great  many  calves  are  sent  from  the  Vale  of  Blackmoor  in  the  spring 
of  the  year  to  Poole,  and  there  shipped  for  Portsmouth;  and  the  supply 
being  greater  than  the  demand,  the  butchers  find  it  answer  their  purpose 
to  forward  much  of  it  to  the  London  market. 

Much  of  this  concise  account  of  Dorsetshire  we  owe  to  Mr.  W.  C. 
Spooner,  veterinary  surgeon  at  Blandford. 

SOMERSETSHIRE. 

The  North  Devon  cattle  prevail  along  that  part  of  the  county  which  bor- 
ders on  Devon  until  we  arrive  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Wincaunton  and 
Ilchester,  where  the  pure  breed  is  almost  lost  sight  of.  In  the  north  of 
Somerset  few  of  the  Devons  are  to  be  seen;  but  along  the  coast,  and  even 
extending  as  far  as  Bristol  and  Bath,  the  purest  breed  of  the  Devons  are 
preferred.  They  are  valued  for  their  aptitude  to  fatten,  their  quickness 
and  honesty  at  work;  and  they  are  said  to  be  better  milkers  than 
in  their  native  county.  They  are  of  a  larger  size,  for  the  soil  is  better, 
and  the  pasturage  more  luxuriant.  It  is  on  this  account  that  the  oxen 
bred  in  some  parts,  and  particularly  in  the  Vale  of  Taunton,  although 
essentially  Devons,  are  preferred  to  those  from  the  greater  part  of  Devon- 
shire, and  even  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Barnstaple  and  South  Molton. 
They  are  better  for  the  grazier  and  for  the  dairy;  and,  if  they  are  not  quite 
so  active  as  their  progenitors,  they  have  not  lost  their  docility  and  freeness 
at  work,  and  they  have  gained  materially  in  strength. 

Mr.  Carpenter,  to  whom  we  have  already  referred,  and  who  is  now  resi- 
dent in  the  Vale  of  Taunton,  informs  us  that  the  farmers  in  the  south  and 
south-west  of  Somerset  are  endeavouring  to  breed  that  sort  of  cattle  that 
will  answer  for  the  pail,  and  the  plough,  and  grazing — a  very  diflicult 
point,  as  he  acknowledges,  to  hit;  for  those  that  are  of  the  highest  proof 
(exhibiting  those  points  or  conformations  of  particular  parts  which  usually 


28  CATTLE. 

indicate  a  propensity  to  fatten)  are  generally  the  worst  milkers,  both  as 
to  quantity  and  quality.  This  being,  however,  a  dairy  county  as  well  as 
a  gi-azing  one,  or  more  so,  the  principal  point  with  them  is  a  good  show 
for  milk.  They  are,  for  the  most  part,  of  the  Devon  red,  and,  as  he 
thinks,  the  best  suited  for  all  purposes  of  any  in  the  West  of  England. 
All  that  is  necessary  to  keep  them  up  in  size  and  proof  and  of  a  good 
growth,  is  to  change  the  bull  every  two  years.  This  is  a  very  important, 
although  an  overlooked  and  unappreciated  principle  of  breeding,  even 
where  the  stock  is  most  select.  No  bull  should  be  longer  used  by  the 
same  grazier,  or  some  degree  of  deterioration  will  ensue. 

It  must,  nevertheless,  be  confessed,  that  in  the  greater  part  of  the  coun- 
ty, and  where  th-e  Devons  are  liked  I^est  for  husbandry  and  for  grazing, 
experience  has  taught  many  farmers  to  select  another  breed  for  the  dairy. 
Some  prefer  the  pure  short  horns,  others  the  North  Wilts,  and  a  few  a 
mixture  between  the  two.  The  shoit  horns,  are  very  different  from  those 
that  are  seen  any  where  else.  They  resemble  neitlier  the  old  nor  the  im- 
proved Durham  or  East  York,  but  were  originally  made  up  of  a  mixture 
of  the  Devon  with  the  old  Somersetshire  cow. 

The  Somersetshire  cattle  are  thus  described  by  Mr.  Herbert,  as  they 
existed  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago;  but  we  can  scarcely  believe  the  ac- 
count to  be  faithful.  '  Somersetshire  formerly  had  a  breed  of  cattle  which, 
from  the  crescent-form  of  its  turned-up  horn,  seemed  to  be  between  the 
Sussex  and  the  original  short-horn  (he  must  mean  the  middle  horn,  for 
the  short  horn  is  of  foreign  extraction;)  useful  and  heavy;  high  on  its 
legs,  particularly  behind.  It  was  used  for  the  supply  of  the  shipping,  and 
sent  to  Salisbury  market,  and  thence  forwarded  to  Portsmouth.  The  cows 
were  good  milkers,  and  fattened  kindly.' 

If  we  may  judge  of  them  from  what  the  West  Somersets  are  now,  they 
were  a  valuable  breed.  They  betray  their  Devonshire  origin;  but  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Somersetshire  farmers,  they  are  far  preferable  to  the  native 
breed,  and  they  have  increased  in  size  without  losing  any  of  their  useful 
properties.  There  are  few  better  judges  than  these  Somersetshire  men; 
for  being  the  party  concerned  between  the  breeder  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  grazier  on  the  other,  and  having  opportunity  daily  to  observe  the  fail- 
ures or  the  success  of  each,  they  acquire  a  kind  of  intuitive  knowledge  of 
the  points  of  cattle. 

A  few  of  the  present  West  Somerset  cattle  are  characterised  by  a  pe- 
culiarity of  colour.  They  are  called  sheeted  oxen.  The  head,  the  neck, 
the  shoulders,  and  the  hind  parts  appear  as  if  they  were  uncovered,  while 
there  is  a  sheet  fairly  and  perfectly  thrown  over  the  barrel.  They  do  not, 
however,  exhibit  the  true  Devon  colour  in  these  uncovered  parts,  for  the 
hair  is  yellow,  instead  of  a  deep  blood  red,  or  almost  brown  colour. 

In  North  Somerset  few  of  the  Devons  are  to  be  seen,  but  they  are  the 
same  party-coloured  kind  of  which  I  have  just  spoken. 

Mr.  Billingsley,  in  his  Survey  of  Somerset,  says,  that  in  this  district, 
extending  from  Bath  and  Frome  on  the  east,  to  Uphill  and  Kingsroad  on 
the  west,  the  cows  are  mostly  shorthorns,  with  some  fine  long  horns  from 
North  Wilts.  A  heifer  of  three  years  old  that  discovers  any  disposition 
to  fatten,  is  turned  out  of  the  dairy,  because  experience  has  convinced  the 
owner  that  she  will  seldom  or  never  prove  a  good  milker;  and  the  breeders 
in  that  part  are  often  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  Welsh  nurses,  because 
there  is  a  deficiency  of  milk  in  the  parent  animal. 

In  the  middle  of  Somersetshire,  Irom  the  Mendip  hills  on  the  north,  to 
Bridge  water  on  the  West,  and  Chard  on  the  south  (principally  a  grazing 
country,)  he  says  that  the  business  is  divided  into  a  summer  and  winter 


THE  SOMERSETSHIRE  CATTLE.  29 

feed.  For  summer  fattening,  the  Devons  are  principally  bought  in 
Februrary,  either  in  the  nothern  part  of  Devon,  or  the  lower  part  of 
Somerset.  They  are  purchased  in  tolerable  condition,  and  consume,  between 
February  and  their  turning  out,  ten  or  twelve  hundred  weight  of  inferior 
hay,  the  skimming  of  the  summer  leas.  ^Vhen  at  grass,  they  are  allowed 
from  an  acre  to  an  acre  and  a  half  per  ox,  and  perhaps  one  sheep  to  each 
ox,  and  not  more  than  one  horse  to  twenty  acres.  About  Michaelmas  they 
are  fat,  and  pay  from  three  shillings  and  sixpence  to  four  shillings  per 
week  for  their  keep.  The  farmers  in  that  district  think  that  frequent 
bleedings  in  small  quantities  accelerate  the  process  of  fattening. 

The  home-breds  are  usually  preferred  for  fattening.  The  Rev.  Mr.  King 
of  Budgworth  Rectory,  informs  us  that  an  ox  is  purchased,  or,  if  bred, 
turned  off  to  graze  in  Februrary.  He  has  one  and  a  half  acre  or  more 
of  the  best  pasture  for  summer  feed;  then  comes  the  same  range  of  after- 
math from  the  beginning  of  September  to  the  end  of  November;  hay  being 
added  by  degrees,  until  it  is  required  entirely.  These  oxen  are  sold  for 
the  Salisbury  or  London  markets,  either  before  Christmas,  or  from  that 
to  Lady-day.  A  dairy  farmer  seldom  grazes,  except  an  old  cow  for  the 
benefit  of  his  neighbours;  and  these  seldom  get  more  than  four  or  six 
months  grazing  after  they  are  dried  up.  Beef  of  this  desci-iption  is  as 
plentiful  in  the  autumn  as  veal  in  the  summer,  and  about  the  same  price 
(1832,)  from  fourpence  to  fivepence  per  pound. 

Some  farmers  graze  heifers  in  preference  to  oxen,  buying  in  March  and 
April,  and  selling  in  October  or  November;  a7id  which  are  stocked  at  the 
rate  of  a  heifer  to  each  acre,  with  one  or  two  sheep.  The  sheep  thus 
fatted  are  usually  the  two  year  old  Dorsets  or  Somersets. 

Some  give  their  prime  oxen  a  second  summer  grass;  and  the  second 
year  pays  better  than  the  first,  for  an  animal  nearly  fat  will  consume  much 
less  food  than  a  lean  one. 

The  time  of  calving  is  from  the  beginning  of  February  to  Lady-day.  The 
farmers  take  great  care  to  keep  their  cows  in  good  condition  for  three  weeks 
or  a  month  before  they  calve,  thinking  that  the  milk  will  flow  in  proportion 
to  the  goodness  of  the  keep  at  that  time;  and  the  consequence  of  this  is 
frequent  attacks  of  puerperal  fever  and  garget.  The  number  of  calves 
reared  in  this  district  is  very  great.  Four  hundred  fat  calves  have  been 
sold  in  Shepton-Mallet  market  in  one  day,  but  now  the  village  butchers 
buy  and  slaughter  them  at  home,  and  take  the  carcasses  to  Bristol  for  the 
Tuesday  and  Saturday  markets. 

The  calves  that  are  reared  are  principally  fed  on  cheese-whey,  and  are 
turned  out  to  grass  in  May  to  shift  for  themselves.  In  the  south-east 
part  of  this  district,  where  the  dairy-lands  are  chiefly  applied  to  the  making 
of  butter  and  skim-milk  cheese,  the  calves  are  taken  from  their  mothers 
at  about  three  days  old.  Those  that  are  to  be  fatted  are  suckled  by  hand 
out  of  the  pail  as  soon  as  it  is  brought  home  from  the  field  morning  and 
evening.  These  calves  are  technically  said  to  be  on  the  stage.  It  will 
take  the  milk  of  three  cows  to  fatten  two  calves  up  to  from  thirty -five  to  fifty 
pounds  per  quarter.  The  old  practice  of  giving  the  calves  mead  or  some 
other  home-made  wine  is  now  discontinued.  Soon  after  Lady-day  when 
the  great  business  of  cheese-making  begins  in  good  earnest,  the  milk  is 
•wanted  for  the  cheese-vat  instead  of  the  suckling-pail.  To  fatten  the  calf, 
the  farmer's  wife  then  places  the  whey  over  the  fire  in  a  large  copper,  and 
the  warmth  forces  a  further  portion  of  poorer  curd  (skim  curds,)  and  these, 
with  a  little  milk,  and  with  the  occasional  addition  of  linseed  meal,  make 
a  good  calf.  The  calves  to  be  reared  are  thought  to  be  well  off,  if  like  the 
pigs,  they  get  whey. 

4* 


80  CATTLE. 

The  celebrated  Bridgewater  cheese  is  made  on  the  marshes  between  that 
town  and  Cross.  Huntspill,  South  Brent,  and  East  Brent,  are  the  three 
prime  cheese-parishes.  The  mail-road  from  Bridgewater  to  Cross  passes 
through  each  of  them.  The  land  is  rich  and  cool,  and  the  pasturage  not 
only  old,  but  principally  consisting  of  blade  grasses,  with  kw  flowers  or 
odoriferous  herbs  to  raise  or  produce  that  essential  oil  which  is  so  detri- 
mental in  the  manufacture  of  cheese.  Mr.  King  further  informs  us,  that 
the  present  dairy  cow  of  this  district  is  either  entirely  red,  which  shows 
her  Devon  origin,  or  red  with  a  white  face  which  marks  the  Hereford  cross 
or  spotted  red  and  white,  and  that  the  latter  are  generally  peferred  as  the 
best  milkers.  They  spring  from  Durham  blood  on  one  side,  and  the 
farmers  of  this  district  are  much  indebted  to  the  late  Mr.  Stone,  of  South 
Brent,  who,  at  a  considerable  expense,  introduced  several  bulls  of  the 
Durham  breed. 

The  usual  proportion  in  a  dairy  of  forty  cows  is  about  twenty-five 
red  ones,  ten  spotted,  and  five  with  a  white  face,  and  yet,  as  the  Hereford 
bull  has  been  rarely  if  at  all  tried  in  this  district,  the  white  face  is  not 
owned  by  the  farmer  as  of  Herefordshire  origin.  A  Durham  ox,  of  Mr. 
King's  breed  from  Warwickshire,  was  lately  slaughtered  here,  weighing 
21  score  and  131b.  per  quarter.  It  was  fed  by  Mr.  Burman,  of  Henley- 
in-Arden. 

Very  little  of  the  prime  Cheddar  cheese  is  made  at  that  village.  It  is 
cliiefly  manufactured  in  the  parishes  just  mentioned,  and  in  the  marshes 
round  Glastonbury.  A  somewhat  inferior  Cheddar  is  often  sold  as  double 
Gloucester.  As  in  the  Vale  of  Berkeley,  the  cows  are  pastured  and  milked 
near  to  the  farm-house,  and  the  milk  set  with  the  rennet  as  soon  as  possible 
and  left  undisturbed  for  two  hours.  The  curd  is  then  broken;  a  portion 
of  the  whey  first  warmed  and  put  to  it,  and  then  the  whole  of  the  whey 
made  scalding  hot,  and  poured  upon  it,  and  left  for  half  an  hour.  The 
curd  is  afterwards  put  into  the  vat,  and  the  other  processes  conducted  much 
in  the  usual  way.  The  scalding  is  supposed  to  favour  an  intimate  union 
of  the  particles  of  the  whey,  and  likewise  to  dispose  the  oleaginous  matter 
to  exude,  and  thus  give  the  cheese  that  soft,  rich,  fatty  appearance  and 
flavour  by  which  it  is  distinguished. 

Mr.  King  recommends  the  addition  of  one  Guernsey  to  every  dozen 
country-cows.  He  thinks  that  this  quantity  of  rich  milk  being  added-might 
make  the  whole  throw  a  greater  weight  of  curd.  It  certainly  is  so  when 
butter  is  the  object,  and  that  small  quantity  would  not  injure  the  keeping. 
Guernsey  butter  unmixed  is  too  rich  and  will  not  keep,  and  so  it  might 
be  with  cheese. 

The  Somersetshire  dairymen  usually  keep  their  cows  until  they  are  ten 
or  twelve  years  old,  and  then  turn  them  off"  for  failing,  not  in  the  quantity 
but  the  quality  of  the  milk.  At  this  time  they  are  reduced  to  half  the 
value  of  a  long-horned  cow  of  the  same  age;  but  if  it  should  appear,  as 
it  generally  will,  that  the  short-horn  will  make  a  half-hundred  of  cheese 
more  every  season  than  the  long  horned  Wilts,  and  at  the  same  time  cost 
less  for  the  keep,  the  balance  will  be  found  to  be  in  favour  of  the  short  or 
middle-horned  Somerset.  In  the  upper  part  of  the  country,  and  where 
heifers  are  preferred,  the  graziers  go  into  North  Wilts  and  Hampshire  to 
buy  them.  Some  of  the  best  of  them  are  nearly  equal  to  the  Devons,  but 
in  general  they  are  not  so  high  in  proof.  Occasionally  they  are  brought 
from  Gloucestersliire,  and  even  from  Yorkshire,  and  are  now  and  then 
sold  in  October  at  thirty-eight  or  forty  score  pounds  each. 

Many  Irish  cattle  are  fattened  in  Somersetshire,  on  account  of  the  cheap 
rate  at  which  they  are  purchased  when  lean. 


THE  HEREFORDSHIRE  CATTLE.  31 


HEREFORDSHIRE. 

The  Herefordshire  white-faced  breed,  with  the  exception  of  a  very  few 
Alderney  and  Durham  cows,  have  almost  exclusive  possession  of  this 
county.  The  Hereford  oxen  are  considerably  larger  than  the  North  Devons. 
They  are  usually  of  a  darker  red;  some  of  them  are  brown,  and  even 
yellow,  and  a  few  are  brindled;  but  they  are  principally  distinguished  by 
their  white  faces,  throats,  and  bellies.  In  a  few  the  white  extends  to  the 
shoulders.  The  old  Herefords  were  brown  or  red-brown  with  not  a  spot 
of  white  about  them.  It  is  only  within  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years  that  it 
has  been  the  fashion  to  breed  for  white  faces.  Whatever  may  be  thought 
of  the  change  of  colour,  the  present  breed  is  certainly  far  superior  to  the 
old  one.  The  hide  is  considerably  thicker  than  that  of  the  Devon,  and 
the  beasts  are  more  hardy.  Compared  with  the  Devons,  they  are  shorter 
in  the  leg,  and  also  in  the  carcass;  higher,  and  broader,  and  heavier  in  the 
chine:,  rounder  and  wider  across  the  hips,  and  better  covered  with  fat;  the 
thigh  fuller  and  more  muscular,  and  the  shoulders  larger  and  coarser.  The 
cut  in  the  following  page,  is  the  portrait  of  an  ox  belonging  to  the  Duke 
of  Bedford. 

Mr.  Marshall  gives  the  following  account  of  them:  it  is  tolerably  correct, 
but  does  not  sufficiently  distinguish  them  from  their  kindred  breed.  '  The 
countenance  pleasant,  cheerful,  open;  the  forehead  broad;  eye  full  and 
lively;  horns  bright,  taper,  and  spreading;  head  small;  chap  lean;  neck 
long  and  tapering;  chest  deep;  bosom  broad,  and  projecting  forward; 
shoulder-bone  thin,  flat,  no  way  protuberant  in  bone  (?),  but  full  and 
mellow  in  flesh;  chest  full;  loin  broad;  hips  standing  wide,  and  level 
with  the  chine;  quarters  long,  and  wide  at  the  neck;  rump  even  with  the 
level  of  the  back,  and  not  drooping,  nor  standing  high  and  sharp  above 
the  quarters;  tail  slender  and  neatly  haired;  barrel  round  and  roomy;  the 
carcass  throughout  deep  and  well  spread;  ribs  broad,  standing  flat  and 
close  on  the  outer  surface,  forming  a  smooth,  even  barrel,  the  hindmost 
large  and  full  of  length;  round  bone  small,  snug,  and  not  prominent; 
tliigh  clean,  and  regularly  tapering;  legs  upright  and  short;  bone  below 
the  knee  and  hock  small;  feet  of  middle  size;  flank  large;  flesh  every 
where  mellow,  soft,  and  yielding  pleasantly  to  the  touch,  especially  on  the 
chine,  the  shoulder,  and  the  ribs;  hide  mellow,  supple,  of  a  middle  thick- 
ness, and  loose  on  the  neck  and  buckle;  coat  neatly  haired,  bright  and 
silky;  colour,  a  middle  red,  with  a  bald  face  characteristic  of  the  true 
Herefordshire  breed.' 

They  fatten  to  a  much  greater  weight  than  the  Devons,  and  run  from 
fifty  to  seventy  score.  A  tolerable  cow  will  average  from  thirty-five  to 
fifty  score.  A  cow  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford  weigl>ed  more  than 
seventy  score;  and  an  ox  belonging  to  Mr.  Westcar  exceeded  one  hundred 
and  ten  score.  They  are  not  now  much  used  for  husbandry,  though 
their  form  adapts  them  for  the  heavier  work;  and  they  have  all  the  honesty 
and  docility  of  the  Devon  ox,  and  greater  strength,  if  not  his  activity. 
The  Herefordshire  ox  fattens  speedily  at  a  very  early  age,  and  it  is  there- 
fore more  advantageous  to  the  farmer,  and  perhaps  to  the  country,  that  he 
should  go  to  market  at  three  years  old,  than  be  kept  longer  to  be  employed 
as  a  beast  of  draught.  We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  A.  Knight,  of  Downton 
Castle,  for  some  valuable  observations  on  this  and  other  subjects  connected 
with  the  Herefordshire  cattle,  and  breeding  in  general,  of  which  we  shall 
avail  ourselves  in  the  proper  place. 

They  are  far  worse  milkers  than  the  Devons.  This  is  so  generally 
acknowledged,  that  while  there  are  many  dairies  of  Devon  cows  in  various 


33 


CATTLE. 


parts  of  the  countiy,  (none  of  which,  however,  are  very  profitable  lo  their 
owners,)  a  dairy  of  Herefords  is  rarely  to  be  found. 

To  compensate  for  this,  they  are  even  more  kindly  feeders  than  the 
Devons,  and  will  live  and  grow  fat  where  a  Devon  would  scarcely  live. 
Their  beef  may  be  objected  to  by  some  as  being  occasionally  a  little  too 
large  in  ihe  bone,  and  the  forequarters  being  coarse  and  heavy;  but  the 
meat  of  the  best  pieces  is  often  very  fine-grained  and  beautifully  marbled. 
There  are  few  cattle  more  prized  in  the  market  than  the  genuine  Herefords. 

The  Devons  and  the  Herefords  are  both  excellent  breeds,  and  the  pre- 
judices of  the  Devonshire  and  Herefordshire  farmers  for  their  peculiar 
breed  being  set  aside,  a  cross  of  the  one  will  often  materially  improve 
the  other.  The  Devon  will  acquire  bulk  and  hardihood,  and  the  Hereford  a 
finer  form  and  activity.  The  Hereford  bull,  and  the  West  Highland  or 
Kyloe  cows,  have  been  tried,  but  they  did  not  feed  so  rapidly,  nor  weigh 
so  well  as  the  Hereford,  and  they  had  the  defect  of  being  extremely  pug- 
nacious. 

Mr.  Culley,  although  an  excellent  judge  of  cattle,  formed  a  very  erro- 
neous opinion  of  the  Herefords  when  he  pronounced  them  to  be  nothing 
but  a  mixture  of  the  Welsh  with  a  bastard  race  of  long-horns.  They  are 
evidendy  an  aboriginal  breed,  and  descended  from  the  same  stock  as  the 
Devons.  If  it  were  not  for  the  white  face,  and  somewhat  larger  head  and 
thicker  neck,  it  would  not  at  all  times  be  easy  to  distinguish  between  a 
heavy  Devon  and  a  light  Hereford.  Their  white  faces  may  probably  be 
traced  to  a  cross  with  their  not  distant  relations,  the  Montgomeries. 


The  Hereford  cow  is  apparently  a  very  inferior  animal.  Not  only  is  she 
no  milker,  but  even  her  form  has  been  sacrificed  by  the  breeder.  Here- 
fordshire is  more  a  rearing  than  a  feeding  county,  and  therefore  the  farmer 
looks  mostly  to  the  shape  and  value  of  his  young  stock;  and  in  the  choice 
of  his  cow,  he  does  not  value  her  or  select  her,  or  breed  from  her  accord- 
ing to  her  milking  qualities,  or  the  price  which  the  grazier  would  give  for 
her,  but  in  proportion  as  she  possesses  that  general  form  which  experience 
has  taught  him  will  render  her  likely  to  produce  a  good  ox.  Hence 
the  Hereford  cow  is  comparatively  small  and  delicate,  and  some  would 
call  her  ill-made.  She  is  very  light-fleshed  when  in  common  condition^ 
and  beyond  that,  while  she  is  breeding,  she  is  not  suffered  to  proceed; 


THE  HEREFORDSHIRE  CATTLE.  33 

but  when  slie  is  actually  put  up  for  fattening,  she  spreads  out,  and 
accumulates  fat  at  a  most  extraordinary  rate.  Our  cut  gives  us  the  por- 
trait of  a  beautiful  cow,  once  belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Egremont, 

The  breeder  has  been  taught  by  experience,  that  when  the  cow,  although 
she  should  be  somewhat  roomy,  is  too  large  and  masculine,  the  ox  will  be 
brawny  and  coarse,  and  perhaps  a  little  sluggish  at  work,  and  even  some- 
what unkind  and  slow  in  the  process  of  fattening,  and  these  are  objections 
which,  most  of  all,  he  would  be  unwilling  to  have  justly  made.  The 
Herefordshire  cow  is  therefore  somewhat  undersized;  and  it  not  unfre- 
quently  happens  that  she  produces  a  bull-calf  that  grows  to  three  times 
her  own  weight. 


[  The  Herefordshire  Cow'\ 

Kindly  as  the  Hereford  ox  fatiens,  very  few  are  grazed  in  their  native 
country:  even  the  beasts  which  the  home  consumption  requires  are  prin- 
cipally heifers  and  old  cows.  The  oxen  are  sold  at  five  and  six  years  old 
in  tolerable  condition,  at  the  Michaelmas  fair  in  Hereford,  to  the  graziers 
of  Buckinghamshire  and  the  neighbouring  counties,  by  whom  they  are 
principally  preferred  for  the  London  market. 

The  fertility  of  the  soil  in  Herefordshire  has  been  very  much  overrated. 
The  traveller,  and  the  superficial  observer,  have  been  misled  by  the 
luxuri.int  woods  and  rich  alluvial  soil  upon  the  banks  of  its  rivers.  The 
pasture-grounds  are  generally  poor,  and  the  heibage  is  not  nutritious, 
and  therefore  the  farmer  naturally  confines  his  chief  attention  to  his  rear- 
ing-stock.  The  Dairy  has  been  comparatively  neglected;  for  experience 
has  proved  that  the  breeding  qualities  of  a  cow  are  materially  lessened, 
and  even  her  form  is  deteriorated,  by  her  being  inclined  to  give  a  large 
quantity  of  milk. 

A  very  interesting  trial  was  made  in  the  winter  of  1828-29,  between  the 
Herefords  and  the  improved  short-horned  breeds  of  cattle,  in  the  ordinary 
mode  of  feeding,  without  forcing  by  artificial  food  of  any  description,  and 
the  result  seemed  to  be  much  to  the  advantage  of  the  Herefords,  consi- 
dering their  original  weight,  and  the  quantity  of  food  consumed.     It  must, 


U  CATTLE. 

however,  be  confessed  that  it  is  not  sufficient  to  enable  us  to  decide  upon 
the  relative  merits  of  the  two  rival  breeds  of  large  cattle,  nor  are  we  yet 
quite  prepared  for  the  inquiry;  but  we  insert  it  as  an  experiment  that  was 
fairly  conducted,  to  which  the  advocates  of  the  Herefordshire  cattle  often 
refer,  and  which  they  will  naturally  expect  to  be  placed  upon  record. 

Three  Herefords  and  three  short-horns  were  selected:  they  were  put  to- 
gether in  a  straw-yard  on  the  20lh  of  December,  1827,  and  were  fed  in 
the  open  yard;  at  the  rate  of  one  bushel  of  turnips  per  beast  per  day, 
with  straw  only,  until  May  2d,  1828,  when  their  weights  v.ere  taken, 
and  they  were  sent  to  grass. 

No. 


Cwts-  qrs.  lbs. 

Cwts.  qrs.  lbs. 

1.  Hereford 

8     3     0 

No.  1.  Short-horn 

9     2     0 

2. 

7     3     0 

2. 

8     2     0 

3.         " 

7     0     0 

3. 

9     0     0 

On  the  3d  of  November  they  were  taken  from  grass,  and  put  into  the 
stall,  when  their  weight  was  as  follows: — 

Cwts.  qrs.  lbs.  Cwts.^qrs.  lbs. 

No.  I.Hereford        11     3     0  No.  1 .  Short-horn  12  3     14 

2.  "  10     2     0  2.         "  12     2     0 

3.  "  10     3     0  3.         "  12     3     0 

From  that  time  to  the  25th  of  March,  1829,  they  consumed  the  following 
quantities  of  Swedish  turnips  and  hay: — 


The  Herefords 
The  short-horns 

Turnips,    lbs.           Hay.    Iba. 

46,655             5065 
59,430              6779 

They  then  weighed — 

No.  1.  Hereford        13     0  14             No.   1.  Short-horn      14 

2.  "              12     0     0                      2.         "               14 

3.  "              12     0     0                      3.          "               14 

being  an  increase  of  weight  in  favour  of  the  Herefords  of        13 
and  in  favour  of  the  Short-horns         ...               17 

2 
3 
2 
2 
2 

0 
14 
14 
14 

0 

and  making  a  difference  in  favour  of  the  Short-horns  of  3     3     14 


but  then  the  Short-horns  had  consumed  12,7751bs.  more  of  turnips,  and 
17141bs.  more  of  hay. 

When  they  were  all  sold  together  at  Smithfield  on  the  30th  of  March, 
the  heavier  short-horns  fetched  97/.,  and  the  lighter  Herefords  96/.,  being 
an  overplus  of  only  1/.  to  pay  for  the  enormous  difference  in  the  food  con- 
sumed, and  the  greater  price  given  on  account  of  the  heavier  weight  of  the 
short-horns  at  the  commencement  of  the  experiment.*  Another  Hereford 
and  a  short-horn  were  also  tried  together  at  the  same  time;  but  they  did 
not  undergo  the  same  process,  nor  was  so  regular  an  account  kept  of  their 
progress.  The  Hereford  increased  in  weight  3  cwt.  3  qrs.,  and  the  short- 
horn 4  cwt.  1  qr. 

*  The  Michaelmas  cattle  fair  at  Hereford  is  not  exceeded  by  any  show  of  beasts  in 
good  condition  in  the  kingdom.  They  are  usually  sold  to  the  graziers  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  metropolis,  by  whom  they  are  prepared  for  the  Smithfield  market. 

Tliere  is  an  entry  in  an  account  book  kept  by  William  Town,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Hereford,  in  the  year  1694,  of  the  price  of  fat  oxen  at  that  period. 

'25th  August,  1694: — sold  the  nine  oxenat52Z. ;  tlie  money  to  be  paid  into  the 
Exchequer  within  a  month.'     The  price  of  oxen  is,  at  least,  six  times  as  great  now. 


THE  GLOUCESTERSHIRE  BREED. 


GLOUCESTER. 

This  county  is  taken  next,  because,  bordering  on  Hereford,  many  of  the 
cattle  of  that  county  are  found  here.  Throughout  the  whole  of  Gloucester- 
shire the  Herefords  are  preferred  for  working  and  for  fattening.  They 
are  less  active  than  the  Devons,  but  far  more  so  than  the  Gloucesters. 
They  consume  less  food,  when  at  work,  and  very  far  less  when  fattening; 
but  the  Gloucesters  are  superior  to  the  Herefords  for  the  pail.  Cattle 
of  every  kind,  however,  prevail  in  the  dairy  farms  in  this  county,  as  in 
every  other  district. 

Of  the  old  breed  of  the  Gloucesters  it  is  now  difficult  to  speak,  for  they 
are  nearly  extinct.  They  were  evidendy  of  Welsh  origin,  mingled  with 
the  Hereford,  and  sometimes  with  the  cattle  f\irther  inland.  They  were  the 
Glamorgan  chiefly,  but  upon  a  larger  scale,  and  of  a  difierent  colour.  The 
Glamorgans  are  black,  or  inclining  to  brown;  the  old  Gloucesters  were 
either  red  or  brown.  The  horns  were  of  a  middle  length,  white,  and 
tipped  with  black;  the  bones  small,  and  the  carcass  light,  scarcely 
averaging  more  than  twelve  score  per  quarter.  The  bag  was  thin  yet 
large,  and  the  milk  abundant  and  long  continued.  The  characteristic 
mark  was  said  to  be  a  streak  of  white  generally  along  the  back,  and  always 
at  the  root  of  the  tail. 

Many  years  ago  the  farmers  began  to  cross  them  with  the  long-horns, 
and  principally  those  from  North  Wilts.  Thence  arose  considerable 
increase  of  size,  with  more  tendency  to  fatten,  and  richer  and  not  much 
less  abundant  milk.  This  breed  is  principally  found  in  the  hilly  dis- 
trict of  Gloucester,  about  the  Cotswolds.  Some  farmers,  indeed,  have 
crossed  so  frequently  with  the  long-horn,  that  litde  of  the  old  Gloucester 
remains,  and  not  a  few  use  the  long-horns  alone.  The  prevailing  breed, 
however,  about  the  hills,  and  particularly  among  the  small  farmers,  is  the 
Gloucester  and  the  Wiltshire  combined.  Some  Suffolk  duns  are  scattered 
in  a  few  places;  some  pure  Devons,  Durhams  and  Leicesters  are  found, 
but  chiefly  a  mixture  from  among  them  all,  the  Gloucesters  and  the  North 
Wilts  preponderating,  while  each  farmer  breeds  and  chooses  according  to 
his  pleasure  or  caprice. 

In  the  hilly  part  of  the  county  cattle  are  an  inferior  object  of  considera- 
tion; there  is  little  peculiar  in  the  management  of  them;  and  even  that  little 
does  not  deserve  commendation.  The  principal  purpose  for  which  they  are 
here  kept  is  to  pasture  on  those  spots  which  are  unsound  for  sheep.  A 
great  proportion  of  many  of  the  farms  in  this  poor  district  can  only  be 
made  profitable  by  turning  young  stock  upon  them;  which,  however,  are 
never  thoroughly  fattened  there,  but  the  young  stock,  and  the  cows,  and 
even  the  sheep,  are  sold  to  graziers  from  the  neighbouring  districts,  barely 
in  tolerable  store  condition.  The  early-dropped  calves  are  chosen  for  rear- 
ing; the  others  might  not  have  sufl[icient  strength  to  endure  the  winter, 
and  are  speedily  got  rid  of. 

The  calves  that  are  to  be  reared  continue  two  or  three  days  with  the 
mother,  sucking  as  they  like,  and  taking  the  milk  that  is  good  for  nothing 
else.  They  are  then  fed  with  skim-milk  a  litde  warmed,  being  first  taught 
with  the  finger;  but  they  soon  drink  eagerly  out  of  the  pail.  Linseed  tea 
is  after  a  little  while  mixed  with  the  milk;  afterwards  the  milk  is  laid  aside, 
and  oat  or  barley  meal  is  stirred  in  with  the  tea;  and  so  they  are  gradually 
brought  to  solid  food,  and  weaned. 

When  the  grass  begins  to  fail  in  November,  they  are  fed  in  the  field, 
where  there  is  some  tolerable  shelter  for  them;   and  the  yearlings  are 


36  CATTLE. 

also  in  the  field,  and  fed  with  straw  instead  of  hay.  The  pasture  allotted  to 
them  is  generally  old  and  good,  but  such  as  had  been  previously  eaten 
bare  by  the  cows.  Worse  than  all,  during  the  early  part  of  the  winter  the 
milch  cows  have  nothing  but  straw  allowed  them.  It  is  the  custom  in 
this  part  of  the  country  not  to  take  much  care  of  the  two-year-olds  until 
Christmas  is  past.  The  heifers  usually  calve  in  April  or  May,  and  are 
taken  into  the  dairy,  and  the  steers  then  go  to  work  after  Christmas,  when 
hay,  but  not  of  the  best  quality,  is  allowed  them. 

This  system  of  starvation,  partly  induced  by  the  nature  of  the  soil, 
(sufficient  fodder  not  being  produced  for  the  proper  nutriment  of  the  stock,) 
and  pardy  attributable  to  an  absurd  mode  of  treatment  derived  from  their 
forefathers,  has  a  tendency  to  cripple  the  improvement  of  live  stock. 
The  calves  will  not  attain  their  full  growth,  and  the  cows  will  not  yield 
sufficient  milk  for  suckling  or  for  the  pail  while  this  system  is  pursued. 
There  is  room  for  much  improvement  here,  as  well  as  in  many  other 
districts  of  the  kingdom  in  the  management  of  live  stock. 

In  die  loiver  or  vale  part  of  the  county,  Avhere  cattle  are  kept  principally 
for  the  dairy,  and  not  to  feed  on  the  unsound  and  rotting  ground,  a  more 
liberal  and  a  more  profitable  system  of  management  is  adopted. 

In  the  Vale  of  Berkeley,  as  the  long  and  rich  tract  of  land  is  called 
that  reaches  from  the  Cotswolds  to  the  Severn,  the  cows  are,  as  in  the 
hilly  district,  of  various  sorts  and  kinds.  In  all  of  them,  however,  traces 
of  the  old  Gloucester  are  visible,  and  carefully  preserved.  The  cross 
depends  upon  the  fancy  of  the  dairyman.  Some  have  mingled  the  Alder- 
ney  with  the  Gloucester,  and  they  have  both  increased  the  quantity  and 
the  richness  of  the  milk;  others  have  mixed  the  Wilts  and  the  Gloucester, 
and  they  have  a  fair  supply  of  excellent  milk;  while  some  have  introduced 
the  Yorkshire,  whereby  they  have  certainly  added  to  the  quantity,  altliough 
perhaps  a  little  deteriorated  the  quality  of  the  milk:  but  the  majority,  and 
still  more  judiciously  have  mingled  all  these  together,  and  they  have 
materially  improved  both  the  quantity  and  the  quality.  There  are  no 
Herefords  for  the  pail;  a  iew  Devons,  some  Sufiblks,  some  North  AVilts, 
and  the  rest  Gloucesters,  with  various  crosses. 

A  cross  between  the  Gloucester  and  the  Hereford  has  been  attempted 
with  considerable  success.  They  yield  from  four  to  six  gallons  of  good 
milk  every  day.  It  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  fact  that,  while  in 
grazing  counties  the  large  and  small  farmers  agree  in  selecting  a  certain 
breed,  and  adhere  to  that  selection,  almost  every  dairy  district  is  charac- 
terized by  a  modey  assemblage  of  all  sorts  and  kinds  of  cattle.  We  shall 
often  have  occasion  to  allude  to  this. 

This  is  a  celebrated  dairy  country.  From  the  Vale  of  Berkeley  is  pro- 
duced a  great  part  of  the  cheese,  which  is  known  in  every  part  of  the 
kingdom  under  the  names  of  the  single  and  double  Gloucester. 

A  slight  sketch  of  the  peculiar  management  of  this  district  must  now 
be  given  to  render  our  work  perfect;  but  for  a  more  detailed  account,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  Twenty-first  Number  of  the  farmer's  Series,  in 
which  the  usual  management  both  of  the  Gloucestershire  hill  and  vale 
farms  is  fully  described. 

The  calves  remain  with  the  mothers  about  a  week.  They  are  then  fed 
with  skim-mdk,  first,  by  means  of  the  feeder's  fingers  introduced  into 
the  mouth,  and  which  being  suppHed  with  milk,  are  sucked  by  the  calves; 
but  they  soon  drink  of  themselves.  Linseed  lea  is,  after  a  litde  while, 
mixed  with  the  milk;  and  soon  after  that  the  milk  is  quite  withdrawn,  and 
oat  or  barley  meal  stirred  with  the  linseed,  until  the  calf  is  able  to  eat  hay 
or  oats.     About  the  middle  of  May  they  are  turned  out  to  good  grass,  and 


THE  GLOUCESTERSHIRE  BREED.  37 

so  they  are  kept  until  the  grass  is  ready  for  them,  on  the  earliest  and  best 
of  which  they  are  turned.  From  among  the  early  ones,  or  those  dropped 
before  March,  a  selection  is  made  to  keep  up  the  dairy,  and  those  from  the 
best  milkers  are  uniformly  chosen.  The  farmer  is  right  here;  for  every 
quality,  both  good  and  bad,  is  more  decidedly  hereditary  than  many  have 
supposed,  or  are  willing  to  allow.  Some  of  the  heifers  that  are  weaned 
before  March  drop  their  calves  when  two  years  and  a  quarter  old,  and  all 
of  them  are  taken  into  the  dairy  at  three  years'  old. 

The  land  here  is  rich  and  productive,  and  fodder  of  every  kind  is  abun- 
dant. The  cattle  are  much  better  kept  than  in  the  hill  country,  and  they 
pay  their  proprietors  well  for  the  additional  trouble  and  expense.  The 
richest  even  of  these  fertile  pastures  are  set  apart  for  the  milch  cows;  and 
in  order  that  their  appetite  may  not  pall,  they  are  frequently  moved  from 
pasture  to  pasture.  This  a  method  of  rendering  them  productive  of  which 
the  majority  of  farmers  are  not  aware.  At  the  same  time  the  farm  is  as 
much  understocked  as  a  hill-farm  is  too  frequently  overstocked;  at  least 
there  is  plenty  of  good  keep  for  every  cow. 

It  has  been  found  that  land,  which  has  been  lately  and  much  manured, 
is  not  so  good  for  the  cows.  The  milk  may  be  more  abundant,  but  not 
so  rich.  Dr.  Rudge,  in  his  Survey  of  Gloucestershire,  says,  that  there  were 
two  grounds  adjoining  each  other  alternately  used  for  the  pasture  of  cows. 
While  they  were  on  one,  excellent  cheese  was  made;  but  when  they  were 
on  the  other,  the  cheese  was  rank,  heaving,  and  hollow,  and  unfit  for  the 
market.  The  latter  had  been  lately  well-dressed  with  manure;  and  the 
dairywoman  remarked  that,  if  the  farmer  continued  to  enrich  his  land  with 
dung,  she  must  give  up  making  cheese. 

The  cows  are  early  moved  from  the  pasture-ground  into  the  after- grasg. 
Experience  has  taught  the  farmer  that  few  things  are  more  conducive  to 
the  general  health  of  the  animal,  as  well  as  the  abundant  supply  of  milk, 
than  the  first  flush  of  grass  in  the  spring,  or  after  mowing. 

As  the  winter  comes  on,  they  are  moved  into  the  driest  and  best-shel- 
tered situations.  It  would  be  advantageous  if  there  was  some  shed  for 
them  to  retreat  to  as  a  protection  from  the  extreme  cold;  and  they  should 
have  plenty  of  good  hay  allowed  them  once  or  twice  in  the  day,  before  they 
have  calved,  and  several  times  in  the  day  afterwards.  In  some  cases, 
however,  although  not  by  the  generality  of  farmers,  the  system  of  false 
economy  prevalent  in  the  hilly  district  is  adopted  here,  and  the  cows  in 
calf,  and  the  young  and  store  beasts,  are  half-starved  during  the  winter. 
There  is  no  part  of  dairy  and  cattle  management  which  more  demands  re- 
formation than  this. 

The  principal  product  of  the  Vale  of  Berkeley  is  its  cheese.  It  has 
a  peculiar  flavour,  and  is  deservedly  esteemed.  It  is  not  quite  clear 
to  what  peculiar  circumstance  the  excellence  of  the  Gloucester  cheese  is 
to  be  attributed;  for  several  things,  probably,  combine  to  produce  the 
effect. 

The  breed  of  the  cow  has  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  it.  We  have  sta- 
ted that  almost  every  variety  of  breed  is  found  here,  and  the  milk  of  all  is 
mingled  together.  The  cows  are  taken  better  care  of.  The  pasture  is 
good,  and  it  is  old,  and  is  composed  of  the  natural  grasses  of  the  country, 
which  are  grown  here  with  little  admixture  of  foreign  or  artificial  ones. 
The  fields,  another  circumstance  not  sufiiciently  appreciated,  are  near  to, 
and  surround  as  much  as  possible  the  farm-houses,  so  that  the  milk  is  but 
little  agitated,  or  the  component  parts  of  it  separated  before  it  is  curdled 
by  the  rennet.  By  this  means,  too,  the  milk  may  be  set,  before  it  is 
cooled  below  the  proper  temperature. 
5 


38  CATTLE. 

Every  dairymaid  knows  well  that  the  milk  should  be  warm  when  it  is 
set.  She  has  rarely  any  thermometer  to  guide  her.  She  needs  it  not,  for 
she  can  tell  with  the  accuracy  of  the  best  tliermometer  whether  the  tem- 
perature is  above  or  below  85°.  When  it  is  received  from  the  cow,  and 
before  it  is  cooled  in  the  pail,  it  is  more  than  90°.  It  should  be  set  when 
it  has  cooled  to  85°,  and  that,  if  possible  without  the  addition  of  any  milk 
artificially  heated  to  bring  it  to  the  proper  standard.  The  colouring  mat- 
ter and  the  rennet  are  then  added,  and  particular  care  is  taken  that  the  ren- 
net is  old,  yet  free  from  unpleasant  smell.*  The  tub  is  now  covered  until 
the  curd  is  formed. 

The  process  of  cutting  and  breaking  the  curd  follows  next;  and  when  it 
is  sufficiently  broken  it  is  put  into  the  vats,  and  pressed  well  down.  The 
vats  are  filled  as  closely  as  possible — the  cheese-cloth  placed  over  all,  and 
a  little  hot  water  is  poured  over  the  cloth,  to  harden  the  outside  of  the 
cheese;  the  curd  is  then  turned  out  into  the  cloth,  and  this  being  carefully 
folded  round  it,  the  clieese  is  returned  once  more  into  the  vat.  AH  the  vats 
which  are  to  be  filled  are  placed  one  upon  another,  and  all  subjected  to  the 
action  of  the  press.  Here  they  remain  four-and-twenty  hours:  the  vats  of 
the  next  meal  being  placed  underneath,  and  those  of  the  preceding  meal 
raised  a  tier,  and  dry  cloths  occasionally  applied. 

In  many  dairies  there  is  a  second  breaking  of  the  curd,  which,  after  hav- 
ing been  reduced  as  small  as  possible,  is  scalded  with  a  mixture  of  water 
and  whey.  This  second  and  more  perfect  breaking  down  of  the  curd  has 
been  imagined  to  be  the  grand  cause  of  the  soft  uniform  substance  of  the 
cheese  when  it  is  fully  made.  The  practice,  however,  is  getting  some- 
what into  disuse;  for  it  is  very  reasonably  urged  that  this  scalding  and 
washing  must  extract  a  portion  of  the  oleaginous  part  of  the  cheese;  there- 
fore a  great  deal  more  care  is  taken  in  sufiiciently  reducing  it  with  the  knife 
rapidly  worked  about  the  tub  before  the  curd  is  put  into  the  vat.  The  old 
farmers,  however,  yet  maintain  that  the  whole  art  of  making  Gloucester 
cheese  depends  on  this  scalding  process;  that  the  fatty  matter  of  the  milk 
and  curd  is  thus  disposed  to  develope  itself,  and  to  be  brought  so  far  out,  as 
to  form  afterwards  the  uniform  rich  substance  for  which  the  Gloucester 
cheese  is  celebrated. 

At  the  expiration  of  twenty-four  hours  the  cheeses  are  well  rubbed  with 
salt.  This  is  repeated  daily,  for  three  days,  for  the  single,  and  four  days 
for  the  double  Gloucester;!  the  cloths  being  now  taken  away,  and  the 
cheeses  regularly  returned  to  the  press  for  four,  or  five,  or  six  days,  ac- 
cording to  the  state  of  the  weather.  They  are  then  put  upon  the  shelf, 
or  '  tack,'  and  turned  twice  in  the  day,  for  two  or  three  days;  and  then 
placed  in  the  cheese-room,   where   they   are   turned   once   in  the  day 

*  Dr.  Rudge  says,  that  the  rennet  is  sometimes  made  two  months  before  it  is  wanted. 
To  twelve  gallons  of  water  are  usually  added  twelve  pounds  of  common  salt,  and  one 
pound  of  bay-salt.  This  is  boiled  until  it  will  bear  an  egg.  It  is  strained  when  cool, 
and  twenty-four  Irish  '  veils'  or  stomachs,  and  twelve  lemons  with  the  rinds  on,  but  in- 
cisions made  into  them,  and  two  ounces  of  cloves  and  cinnamon,  are  then  put  into  the 
liquor. 

+  The  '  Single  Gloucester'  is  the  skim-milk  cheese,  the  '  Double  Gloucester,'  or 
•  best  making'  cheese  is  manufactured  from  the  pure  or  unskimmed  milk;  although  it 
is  not  unusual  in  a  large  dairy  to  set  aside  sufficient  milk  to  afford  cream  and  butter 
enough  for  the  family,  and  afterwards  to  add  it  to  the  next  day's  milking.  These  are 
sometimes  called  '  Coward'  cheeses;  they  are  either  thin,  weighing  about  161bs.  per 
cheese,  or  thick,  averaging  from  301bs.  to  401bs. 

The  best '  Single  Gloucester'  is  either  the  '  two-meal-cheese,'  made  of  equal  por- 
tions of  unskimmed  and  skimmed  milk,  or  sometimes  two  portions  of  skimmed  milk, 
and  one  part  of  pure  or  '  coward'  milk.  The  inferior  cheese,  acknowledged  to  be  the 
skim-cheese,  is  what  its  name  imports  it  to  be;  and  the  dairymaid  usually  skims  it  of- 
ten enough  before  she  converts  it  into  curd. 


THE  GLOUCESTERSHIRE  BREED.  39 

for  a  month.  They  are  then  scraped  clean,  and  painted  red  or  brown,  or 
a  mixture  of  both.  After  a  few  days  the  paint  is  rubbed  off  from  the  edges, 
and  the  cheese  is  continued  to  be  turned  once  or  twice  every  week. 

In  some  dairies  the  floor  of  the  cheese-room  is  well  rubbed  with  a  variety 
of  herbs,  among  which  are  elder-leaves,  potato-stalks,  mint,  &;c.  This  is 
supposed  to  answer  the  double  purpose  of  giving  the  cheese  a  coat,  and 
also  preventing  the  '  mints'  or  mites  from  getting  into  it.  Others  not 
only  avoid  this  unclean  practice,  but  wash  the  new-made  cheeses  with 
hot  whey  once  a  fortnight.  This  is  said  to  give  a  firmer  coat;  at  least,  it 
gives  a  cleaner  one. 

There  is  nothing  very  peculiar  in  all  this  process,  except  the  more  than 
usually  slight  agitation  of  the  milk  before  it  is  set  with  the  rennet,  and  the 
great  care  with  regard  to  the  degree  of  temperature.  Something,  perhaps, 
may  be  attributed  to  a  less  degree  of  squeezing  with  the  hand  in  bruis- 
ing the  curd,  when  a  great  deal  of  the  fatty  matter  of  the  cheese  may  be 
pressed  out,  the  knife  being  more  used  than  the  hand  in  dividing  it. 

The  principal  characteristics  of  the  Gloucester  cheese  are  its  richness, 
and  its  smooth  and  oily  texture  instead  of  breaking  when  cut,  and  its  re- 
taining fatty  matter  so  perfectly  in  the  operation  of  toasting. 

We  have  already  related  the  manner  in  which  Cheddar  cheese  is  made 
to  resemble  the  double  Gloucester. 

A  litde  before  Michaelmas  the  cheese  is  submitted  to  the  factor,  who 
often  adopts  a  very  summary  way  of  examining  it.  He  treads  upon  each 
cheese,  and  those  which  yield  to  the  tread  he  condemns  as  '  heaved'  or 
'  hoved,'  and  are  kept  for  home,  or,  at  least,  for  country  consumption. 
Many  causes  have  been  assigned  for  this  '  heaving.'  Some  attribute  it 
to  the  pasture.  It  is  said  to  have  been  too  luxuriant,  or  to  have  had  too 
many  early  plants  in  it.  The  dairymaid  always  stoutly  maintains  this. 
Others,  with  more  justice,  say  that  it  is  the  fault  of  the  maker: — the  curd 
was  produced  too  quickly,  either  by  making  the  milk  too  hot,  or  adding  too 
much  rennet,  or  by  removing  the  cheese  too  soon  to  a  close  and  hot  room. 
The  cheese-rooms  are  generally  far  too  hot,  and  probably  encourage  this 
fermentation  in  the  new-made  cheese.  They  should  be  as  cool  and  airy 
as  possible.  Some  farmers  prefer  a  stone  Hoor  for  it,  and  with  reason. 
The  chief  cause,  however,  is  to  be  sought  for  in  the  first  making. 

As  may  be  supposed,  the  grazing  of  cattle  is  comparatively  neglected 
in  this  dairy  district.  Some  of  the  farmers,  however,  buy  in  small  Welsh 
beasts,  principally  heifers,  '  hurries,'  and  turn  them  on  the  rouen  in  Au- 
gust. They  remain  there  until  the  following  spring,  being  occasionally 
supplied  with  hay,  as  the  season  may  demand,  and  are  then  in  good  con- 
dition, and  yield  a  fair  remunerating  price. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  Gloucester,  however,  a  considerable  number 
of  oxen,  principally  of  the  Hereford  breed,  are  fattened.  If  in  poor  con- 
dition they  are  bought  in  the  spring,  and,  after  running  on  the  summer 
pastures  until  winter,  are  finished  off  in  the  stall,  A  more  unprofitable 
way  is  to  buy  them  in  forward  condition  in  the  autumn,  and  feed  them  on 
hay  with  oil-cakes.  Some  from  the  lower  part  of  the  country  are  sent  to 
Bristol  or  Bath;  but  the  greater  part  of  them  are  destined  for  the  Smithfield 
market. 


40 


CATTLE. 


[  The  Sussex  Ox  J 


Some  of  the  ancient  Britons  sought  refuge  from  the  attacks  of  their  in- 
vaders, amid  the  fastnesses  of  the  Weald  of  East  Sussex.  Thither  they 
drove,  or  there  they  found,  some  of  the  native  cattle  of  the  country;  and, 
as  in  the  north  of  Devon,  and,  as  will  be  presently  seen,  in  the  mountains 
of  Wales,  and  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  they  anxiously  preserved  them 
free  from  all  admixture,  as  relics  of  happier  times,  and  records  of  what 
Britain  once  possessed. 

The  resemblance  between  the  Sussex  and  the  Devon  oxen  is  very  great. 
They  unquestionably  betray  the  same  origin.  Lord  Sheffield  thought  that 
there  were  two  breeds  of  Sussex  catde;  one  the  larger  and  coarser,  scarcely 
different  from  the  Hereford,  except  that  they  had  no  white  about  them, 
and  which  were  a  mixture  of  the  old  Sussex  with  other  breeds  from  the 
east  and  the  west,  and  which  having  been  fed  on  richer  pasture,  had  ac- 
quired a  larger  growth:  the  lighter  breed  bore  about  it  unequivocal  marks 
of  its  being  of  the  same  common  stock  as  the  Devon. 

One  of  the  best  descriptions  that  we  have  of  the  Sussex  ox  is  given  by 
that  excellent  agriculturist  Mr.  EUman,  of  Glynde,  to  whom  the  eastern 
pait  of  that  county  is  much  indebted  for  the  preservation  of  its  native 
breed  of  cattle,  and  the  great  improvement  of  the  South-Down  sheep. 
He  speaks  of  the  Sussex  ox  as  having  a  small  and  well  formed  head;  and 
so  it  has,  compared  with  many  other  breeds,  and  even  with  the  Hereford 
but  evidently  coarser  than  that  of  the  Devon;  the  horns  pushing  forwards 
a  little,  and  then  turning  upwards,  thin,  tapering  and  long — not  so  as  to 
confound  this  breed  with  the  long  horns,  and  yet  in  some  cases  a  little 
approaching  to  them.  The  eye  is  full,  large,  and  mild  in  the  ox;  but  with 
some  degree  of  unquietness  in  the  cow.  The  throat  clean;  and  the  neck, 
compared  with  either  the  long  horns  or  the  short  ones,  long  and  thin,  yet 
evidently  coarser  than  that  of  the  Devon. 

At  the  shoulder  is  the  main  point  of  difference,  and  the  principal  defect 
in  the  Sussex  catde.  There  is  more  wideness  and  roundness  on  the 
withers — it  is  a  slraighter  line  from  the  summit  of  the  withers  towards 
the  back — there  is  no  projecting  point  of  the  shoulder  when  the  animal  is 


THE  SUSSEX  BREED.  41 

looked  at  from  behind,  but  the  whole  of  the  fore-quarter  is  thickly- 
covered  with  flesh,  giving  too  much  weight  to  the  coarser  and  less  profit- 
able parts,*  This  is  certainly  a  defect,  but  it  is  counterbalanced  by  many 
admirable  points.  If  there  is  more  weight  in  front,  the  fore  legs  are  neces- 
sarily wider  apart,  straighter  and  more  perpendicular  than  in  the  Devon ; 
they  are  placed  more  under  the  body  rather  than  seeming  to  be  attached  to 
the  sides.  The  fore-arm  is  large  and  muscular,  but  the  legs,  although 
coarser  than  those  of  the  Devon,  are  small  and  fine  downwards,  and  par- 
ticularly below  the  fedock.  The  barrel  is  round  and  deep — the  back 
straight — no  rising  spinal  processes  are  to  be  seen,  but  rather  a  central 
depression;  and  the  line  of  the  back,  if  broken,  is  only  done  so  by  a  lump 
of  fat  rising  between  the  hips.  The  belly  and  flank  are  capacious — there 
is  room  before  for  the  heart  and  lungs  to  prepare  and  circulate  the  blood, 
and  there  is  room  behind,  in  the  capacious  belly,  for  the  full  development 
of  all  the  organs  of  digestion;  yet  the  beast  is  well  ribbed  home,  the  space 
between  the  last  rib  and  the  hip-bone  is  often  very  small,  and  there  is  no 
hanging  heaviness  of  the  belly  or  flank.  The  loins  of  the  Sussex  ox  are 
wide;  the  hip-bone  does  not  rise  high,  nor  is  it  ragged  externally;  but  it  is 
large  and  spread  out,  and  the  space  between  the  hips  is  well  filled  up. 

The  tail,  which  is  fine  and  thin,  is  set  on  lov/er  than  in  the  Devon,  yet 
the  rump  is  nearly  as  straight,  for  the  deficiency  is  supplied  by  a  mass  of 
flesh  and  fat  swelling  above.  The  hind  quarters  are  cleanly  made,  and  if 
the  thighs  appear  to  be  straight  without,  there  is  plenty  of  fulness  within. 

The  Sussex  ox  holds  an  intermediate  place  between  the  Devon  and  the 
Hereford,  with  all  the  activity  of  the  first,  and  the  strength  of  the  second, 
and  the  propensity  to  fatten,  and  the  beautiful,  fine  grr.ined  flesh  of  both. 
Experience  has  shown  that  it  possesses  as  many  of  the  good  qualities  of 
both  as  can  be  combined  in  one  frame.  The  Devons  and  the  Herefords 
are  said  by  some  to  have  been  improved  by  one  judicious  cross  with  the 
other;  but  a  cross  with  the  Hereford  often  produces,  in  the  Sussex  a  heavier 
animal,  it  is  true,  yet  not  fattening  so  profitably,  or  working  so  kindly. 
Some  graziers,  however,  have  very  ingeniously  explained  this,  by  the  dif- 
ferent parts  on  which  the  Hereford  and  Shsscx  cattle  usually  carry  their 
fat.  The  Hereford  bears  it  upon  the  ribs  and  the  sirloin  ;  the  Sussex 
more  on  the  flank  and  the  inside.  There  may  be  some  truth  in  this:  yet 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Hereford  carry  theirs  in  the  best  places;  and 
it  is  on  this  account  that  the  prize  is  so  often  adjudged  to  them  at  the 
cattle-shows,  and  particularly  at  Smithfield.  When  the  Sussex  has  been 
crossed  with  the  Devon  a  lighter  breed  has  resulted,  but  not  gaining  in 
activity,  while  it  is  materially  deteriorated  in  its  grazing  properties. 

The  Sussex  ox  is  of  a  deep  chestnut-red — some,  however,  prefer  a 
blood-bay:  much  deviation  from  these  colours  generally  indicates  some 
stain  in  the  breed.  The  black,  or  black  and  white,  which  is  sometimes 
met  with,  generally  indicates  a  cross  from  the  Welsh.     The  white  may 

*  Mr.  W.  Pitt,  the  author  of  some  of  the  Agricultural  Surveys,  pronounces  this  breed 
to  be  comparatively  much  inferior  to  a  good  selection  from  the  Lancashire,  Hereford,  or 
Shropshire  breeds;  and  he  says,  '  I  cannot  help  thinking  them,  on  comparison  with 
some  other  breeds,  though  a  weighty,  yet  an  uncouth  and  coarse  animal.'  On  this  the 
Rev.  A.  Young  very  properly  remarks,  '  There  is  no  knowing  what  is  meant  by  such 
expressions  as  that  Sussex  oxen  are  uncouth  and  coarse  animals.  If  it  implies  a  coarse 
and  thick  and  rough  hide,  or  a  hard  and  coarse-grained  flesh,  nothing  was  ever  further 
removed  from  fact  than  such  an  assertion.  Sussex  oxen  are  as  remarkable  for  the  fine- 
ness of  their  hides  as  they  are  for  the  closeness  and  delicacy  of  their  flesh.  In  his  own 
Staffordshire  long-horns,  there  does  not  exist  any  shadow  of  comparison  for  feeding, 
grazing,  or  working.  In  quality  of  flesh,  thriving  disposition,  &c.,  both  the  Sussex  and 
Devons  exceed  you,  and  Hereford  leaves  you  far  behind.' — Survey  of  Sussex. 

5* 


43  CATTLE. 

possibly  remind  us  more  of  the  original  wild  breed;  a  few  of  which,  as  we 
have  remarked,  remain  at  Chillingham,  and  which  Vv'e  shall  also  trace  in 
other  parts.  It  would  be  satisfactory  if  we  could  discover  the  origin  of 
these  red  breeds,  for  we  suspect  they  were  not  always  so.  Mr.  Davis,  of 
Glynde,  once  had  a  black  ox,  with  a  white  face,  from  a  red  cow  by  a  red 
bull.  A  few  approach  to  a  yellow  colour,  but  they  are  weakly  and  apt  to 
scour. 

The  hide  of  the  true  Sussex  is  soft  and  mellow;  a  coarse,  harsh,  thick 
hide  is  supposed  to  denote  here,  as  in  every  other  district,  an  ill-bred,  or  an 
unthrifty  beast.  The  coat  is  short  and  sleek.  There  is  seldom  found  on 
the  Sussex  ox  that  profusion  of  soft  and  wavy,  and,  occasionally,  long  hair, 
which,  although  it  may  have  an  appearance  of  roughness,  is  consistent  with 
a  mellow  and  yielding  hide,  and  one  of  the  truest  indications  of  more  than 
usual  propensity  to  fatten. 

In  order  fairly  to  estimate  the  working  properties  of  the  Sussex  ox,  the 
two  breeds  of  which  Lord  Sheffield  has  spoken  must  not  be  forgotten;  and 
the  confounding  of  them  has  given  rise  to  much  of  the  confusion  and  con- 
tradiction which  exist  in  the  accounts  of  several  writers. 

The  proportion  of  the  labour  performed  by  oxen  is  different  in  different 
parts  of  the  county.  About  the  South  Downs,  oxen  are  much  employed 
but  not  perliaps,  in  an  equal  degree  to  horses.  In  the  weald  of  Sussex, 
they  have  the  greater  share  of  the  labour;  and  on  a  farm  of  about  100 
acres  there  is  usually  a  horse  and  an  ox  team — on  a  larger  farm  there  are 
more  oxen.  Many  farms  of  150  or  200  acres  have  from  ten  to  twelve 
working  oxen.  These  have  grass  and  straw  until  they  begin  to  work,  and 
then  cut  hay  is  mixed  with  their  straw. 

The  coarser  breed  is  always  slow,  and  soon  after  six  years  old  it  can 
scarcely  be  worked  at  all  with  advantage.  The  lighter  breed,  the  true 
Sussex  of  many  a  century,  will  step  out  as  light  and  as  fast,  and  will  do 
almost  as  much  work  as  any  horse,  and  stand  as  many  or  more  dead  pulls. 
Some  teams  have  been  known  to  travel  fifteen  miles  a  day,  with  heavy 
loads  for  several  successive  weeks,  and  without  the  slightest  distress. 

Of  the  speed  which  some  of  them  possess  proof  was  given  when  a  Sussex 
ox  ran  four  miles  against  time  over  the  Lewes  race-course,  and  accomplished 
the  distance  in  sixteen  minutes.  Formerly,  as  many  as  four  pairs  of  oxen 
were  not  unfrequently  seen  attached  to  a  single  plough  or  waggon,  and  they 
certainly  used  to  pull  well  together;  but  they  who  understand  the  power  and 
the  honesty  of  these  animals  rarely  attach  more  than  two  pairs.  Some  of 
them  have  been  worked,  and  particularly  by  Lord  Sheffield,  harnessed  in 
every  respect  like  horses,  and  they  answered  as  truly  and  as  easily  to  the  rein. 
Some  have  used  spayed  heifers  both  for  the  plough  and  for  draught  with 
manifest  advantage.  Many  farmers  keep  their  oxen  as  long  as  they  continue 
to  do  their  work  well,  and  sometimes  until  they  are  twelve  years  old,  and 
they  maintain  that  the  beasts  will  then  fatten  quite  as  well  as  at  an  earlier 
age.  Lord  Sheffield  fattened  two  of  more  than  twelve  years,  to  the  great 
weight  of  210  stones.  Experience,  however,  does  not  confirm  this  as  a 
general  rule.  An  old  ox  takes  longer  to  fatten  than  a  younger  one;  and  after 
all  there  is  generally  a  patchiness  and  unevenness  about  him,  which  do  not 
please  the  eye,  or  answer  in  the  market.  Other  farmers  work  them  during 
a  much  shorter  period;  and  they  believe  that  if  they  have  ten  oxen  or 
heifers  at  work  on  their  farm,  the  most  profitable  plan  is  to  sell  off  five  or 
six  every  year,  and  break  in  an  equal  number  to  succeed  them.  The  beasts 
will  thus  be  broken  in  at  three  years  old — worked  until  five  or  six,  and 
then  fattened,  and  if  they  do  not  always  grow  to  so  large  a  size,  they  im- 
prove more  rapidly  and  profitably. 


THE  SUSSEX  BREED.  43 

Although  it  is  yet  an  undecided  point  at  what  age  an  ox  that  has  been 
■worked  will  fatten  most  speedily  and  kindly,  it  cannot  be  denied,  that  he 
never  is  in  so  good  condition  for  work,  and  never  so  healthy,  or  so  little 
troublesome  as  at  six  years'  old.  So  far  as  their  work  is  concerned,  we 
should  prefer  a  nine  or  ten-year-old  ox,  to  any  four,  or  five-year-old  one. 
The  youngsters  are  often  a  great  plague  to  their  owners,  not  only  in  the 
breaking  in,  and  especially  if,  as  upon  this  plan,  five  or  six  are  to  be 
added  to  the  team  every  year;  but  like  the  young  horse,  they  are  too  fre- 
quently ailing — they  are  injured  by  their  work,  or  the  diseases  to  which 
ihey  would  otherwise  be  subject  are  increased  by  their  work. 

The  general  practice  of  the  county,  undoubtedly,  is  to  turn  the  oxen  off 
at  six,  and  slaughter  them  at  seven;  but  we  are  inclined  to  doubt  the  pro- 
priety of  it.  The  system  of  recruiting  the  team  so  frequently  has  many 
inconveniences.  Mr.  Young  tells  us  that  Lord  Egremont  had  a  pair  of 
Sussex  oxen  in  the  eleventh  year  of  their  age,  which  for  seven  years  had 
done  as  much  ploughing  and  carting  as  any  two  horses  in  the  county;  and 
then,  with  half  a  summer's  grass  after  having  been  taken  from  the  collar, 
and  an  autumn's  rouen,  they  were,  without  other  food,  sent  to  Smithfield, 
and  sold  for  eighty  guineas. 

The  oxen  are  usually  drafted  from  the  team  when  the  spring-sowing  is 
over;  they  are  then  turned  into  the  lower  or  marsh  land,  in  the  proportion 
of  one  ox  to  an  acre,  if  the  land  is  tolerably  good,  and  are  there  pre- 
pared for  the  winter  stall-feeding.  Sheep  are  generally  mingled  with  the 
oxen.  In  the  level  of  Pevensey,  where  there  is  plenty  of  watei,  and  the 
grass  is  abundant,  there  are  many  catde,  although  sheep  are  even  there 
increasing;  but  at  Winchelsea  and  Rye,  there  are  most  sheep,  and  only 
one  bullock  to  every  four  acres,  in  order  to  keep  the  pasture  even.  After 
the  hay  is  cut  and  carried,  the  pastures  are  usually  occupied  by  catde 
and  sheep;  but  the  reservation  of  rouen  for  the  pinching  part  of  the 
spring  when  all  artificial  provender  fails,  or  before  the  young  clover  and 
other  grasses  have  begun  to  shoot,  is  comparat-ively  unknown. 

Stall-feeding  is  very  much  practised  in  Sussex,  and  Lord  Egremont 
used  to  have  his  milch  cows  tied  up  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year. 
He  maintained,  that  one-third  of  the  food,  was  saved — that  the  cows 
were  fed  with  a  fourth  part  of  the  usual  trouble — that  more  dung  was 
made — and  that  there  was  no  poaching  the   ground. 

The  oxen  are  gradually  accustomed  to  their  stalls;  they  are  at  first 
brought  in  only  at  night;  but,  as  the  winter  approaches,  they  are  con- 
stantly tied  up.  Comparing  .even  the  system  of  yard-feeding  with  the 
fattening  in  stalls,  Mr.  EUman,  of  Glynde  (a  skilful  as  well  as  zealous  agri- 
culturist, and  whose  opinion  is  of  weight  in  cases  like  these,)  found  that  nine 
oxen,  fed  loose  in  the  yard,  consumed,  in  destroying  as  well  as  eating,  as 
much  as  twelve  oxen  that  were  tied  up.  Many  graziers,  however,  and 
particularly  in  the  midland  districts,  maintain  that  an  ox  loose  in  the  yard 
will  fatten  quicker  than  one  that  is  tied  up. 

The  average  weight  of  the  Sussex  cattle  when  brought  to  Smithfield  is 
about  120  stones;  but  they  have  been  slaughtered  as  high  as  216  stones. 
One  belonging  to  Mr.  EUman,  weighing  214  stones,  measured  from  the 
crown  of  the  head  to  the  rump,  9  feet  6  inches.  The  girth  before  the 
shoulder  was  9  feet  5  inches;  behind  the  shoulder,  9  feet;  round  the 
middle,  10  feet;  round  the  flank,  9  feet;  and  from  the  nostril  to  the  tip  of 
of  the  tail,  was  a  distance  of  14  feet  8  inches. 

Mr.  Edsaw,  of  Fettleworth,  who  was  partial  to  large  cattle,  has  had 
them  6  feet  high  behind,  and  5i  feet  before,  andlO-^  feet  girth  over  the 
heart.     Two  of  them  weighed  216  stones  each. 


44 


CATTLE. 


The  Sussex  cow,  like  the  Hereford  one,  is  very  inferior  to  the  ox;  she 
seems  to  be  almost  another  kind  of  animal.  The  breeder  has  endeavoured, 
but  with  comparatively  little  success,  to  give  to  the  heifer  the  same  points 
that  the  ox  possesses. 


\_The  Sussex  Cow.'] 

The  Rev.  A.  Young  thus  describes  what  the  Sussex  cow  ought  to  be, 
and  some  may  be  found  to  resemble  the  portrait: — 'The  true  cow  has  a 
deep  red  colour,  the  hair  fine,  and  the  skin  mellow,  thin  and  soft;  a  small 
head,  a  fine  horn,  thin  clean  and  transparent,  which  should  run  out  hori- 
zontally, and  afterwards  turn  up  at  the  tips;  the  neck  very  thin  and  clean 
made;  a  small  leg;  a  straight  top  and  bottom,  with  round  and  springing 
ribs;  thick  chine;  loin,  hips,  and  rump  wide;  shoulder  flat — but  the  pro- 
jection of  the  point  of  the  shoulder  is  not  liked,  as  the  cattle  subject  to  this 
defect  are  usually  coarse;  the  legs  should  be  rather  short;  carcass  large;  the 
tail  should  be  level  with  the  rump:  a  ridged  back-bone,  thin  and  hollow 
chines,  are  gi-eat  defects  in  this  breed.' 

The  Sussex  cow  does  not  answer  for  the  dairy.  Although  her  milk  is 
of  very  good  quality,  it  is  so  inferior  in  quantity  to  that  of  the  Holderness  or 
the  Suffolk,  that  she  is  little  regarded  for  the  making  of  butter  or  cheese. 
Almost  every  mongrel  breed  finds  its  way  into  the  dairy  in  preference  to 
her.  A  cross,  however,  has  been  attempted,  and  with  some  success,  be- 
tween the  Sussex  and  the  SuflTolk,  retaining  to  a  very  fair  degree  the  fat- 
tenning  properties  of  the  one,  and  the  disposition  of  the  other  to  give  a 
considerable  quantity  of  good  milk. 

Old  Herbert  says,  that  '  while  the  Sussex  oxen  carry  too  much  weight 
on  their  coarser  parts,  the  heifers  and  cows  are  better  made  and  carry  much 
of  their  weight  on  their  backs;'  and  he  aflfiirms  that  '  they  are  sure  breeders, 
good  at  the  pail,  and  handsome.'  The  cow  is  lighter  before,  but  she  is 
deficient  in  other  points;  and  as  to  her  being  good  at  the  pail,  the  fact  that 
so  few  of  them  are  kept  as  dairy  cows,  even  in  Sussex,  is  a  sufficient  proof 
that  they  are  not  so. 

There  are  some  exceptions,  however,  to  this.  Lord  Hampden,  of 
Glynde,  had  a  cow  which,  in  the  height  of  the  season,  yielded  ten  pounds 
of  butter  and  twelve  pounds  of  cheese  every  Aveek,  and  yet  her  quantity  of 


THE  SUSSEX  BREED.  45 

milk  rarely  exceeded  5  gallons  per  day.  The  next  year  the  same  cow 
gave  91  lbs.  of  butter  per  week  for  several  weeks,  and  then  for  the  rest  of 
the  summer  8lbs.,  or  8l  lbs.,  per  week:  and  until  the  hard  frost  set  in, 
7lbs., — and  41bs.  per  week  during  the  frost.  Yet  as  a  proof  of  the  quality 
of  the  milk,  she  at  no  time  gave  more  than  five  gallons  in  the  day.  Mr. 
Young  adds  to  this,  that  '  four  or  five  years  before,  the  same  person  had 
a  fine  black  Sussex  cow  from  Lord  Gage,  which  also  gave,  in  the  height 
of  the  season,  five  gallons  per  day,  but  no  more  than  5lbs.  of  butter  were 
ever  made  from  it.'  This  is  accounted  for  in  a  singular  way;  for  there  is 
a  common  opinion  (a  prejudice,  we  should  be  disposed  to  call  it)  in  the 
east  of  Sussex,  that  '  the  milk  of  a  black  cow  never  gives  so  much  butter 
as  that  of  a  red  one.' 

It  must  be  confessed  that  there  is  one  great  fault  about  the  Sussex  cows, 
seemingly  inconsistent  with  their  propensity  to  fatten,  and  which  cannot 
be  remedied.  Their  very  countenance  indicates  an  unquiet  temper:  and 
they  are  often  restless  and  dissatisfied,  prowling  about  the  hedge-rows, 
and  endeavouring  to  break  pasture,  and  especially  if  they  are  taken  from 
the  farm  on  which  they  were  bied. 

They  are  principally  kept  as  breeders,  all  the  use  being  made  of  them 
at  the  same  time  as  dairy  cows  of  which  circumstances  will  admit.  And 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  they  are  generally  in  fair  condition,  even  while 
they  are  milking;  and  that  no  beasts,  except  theirkindred,  the  Devons  and 
the  Herefords,  will  thrive  so  speedily  after  they  are  dried.  The  secretion 
of  milk  being  stopped,  the  Sussex  cow  will  fatten  even  quicker  than  the 
ox.  It  must,  however,  be  acknowledged  that  the  Sussex  cows  are  not  per- 
fect, even  as  breeders;  and  that,  unless  a  great  deal  of  care  is  taken  that  the 
cow  shall  not  be  in  too  good  condition  at  the  time  of  calving,  she  is  subject 
to  puerperal  fever,  or  '  dropping;'  while  many  a  calf  is  lost  from  the  too 
stimulating  quality  of  her  milk. 

Next  to  the  cross  with  the  Suffolk  for  the  improvement  of  the  milk  is 
that  with  the  Jersey,  or  French  cow;  but  there  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be 
a  decided  breed  for  the  dairy  in  any  part  of  Sussex. 

Nearly  all  the  calves  are  reared — the  males  for  work,  and  the  females 
for  breeding  or  early  fattening.  The  following  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the 
breeding  and  grazing  department  of  an  ordinary  East  Sussex  farm.  A 
farm  is  selected,  on  which  eight  cows,  on  the  average,  are  kept;  then  it  is 
supposed  that  there  will  generally  be  six  calves,  six  yearlings,  six  two- 
year  olds,  four  three-year-olds  beginning  to  work,  four  four-year-olds,  four 
five  year,  and  four  six-year  olds.  On  some  farms  the  calves  are  calculated 
as  being,  occasional  losses  excepted,  equal  to  the  number  of  cows,  and  the 
females  are  quite  sufficient  to  keep  up  the  stock.  The  calves  are  general- 
ly cut  at  seven  weeks  old;  they  are  permitted  to  suck  for  ten  or  thirteen 
weeks,  and  are  weaned  by  being  shut  up,  and  having  a  little  grass  given 
to  them  until  they  have  forgotten  the  dam,  when  they  are  turned  out.  Du- 
ring the  first  winter  they  are  fed  with  the  best  hay,  and  after  that  they  have 
grass;  and  occasionally  somestraw,  until  the  second  Christmas  is  passed, 
when  they  are  broken  in  for  working.  A  good  cow,  after  her  own  calf  has 
been  weaned,  will  suckle  another,  and  sometimes  even  two  others,  for  the 
butcher. 

Mr.  Young  gives  the  following  as  Lord  Egremont's  cattle  system  for 
work: — '  The  calves  are  dropped  from  December  to  the  end  of  February. 
They  are  weaned  immediately,  n-ever  letting  them  suck  at  all;  but  the  milk 
is  given  for  three  days  as  it  comes  from  the  cow.  For  weaning  on  skim- 
milk  they  ougkt  to  fall  about  December,  and  then  they  should  be  kept  warm 
by  housing,  and  thus  they  will  be  equally  forward  with  calves  dropped  late 


46  CATTLE. 

in  the  spring  that  run  with  the  cow.  With  the  skim-milk  some  oatmeal  is 
given,  but  not  until  two  months  old,  and  then  only  because  the  number  of 
calves  is  too  great  for  the  quantity  of  milk.  Water  and  oatmeal  are  after- 
wards mixed  with  it.  A  heifer,  however,  with  her  first  calf  is  supposed 
to  suckle  it  the  whole  season,  in  order  to  make  her  a  good  milker;  but 
with  the  second  calf  she  is  treated  like  the  rest.  In  May  they  are  turned 
to  grass.  During  the  first  winter  they  are  fed  upon  rouen.  The  follow- 
ing summer  they  are  at  grass;  the  second  winter  out  at  straw,  of  which 
they  eat  very  little,  as  they  run  out  on  short  rough  grass.  They  have 
been  tried  on  hay  alone,  but  straw  and  grass  do  better.  The  following 
summer  they  are  fed  on  grass,  and  are  broken  in  at  Christmas,  being 
three  years  old.  They  are  at  first  lightly  worked;  for  the  only  object  is 
to  break  them  in,  in  order  that  their  regular  work  may  begin  in  the  spring. 
From  that  time  their  winter  food  is  straw,  with  the  addition  of  a  ton  and 
a  half  of  clover  hay,  given  between  the  finishing  of  straw  and  going  to 
grass,  and  in  order  to  prepare  them  for  the  spring  sowing.  They  are 
worked  about  four  years  and  a  half,  and  then  fattened.' 

When  at  straw  in  the  winter  they  work  three  days  in  the  week,  and 
some  of  them  every  day.  Mr.  Young  adds  a  remark  which  may  deserve 
consideration;  that  Avhen  an  ox  will  not  bear  hard  work  and  hard  food, 
he  should  be  put  to  fatten,  and,  probably,  he  will  thrive  as  well  as  one 
that  would  stand  work  and  hardship  better,  for  the  qualities  of  fattening 
well,  and  bearing  hard  work,  are  distinct. 

The  bull  is  changed  every  two  years  by  the  best  breeders,  from  the 
supposition  that  the  breeding  in  and  in  will  cause  the  stock  to  degene- 
rate. 

The  system  of  working  in  collars  instead  of  yokes  was  once  very  pre- 
valent in  Sussex;  but  experience  has  not  shown  that  it  is  decidedly  supe- 
rior to  the  old  method  of  yoking  them  to  the  ploughs. 

In  some  parts  of  Sussex  there  is  a  breed  of  black  cattle,  said  to  have 
been  introduced  by  Mr.  Marten  of  Tirle.  They  are  probably  a  cross  of 
the  Sussex  cow  with  a  South  Wales  bull,  and  they  retain  a  great  deal  of 
the  shape  and  form  of  the  best  blood  of  Sussex.  They  are  as  heavy,  and 
work  well;  but  they  are  exceedingly  troublesome  to  break  in. 

Of  the  west  of  Sussex,  little  can  be  said  with  regard  to  any  prevailing 
breed.  Mr.  James  Hack,  who  resides  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Chichester, 
and  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  some  excellent  remarks,  fattens  some 
Devons;  but  he  prefers  the  Pembrokeshire  black  oxen,  for  they  are  heavier 
in  flesh,  more  hardy,  and  can  better  endure  every  variation  of  temperature. 
Mr.  Postlethwaite,  of  the  same  neighbourhood,  describes  the  dairy  cows 
as  consisting  of  a  strange  mixture  of  short-horns,  Devons,  Sussex,  and 
French.  Mr.  Henry  Freeland,  of  Appledram,  near  Chichester,  prefers  a 
cross  of  the  Sussex  with  the  SuflTolk  polls  for  the  pail. 


In  the  western  part,  or  the  weald  of  Kent,  the  Sussex  oxen  are  much  used 
for  the  plough  and  for  the  road;  but  there,  as  in  Sussex,  the  dairy  catde 
are  drawn  from  other  counties.  They  are  principally  Welsh,  or  a  strange 
and  varying  mixture  of  the  Sussex,  the  Staff'ordshire,  and  the  Welsh. 
Even  in  the  Weald,  the  Sussex  cattle  are,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
kept  only  for  the  purpose  of  grazing.  Their  young  cattle,  of  what- 
ever kind,  are  usually  sent  to  Romney  Marsh  in  the  summer.  The  far- 
mer in  the  Weald  would  not  know  what  to  do  with  his  bullocks  at  that 
time  of  the  year,  because  most  of  his  pasture  must  be  reserved  for  hay,  or 
food  for  his  dairy.     They  are  sent  about  the  middle  of  May,  and  return  at 


THE  KENTISH  BREED.  47 

the  end  of  September,  when  they  are  put  on  the  inferior  grass  lands;  and 
in  winter  they  are  sent  to  the  straw-yard,  or  served  with  hay  in  the  field. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Romney  Marsh  graziers  send  the  greater  part  of 
their  lambs  to  the  Weald  for  tlie  winter.  They  go  in  September,  and  are 
brought  back  in  April.  This  interchange  of  stock  is  convenient  and  pro- 
fitable for  both  parties.  The  Weald  farmer  keeps  the  lambs  about  thirty 
weeks,  and  the  Marsh  farmer  grazes  the  cattle  during  twenty  weeks. 

At  three  years  old  the  heifer,  and  the  steer  at  four  years  old,  is  ready 
to  fatten.  Better  food  is  then  allowed  them.  They  are  kept  on  the  best  grass 
and  hay  that  the  farm  can  aflibrd.  The  hay  of  the  old  meadows  is  gene- 
rally reserved  for  tlie  fattening  of  catde.  Of  those  that  are  kept  at  home, 
the  pastures  are  first  stocked  with  milch  cows,  to  take  off  the  head-grass, 
and  the  leaner  catde  and  the  working  oxen  follow  them;  and  thus  several 
fields  are  fed  down  in  succession  during  the  summer. 

The  practice  of  fattening  catde  with  distillers'  wash  commenced  at 
Bromley:  it  was  afterwards  adopted  in  the  distilleries  of  Middlesex,  of 
which  we  shall  give  a  particular  account  in  the  proper  place. 

So  far  as  catde,  however,  are  concerned,  Kent  can  scarcely  be  said  to 
be  either  a  breeding  or  a  dairy  county.  In  the  east  of  Kent  especially, 
few  cattle  are  bred.  The  polled  Scots  are  bought  for  summer- grazing,  or 
the  Welsh  are  purchased  at  Canterbury,  or  other  markets.  The  principal 
dairy  cows  are  selected  from  them;  the  rest  are  kept  in  the  farm-yard  for 
the  winter,  and  in  the  spring  are  placed  among  the  sheep,  where  they 
fatten  rapidly,  and  reach  from  twenty  to  twenty-two  scores. 

Some  graziers  buy  Welsh  calves  in  the  autumn,  and  put  them  out  to 
keep  in  the  farm-yards  for  the  winter:  in  the  spring  they  place  them 
among  their  sheep,  where  they  get  fat  in  a  few  months,  and  weigh  from 
18  to  22  scores. 

In  some  parts  of  Kent  oxen  are  stall-fed  on  oil-cake  and  hay,  for  the 
purpose  of  supplying  manure  for  the  hop-grounds.  This  purpose  may 
probably  be  answered,  in  regard  to  the  manure,  but  the  fattening  of  the 
ox  in  this  way  must  be  far  from  profitable. 

There  are  very  few  dairy-farms  in  any  part  of  Kent;  sufficient  pasture- 
land,  to  keep  a  few  cows  to  supply  the  family  with  milk  and  butter,  and  per- 
haps a  litde  fresh  butter  for  sale,  is  all  that  the  best  upland  farms  will  yield. 

The  native  catde  of  Kent  deserve  more  attention  dian  has  been  hitherto 
paid  to  them.  Mr.  Boys  says,  that  '  they  are  of  a  deep-red  colour,  with 
small  bone,  and  a  kindly-soft  skin.  They  have  a  great  breadth  of  loin  and 
length  of  sirloin  and  rump,  and  a  small  head  and  neck;  the  horns  short 
and  standing  upwards,  and  they  have  a  ready  disposition  to  fatten.' 


WALES. 

To  the  Principality  we  naturally  look  for  some  trace  of  the  native  breed  of 
cattle,  for  the  Welsh  were  never  entirely  subdued  by  any  of  the  early 
invaders.  The  Romans  possessed  merely  a  portion  of  that  country;  the 
Saxons  scarcely  penetrated  at  all  into  Wales,  or  not  beyond  the  county 
of  Monmouth;  the  Welsh  long  resisted  the  superior  power  of  the  English 
under  the  Norman  kings;  aud  it  was  not  until  late  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury that  the  Principality  was  annexed  to  the  crown  of  England.  We 
therefore  expect  to  find  more  decided  specimens  of  the  native  productions 
of  our  island:  nor  are  we  altogether  disappointed.  Howell  Dha,  or 
Howell  the  Good,  describes  some  of  the  Welsh  catde  in  the  tenth  cen- 


48 


CATTLE. 


tury,  as  being  '  white  with  red  ears,'  resembling  the  wild  cattle  of  CTiil- 
lingham  Castle.  An  early  record  speaks  of  a  hundred  white  cows  with 
red  ears  being  demanded  as  a  compensation  for  certain  offences  against  the 
Princes  both  of  North  and  South  Wales.  If  the  cattle  were  of  a  dark  or 
black  colour,  150  were  to  be  presented.  When  the  Cambrian  Princes  did 
homage  to  the  King  of  England,  the  same  number  of  cattle,  and  of  the 
same  description,  were  rendered  in  acknowledgment  of  sovereignty.  Speed 
tells  us  that  Maud  de  Breos,  in  order  to  appease  King  John,  whom  her 
husband  had  offended,  sent  to  his  Queen  a  present  from  Brecknockshire 
of  400  cows  and  a  bull,  all  white  and  with  red  ears.  AVhether  this  was 
the  usual  colour  of  the  ancient  breed  of  Welsh  and  British  cattle,  or  a 
rare  variety,  esteemed  on  account  of  its  beauty,  and  chiefly  preserved  in 
the  parks  of  the  nobles,  we  are  unable  to  determine.  The  latter  is  the 
most  probable  supposition;  and  the  same  records  that  describe  the  '  white 
catde  with  red  ears,'  speak  also  of  the  '  dark  or  black-coloured  breed,' 
which  now  exists,  and  which  is  general  throughout  the  principality. 

The  principal  and  the  most  valuable  portion  of  the  cattle  of  Wales  are 
middle  horns.  They  are  indeed  stunted  in  their  growth,  from  the  scanty 
food  which  their  mountains  yield,  but  they  bear  about  them,  in  miniature, 
many  of  the  points  of  the  Devon,  Sussex,  and  Hereford  cattle.  We  will 
first  consider  the  cattle  of  South  Wales. 


ITht  Pembroke  Oar.] 
SOUTH    WALES. 


PEMBROKESHIRE. 

Great  Britain  does  not  afford  a  more  useful  animal  than  the  Pembroke 
cow  or  ox.  It  is  black;  the  great  majority  of  them  are  entirely  so;  a  few- 
have  white  faces,  or  a  little  white  about  the  tail,  or  the  udders;  and  the 
horns  are  white.  The  latter  turn  up  in  a  way  characteristic  of  the  breed, 
and  indeed  the  general  form  of  the  cattle  undeniably  betrays  their  early 
origin.  They  are  shorter  legged  than  most  of  the  Welsh  breeds,  but  lon- 
ger than  the  Montgomeries,  and  have  round  and  deep  carcasses.  They 
have  a  peculiarly  lively  look  and  good  eye.  The  hair  is  rough,  but  short, 
and  the  hide  is  not  thick.     The  bones,  although  not  so  small  as  in  the 


THE  GLAMORGANSHIRE  BREED.  49 

improved  long  horns,  are  far  from  large;  and  the  Pembrokeshire  cattle 
mingle  to  a  considerable  degree,  and  as  far  perhaps  as  they  can  be  com- 
bined, the  two  opposite  qualities,  of  being  very  fair  milkers,  with  a  pro- 
pensity to  fatten.  The  meat  is  generally  beautifully  marbled.  It  is  equal 
to  that  of  the  Scotch  cattle,  and  some  epicures  prefer  it.  They  thrive  in 
every  situation.  They  will  live  where  others  starve,  and  they  will  rapidly 
outstrip  most  others  when  they  have  plenty  of  good  pasture.  The  Gla- 
morgans  would  probably  get  the  start  of  the  Pembrokes  on  good  pasture} 
but  on  the  rough  and  barren  tracts,  which  are  to  be  found  in  both  counties, 
the  Pembrokes  would  decidedly  obtain  the  advantage,  and  are,  therefore, 
purchased  by  many  of  the  Glamorganshire  farmers.  The  Pembroke  cow 
has  been  called  the  poor  man's  cow:  it  is  perhaps  one  of  the  best  cottager's 
cows,  while  it  is  equally  profitable  to  the  larger  farmer.  We  shall  see,  when 
we  come  to  describe  the  Anglesey  breed,  that  the  original  catde  of  North 
and  south  Wales  are  essentially  the  same;  they  are,  however,  finer  in  the 
head,  neck,  and  breast,  than  the  Anglesey  beasts,  but  not  so  fine  as  the 
Glamorganshire  cattle. 

The  Pembrokes  are  found  in  Carmarthenshire,  Cardigan,  and  Brecon, 
and,  indeed,  in  every  bordering  county  mixed  with  the  different  breeds  of 
each,  and  imparting  to  each  its  very  best  qualities.  They  bear  no  slight 
resemblance  to  the  Kyloes. 

The  Pembroke  ox  is,  like  the  Devon,  a  speedy  and  an  honest  worker — 
fit  for  the  road  as  well  as  the  plough — and  when  taken  from  work  fattening 
as  speedily  as  he  does.  He  is  not  quite  so  tractable  as  the  Glamorgan, 
but  easily  managed  if  no  foolish  violence  is  resorted  to.  Great  numbers 
of  them  are  brought  to  the  I.ondon  market — they  stand  their  journey  well 
and  find  a  ready  sale,  for  they  rarely  disappoint  the  butcher;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  prove  better  than  appearance  and  touch  indicated.  The  Pembroke 
oxen  get  rid  of  their  steer  like  appearance  sooner  than  most  other  cattle. 
At  three  years  old  they  have  generally  the  true  character  of  the  ox  about 
them;  and  in  their  fourth  year,  they  are  usually  ready  for  the  market.  The 
Pembrokeshire  cow  is  usually  black,  with  occasionally  a  dark  brown,  or 
less  frequently,  a  white  face,  or  a  white  line  along  the  back.  Mr.  Davies 
describes  her  as  being  '  fine-boned,  with  a  clean  light  neck  and  head,  small 
yellow  horns  inclining  upwards,  good  chine  and  loin,  round  long  barrel, 
thin  thigh  and  short  legs:  she  is  always  in  good  condition  if  tolerably 
kept,  and  has  a  rich  wave  in  her  hair,  and  an  oiliness  of  skin,  which  ever 
denote  thriftiness.'  This  is  true  with  regard  to  some  of  the  best  cows,  but 
there  are  many  exceptions.  With  all  these  good  points,  proving  her  value  as 
a  grazing  animal,  the  Pembroke  cow  is,  as  we  have  described,  a  very  fair 
milker,  and  will  yield  5lbs.  of  butter  per  week  during  the  dairy  season. 


GLAMORGANSHIRE. 

The  Glamorgans  were  once  in  high  repute,  and  deservedly  so.  George  TIL, 
who  was  a  good  judge  of  cattle,  was  very  partial  to  them,  and  one  of  his 
agents  yearly  visited  Glamorganshire,  to  keep  up  his  Majesty's  stock  by  a 
selection  of  the  best  cattle  that  county  could  produce ;  and  the  farm  at 
Windsor  is  still  frequently  recruited  from  this  district.  For  the  most  valu- 
able portion  of  the  following  account  of  their  early  history  and  present 
state  we  are  chiefly  indebted  to  Mr.  Moggridge,  of  Newport,  and  Mr.  David, 
of  Radyr.  To  the  latter  gentleman,  whose  tact  and  skill  as  a  breeder  need 
no  eulogy  of  ours,  and  whose  side-board  is  loaded  with  the  testimonies  of 
the  superiority  of  his  cattle,  we  acknowledge  peculiar  obligation.  We  have 
6 


60  CATTLE. 

also  extracted  some  useful  matter  from  Davis's  excellent  '  Survey  of  South 
Wales,'  a  very  rare  book,  and  completely  out  of  print. 

D.  T.,  the  Welsh  topographer,  who  wrote  in  the  Cambrian  language  in 
1720,  speaks  of  the  cows  as  being  large,  some  red  and  some  pied,  with  a 
sleek  coat  and  a  fine  head.  Although  we  have  traced  the  white  ox  with 
red  ears  to  Glamorgan,  and  the  neighbouring  county,  Brecon,  yet  the  old 
legends  agree  that  the  domesticated  breed  was  of  a  reddish  colour,  and 
that  they  had  some  of  the  Norman  and  Devon  blood  in  them.  This  is 
accounted  for  by  some  of  the  chroniclers.  A  great  part  of  Glamorgan 
was,  in  the  twelfth  century,  seized  by  Robert  Filzhamon  and  other 
Norman  Knights.  Their  connexion  with  their  native  country  did  not  im- 
mediately cease,  and  they  introduced  some  of  the  Norman  cattle  into 
South  Wales.  The  sweUing  crest  of  the  Glamorgan  ox  at  once  reminds 
us  of  the  Norman  bull.  Did  they  spread  from  Glamorganshire  to  Angle- 
sey, the  cattle  of  which  island  are  also  recognized  by  the  peculiar  swelling 
of  the  breast,  and  lofty  bearing  of  the  head;  or  may  we  consider  this  state- 
liness  of  appearance  as  indicative,  in  both  districts,  of  the  native  breed? 

We  are  also  told  that  Sir  Richard  de  Grenaville,  one  of  the  Knights 
who  divided  among  them  the  Lordship  of  Neath,  also  possessed  the  castle 
of  Bideford  on  the  northern  coast  of  Devonshire,  and  introduced  many  of 
the  Devon  cattle.  This  we  can  easily  imagine,  for  in  the  old  red-cow, 
which  we  can  recollect  nearly  fifty-years  ago,  an  admixture  of  Devon 
blood  could  not  be  for  a  moment  mistaken,  and  it  is  even  yet  evident  in  the 
horns,  the  lively  countenance,  and  the  deer-like  head  and  neck.  The  red, 
however,  was  then  degenerating  into  brown,  and  the  brown  has  been  grad- 
ually darkening  from  crosses  with  the  Pembroke  black.  Some  of  the 
original  reds  are  to  be  met  with  occasionally  in  the  hilly  districts,  and 
particularly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Aberdare;  but  the  poverty  of  the  soil 
has  much  reduced  their  size.  Not  a  great  many  years  ago  there  was  in 
the  valleys  of  the  Neath  and  the  Towy,  a  breed  of  eatde  of  a  light  red 
colour,  and  with  while  faces,  which  were  said  to  have  been  the  ancient 
stock  of  the  vale  of  Glamorgan.  Although  not  so  large  as  the  brown 
breed  of  the  vale,  they  were  good  milkers,  and  fattened  kindly.  They 
were  not,  however,  always  bare,  but  occasionally  crossed  with  the  stunted 
blacks  of  the  neighbouring  parts  of  Carmarthenshire. 

The  Glamorganshire  farmers,  of  half  a  century  ago,  took  great  pride  in 
their  catUe,  and  evinced  much  judgment  in  their  breeding  and  selection. 
There  was  one  principle  from  which  they  never  deviated: — they  admitted 
of  no  mixture  of  foreign  blood,  and  they  produced  the  Glamorgan  ox,  so 
much  admired  for  activity  and  strength,  and  aptitude  to  fatten;  and  the  cow 
if  it  did  not  vie  with  the  best  milkers,  yielded  a  good  remunerating  profit 
to  the  dairyman. 

They  were  af  a  dark-brown  colour,  with  white  bellies,  and  a  streak  of 
white  along  the  back  from  the  shoulder  to  the  tail.  They  had  clean  heads 
tapering  from  the  neck  and  shoulders;  long  white  horns,  turning  upwards; 
and  a  lively  countenance.  Their  dewlaps  were  small,  the  hair  short,  and 
the  coat  silky.  If  there  was  any  fault,  it  was  that  the  rump,  or  setting  on 
of  the  tail,  was  too  high  above  the  level  of  the  back  to  accord  with  the 
modern  notions  of  symmetry. 

Forty  years  ago  the  breed  was  eagerly  sought  after  by  the  most  skilful 
breeders  in  Leicester,  Northampton,  Warwick  and  Wilts.  Their  aptitude 
to  iatten  rendered  them  exceedingly  profitable  when  taken  from  the  plough 
at  six  or  seven  years  old,  and  they  were  brought  to  great  perfection  on  the 
rich  English  pastures — frequently  weighing  more  than  twenty  scores  per 
quarter.     The  beef  was  beautifully  veined  and  marbled,  the  inside  of  the 


THE  GLAMORGANSHIRE  BREED.  51 

animal  was  well  lined  with  tallow,  and  the  Glamorgans  commanded  the 
highest  price  both  in  the  metropolitan  and  provincial  market.  Mr.  Davies, 
who  wrote  in  the  year  1814,  says  that  '  among  the  Glamorgan-vale 
browns  good  cow-beef  weighs  from  eight  to  ten  score  pounds  per  quarter, 
although  some  weigh  as  much  as  twelve  or  thirteen  scores.  Ox-beef  is 
from  twelve  to  fourteen  scores  per  quarter;  some,  however,  have  reached 
eighteen,  and  even  twenty  scores.' 

The  steers  were  seldom  yoked  until  three  years  old;  they  were  then 
moderately  worked  for  three  or  four  years  and  well  kept;  and,  after  a  few 
weeks'  rest,  they  were  usually  disposed  of  at  the  large  spring  fairs  in  this 
county,  which  then  displayed  a  collection  of  fine  oxen,  not  often  surpassed 
in  any  of  the  English  districts. 

During  the  French  revolutionary  war  the  excessive  price  of  corn  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  Glamorganshire  farmers  to  the  increased  cultivation 
of  it,  and  a  great  proportion  of  the  best  pastures  were  turned  over  by  the 
plough.  Turnip-husbandry  necessarily  followed;  and  then  the  improve- 
ment of  their  sheep  stock  became  an  object  of  importance,  and  the  cattle 
were  almost  entirely  neglected.  A  proper  selection  for  breeding  was  un- 
attended to;  the  calves  were  generally  weaned  at  two  or  three  weeks  old, 
and  nursed  on  milk  and  water,  hay-tea,  and  boiled  linseed;  the  produce 
of  the  cow  being  entirely  reserved  for  the  dairy.  The  steers  were  taken 
to  labour  when  they  were  two  years  old,  and  seldom  exceeded  four  years 
when  they  were  disposed  of;  they  were  depastured  in  summer,  either  on 
land  too  wet  to  carry  sheep,  or  too  bare  for  corn,  and  in  winter  they 
barely  existed  in  the  straw-yard. 

The  natural  consequence  of  inattention  and  starvation  was,  that  the 
breed  greatly  degenerated  in  its  disposition  to  fatten,  and,  certainly,  with 
many  exceptions,  but  yet,  as  their  general  character,  the  Glamorganshire 
cattle  became  and  are  flat-sided,  sharp  in  the  hip-joints  and  shoulders, 
high  in  the  rump,  too  long  in  the  legs,  with  thick  skins,  and  a  delicate 
constitution. 

The  Glamorganshire  farmer  was  startled  at  the  necessary  result  of  this 
alteration  of  system.  His  cattle,  instead  of  being  eagerly  sought  after,  and 
sold  at  an  extravagant  price,  could  scarcely  be  sold  at  all,  or  only  at  a 
serious  loss.  He  was  unwilling  at  first  to  acknowledge  the  real  cause  of 
this  deterioration  and  diminution  of  value,  and  many  of  the  breeders,  even 
at  the  present  day,  take  little  or  no  pains  to  redeem  their  error. 

A  few  spirited  individuals,  however,  set  the  example;  and  others  have 
been  incited  by  their  zeal  and  partial  success  to  assist  in  endeavouring  to 
restore  the  breed  to  its  former  pre-eminence,  or,  at  least,  to  adapt  it  to  the 
coarser  fare  which,  under  the  altered  state  of  husbandry,  must  now  be  to 
a  great  degree  its  lot. 

Among  these,  and  one  of  the  most  skilful  and  successful  of  them,  was 
Mr.  David,  of  Radyr,  whose  sketch  of  the  deterioration  and  regeneration 
of  the  breed  we  are  giving  our  readers  in  a  somewhat  condensed  form. 
The  result  of  these  attempts  has  been,  that,  in  the  recent  exhibitions  of 
stock  at  Tredegar,  the  revived  and  pure  Glamorgans  have  often  success- 
fully competed  with  the  short-horns  and  the  Herefords;  and  Mr.  David 
has  received,  at  Sir  Charles  Morgan's  cattle  shows,  no  less  than  twelve 
silver  cups  for  his  Glamorgans. 

The  work  of  improvement,  however,  as  yet  has  been,  and  could  only 
be,  in  few  hands.  It  is  comparatively  easy  to  keep  up  a  good  breed;  but 
to  regenerate  a  bad  one,  or,  at  least,  a  deteriorated  one,  requires  skill, 
capital,  and  perseverance;  and  these  called  into  active  requisition  in  the 
face  of  hard  times,  and  with  little  or  no  prospect  of  obtaining  remunerating 


53 


CATTLE. 


prices.  Therefore  it  must  be  acknowledged  at  present,  and  perhaps  it 
must  long  continue  to  be  the  fact,  that  the  Glamorgans,  generally,  are  far 
from  being  what  they  once  were.  They  continue,  howe  ver,  to  maintain 
fheir  character  for  stoutness  and  activity,  and  are  still  profitably  employed 
in  husbandry  work.  Only  a  little  while  ago  four  Glamorgan  oxen  ploughed 
•with  ease  half  an  acre  of  clover  hay  in  two  hours  and  three-quarters.  The 
beef  is  still  good,  marbled,  and  good  tasted;  and  in  proportion  as  the 
value  of  the  ox  to  the  gi-azier  has  decreased,  the  value  of  the  cow  has  be- 
come enhanced  for  the  dairy.  He  who  is  accustomed  to  cattle  will  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  this;  and  the  kind  of  incompatibility  between  an  apti- 
tude to  fatten  in  a  little  time,  and  on  spare  keep,  and  the  property  of  yield- 
ing a  more  than  average  quantity  of  milk. 

Even  Mr.  David  acknowledges  that  he  had  not  succeeded  to  his  perfect 
satisfaction  in  reproducing  the  old  breed,  which  combined  so  much  of 
both  these  excellences;  and  therefore  he,  and  the  most  scientific  breeders 
of  the  county,  began  to  be  weary  of  this  strict  adherence  to  the  Glamorgan- 
shire breed,  and  to  consider  whether  it  might  not  be  possible,  by  judicious 
crossing  with  the  cattle  of  other  districts,  to  obtain  an  animal  better  suited 
to  the  present  state  of  the  country. 


[7%e  Glamorganshire  ox.'] 

The  interests  of  the  grazier  were  first  considered,  and  the  comparative 
slowness  in  feeding  in  the  present  Glamorgans  was  attempted  to  be  ob- 
viated by  crossing  with  the  Hereford  bull.  This  to  a  considerable  extent 
succeeded.  An  animal  was  produced  well  adapted  for  the  grazier;  disposed 
to  accumulate  flesh,  and  of  a  hardier  constitution:  but  the  ox  was  a  little 
injured  for  the  yoke';  the  beef,  as  is  the  case  with  every  animal  that 
arrives  at  an  early  maturity,  was  not  so  fine;  and  the  value  of  the  cow  was 
very  much  diminished;  she  was  neither  so  good  a  milker,  nor  nurse. 
Besides  this,  the  fattening  of  an  animal  that  gi-ew  to  so  great  a  bulk  as  the 
mingled  Hereford  and  Glamorgan,  interfered  too  much  \vith  the  present 
economy  of  Glamorganshire  husbandry;  and  the  produce  of  this  cross  did 
not  always  thrive  on  the  scanty  fare  on  which  it  was  compelled  to  subsist. 

That  important,  and  not  duly  appreciated  fact,  to  which  we  shall  often 
have  occasion  to  allude,  was  also  here  very  apparent.     The  advantage  of 


THE  GLAMORGANSHIRE  BREED.  53 

mingling  the  Hereford  with  the  Glamorgan  was  evident  enough  in  the 
first  cross,  and  the  farmer  began  to  congratulate  himself  on  the  result;  but 
after  the  second  and  third  generation,  the  influence  of  the  foreign  blood 
rapidly  disappeared,  and  the  Glamorgan,  with  all  his  characteristic  points 
and  defects,  again  stood  before  us.  The  heavy  Leicester  was  likewise 
tried,  but  the  progeny  became  sluggish  and  unfit  for  labour,  and  slow  in 
feeding  and  coarse  in  beef,  and  unfit  for  stocking  such  a  district.  The  in- 
fluence of  soil  and  climate  on  the  production,  and  the  perpetuation  of  cer- 
tain breeds,  is  a  circumstance  that  does  not  enter  half  so  much  into  the  con- 
sideration of  the  farmer  as  it  ought  to  do,  and  will  account  for  a  great  many 
of  his  disappointments  and  erroneous  opinions.  We  shall  seriously  consi- 
der this  subject  when  we  come  to  treat  of  the  principles  of  breeding. 

Breeders  then  began  to  take  another  view  of  the  matter.  They  consi- 
dered their  cattle  as  mere  machines  for  converting  the  raw  produce  of  the 
earth  into  human  food;  and  they  inquired  whether  their  soil  and  climate, 
and  situation  for  markets,  and  their  mode  of  agriculture,  were  best  adapted 
for  a  machine  to  produce  beef,  or  milk.  The  character  and  habits  and  em- 
ployment of  the  inhabitants  of  Glamorgan  had  essentially  changed. 
Mines  had  been  sunk,  and  manufactures  had  been  established  in  almost 
every  part  of  the  county.  It  was  become  a  very  populous  district,  in 
which  dairy  produce  would  always  command  a  ready  sale.  In  addition  to 
this,  the  good  old  custom  still  prevailed  in  this  county,  of  farm-servants 
being  kept  under  their  employer's  roof;  and  their  diet,  in  order  to  be  both 
wholesome  and  economical,  was  chiefly  derived  from  the  dairy.  As 
therefore,  the  old  Glamorgan  could  with  so  much  difiiculty,  or  scarcely  at 
all,  be  reproduced,  the  attention  of  the  farmer  was  gradually  directed  to  the 
dairy. 


\_The  Glamorganshire  Cuw.'\ 

At  first  he  was  unwilling  quite  to  sacrifice  the  old  pride  and  boast  of 
his  native  county,  and  he  endeavoured  once  more  to  accomplish  botU 
objects,  and  he  had  recourse  to  the  short-horns.  A  very  litde  experience, 
however,  convinced  him  that  his  labour  would  here  be  lost.  He  retained, 
indeed,  the  milk,  but  he  somewhat  deteriorated  its  quality;  and  the  beast 
was  slow  and  sluggish,  and  not  calculated  for  labour,  and  would  not  thrive 


54  CATTLE. 

on  the  pasture  and  on  tlie  nourishment  which  this  county  usually  affords. 
In  a  happy  hour  he  thought  of  the  Ayrshire  cow;  and  he  brought  her 
from  her  native  district.  Some  farmers  used  her  pure;  others  crossed 
her  with  the  best  Glamorgan  cattle;  and  others  with  still  moie  judgment 
procured  the  Ayrshire  bull,  and  bred  with  him  from  the  best  of  their  own  . 
heifers.  The  result  was,  an  animal  that  yielded  more  milk  than  the  old 
Glamorgan — that  was  hardier,  and  could  be  kept,  and  especially  in  the 
winter,  at  much  less  expense,  and  that  from  its  smaller  size  was  more  easi- 
ly fattened,  and  better  suited  to  the  coarse  fare  now  generally  afforded  her 
by  the  Glamorganshire  farmer.  This,  then,  is  the  breed  which  is  becom- 
ing, and  profitably  so,  established  in  the  populous  districts  of  Glamorgan. 
Among  the  improvers  of  the  Glamorgan  catde  Messrs.  Bradley  of 
Treguff  must  not  be  forgotten.  Their  beasts  bear  a  close  resemblance  to 
the  Herefords  in  figure,  although  inferior  to  them  in  size;  they  feed 
kindly — the  flesh  and  fat  are  laid  equally  over  them — the  beef  is  beautiful- 
ly marbled,  and  they  yield  a  more  than  average  quantity  of  milk.  They 
are  fattened  to  perfection  at  five  years  old,  but  not  often  at  an  earlier  age; 
and  will  become  sufficiently  bulky  on  the  good  pastures  of  the  vale  with- 
out any  artificial  food.  In  the  hilly  districts  many  of  the  old  Glamorgans 
remain,  and  attempts  are  made  to  restore  the  character  of  the  pure  Gla- 
morgan cattle  of  fifty  years  ago,  but  without  that  degree  of  success  which 
will  fairly  remunerate  the  farmer. 

The  cut  in  the  preceding  page  is  the  portrait  of  a  valuable  cow,  belong- 
ing to  the  royal  dairy  at  Windsor,  and  gives  a  faithful  representation  of 
the  present  improved  breed  of  Glamorgan  dairy-cattle. 

The  average  quantity  of  milk  given  by  a  Glamorganshire  cow  is  about 
sixteen  quarts  per  day.  The  principal  object  of  the  dairyman  is  butter, 
of  which  the  average  produce  of  each  cow  is  at  least  1  cwt.  during  the 
season.  The  butter  is  esteemed;  and  that  which  is  not  consumed  in  the 
home-manufactories  is  usually  sent  to  the  Bristol  market.  The  Glamorgan 
cheese  is  often  of  an  inferior  kind.  There  used  to  be,  and  in  some  mea- 
sure there  still  is,  an  unpleasant  dryness  and  brittleness  about  it,  depend- 
ing, according  to  some  persons,  on  the  clover  in  the  natural  pastures,  but 
more  attributable  to  some  mismanagement  in  the  manufacture,  or  the  quan- 
tity of  ewe's  milk  which  was  mingled  with  that  of  the  cow. 

With  the  establishment  of  a  dairy  breed,  it  has  been  thought  by  some 
that  a  little  too  much  of  the  old  false  economy  in  the  rearing  of  the  calf 
has  been  re-introduced.  He  is  early  weaned;  frequently  in  less  than  a 
week;  always  in  little  more  than  a  fortnight,  and  after  that  he  is  badly 
sheltered  and  worse  fed — skim  milk,  and  not  too  much  of  that,  is  his  only 
provender.  This  is  not  perhaps  to  be  strictly  defended,  for  it  is  practised 
on  an  animal  that  may  be  brought  to  grow  to  a  large  size,  and  whose  con- 
stitution, although  improved,  is  none  of  the  hardiest;  yet,  on  the  other  hand, 
although  the  calf  of  the  Hereford,  or  even  of  the  short-horn,  is  a  very  su- 
perior animal  at  a  year  old,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  he  has  probably 
consumed  the  whole  year's  produce  of  the  cow,  and  that  at  weaning  time 
he  must  be  supported  by  the  most  nourishing  food;  so  that  when  the  bal- 
ance is  struck,  the  profits  of  the  respective  breeders  may  not  be  very  dif- 
ferent, especially  if  two  or  three  cwt.  of  cheese  and  butter  are  added  to 
the  value  of  the  Glamorgan  yearling. 

There  is  still  another  serious  defect  in  the  system  of  Glamorganshire 
breeding:  if  the  calf  appears  to  fatten  more  than  usually  kindly,  it  is  forth- 
with sold  to  the  butcher,  and  not  reserved,  as  it  should  be,  for  the  purpose 
of  breeding.  In  selecting  their  cattle;  the  first  and  almost  only  considera- 
tion has  reference  to  their  milking  qualities;  and  a  full  udder  will  outweigh 
3very  objection  which  might  be  made  to  their  flat  sides,  large  offal,  long 


THE  MONMOUTHSHIRE  BREED.  55 

legs,  coarse  shoulders,  and  thin  skin.  In  some  parts  of  Glamorganshire 
the  pure  Herefords  are  cultivated  in  preference  to  any  mixture  with  the 
native  breed.  Mr.  Bradley,  who  resides  near  Cardiff",  is  partial  to  the 
Herefords,  and  his  stock  does  not  yield  to  many  in  the  neighbourhood,  or 
in  the  county  ganerally. 

The  hilly,  or  rather  the  mountainous  district,  forms  the  greater,  although 
not  the  most  populous,  part  of  this  county.  Mr.  Jenkins,  of  St.  y  Nill, 
informs  us  that,  from  the  retired  and  attentive  habits  of  the  farmers,  and 
especially  from  the  comparatively  small  part  of  the  county  that  could  be 
submitted  to  the  plough,  the  cattle  of  the  hills  have,  in  a  great  measure, 
escaped  the  deterioration  of  those  in  the  vale.  They  are  browner  than 
those  in  the  vale,  well  bodied,  and  with  short  legs.  Few  crosses  have 
been  attempted  among  them.  They  are  hardier  than  those  in  the  vale, 
and  advantage  is  often  taken  of  this  to  expose  them  to  too  much  privation. 
While  the  t)a/e-catde  are  wintered,  and  often  badly  enough  in  the  straw- 
yard,  the  /uVZ-cattle  have  nothing  but  hay  from  poor  peaty  meadows, 
whose  produce  is  not  more  than  seven  or  eight  cwt.  to  the  acre,  and  which 
are  rarely  or  never  manured.  Notwithstanding  this  they  thrive;  their 
meat  is  of  a  superior  quality,  and  they  are  much  sought  after  in  the  Lon- 
don market. 

The  Glamorganshire  catde  continue  to  prevail  in  Monmouthshire,  of 
■which,  although  not  strictly  a  Welsh  county,  and  far  more  a  mining  than 
a  breeding  district,  it  will  be  convenient  next  to  speak. 

MONMOUTHSHIRE. 

Here  likewise  Mr.  Moggridge  is  our  chief  authority. 

Monmouthshire  may  be  divided  into  the  hill  and  vale  districts.  The 
cattle  of  the  hill  country  were  probably  derived  from  crosses  of  the 
Brecon  blacks  with  the  Glamorgans.  The  latter  predominated,  and  con- 
tinued so  to  do,  to  the  visible  improvement  of  the  breed. 

Within  the  last  few  years,  however,  a  great  number  of  Irish  cattle  have 
found  their  way  to  every  part  of  the  Bristol  channel  by  means  of  steam- 
boats, and  they  were  offered  at  prices  so  inferior  to  that  of  the  natives 
that  they  were  greedily  purchased.  Not  only,  therefore,  was  all  improve- 
ment in  the  Monmouthshire  cattle  arrested,  but  the  hill-farmers  were 
threatened  with  ruin,  for  they  could  scarcely  sell  their  beasts  at  any  price. 
If  this  system  is  longer  pursued,  the  breeding  of  the  native  cattle  will  be 
in  a  manner  abandoned. 

Some  Durhams  have  been  lately  introduced  into  the  neighbourhood  of 
Pontypool,  but  with  doubtful  success.  The  Ayrshire  cow  has  found  her 
way  into  some  of  the  hill-dairies,  and  is  much  valued;  while  great  num- 
bers of  Scotch  cattle  are  brought  into  the  districts  immediately  connected 
with  the  iron  works,  and  even  bred  there.  They  live  well  on  the  moun- 
tain pastures,  and  are  soon  fattened  at  the  end  of  the  season. 

Many  of  the  native  cattle,  however,  continue  to  be  fattened  in  the  hill- 
district,  and  are  thence  driven  into  the  richer  pasture  of  the  central  coun- 
ties to  be  finished.  They  are  good  milkers,  although  not  equal  to  the 
Glamorgans,  of  whose  blood  they  inherit  a  considerable  portion.  Their 
appearance  is  very  much  against  them,  and  they  will  not  thrive  rapidly 
even  on  good  land. 

The  use  of  cattle  for  husbandry  has  been  declining  for  many  years, 
owing  to  the  canals  and  railways  which  intersect  the  county,  and  the  conse- 
quent increased  demand  for  horses:  but  should  the  introduction  of  locomo- 
tive engines  hereafter  banish  the  horse  from  the  mining  districts,  the  use 
of  cattle  in  rural  affairs  may  probably  be  resumed,  to  the  future  advantage 


56  CATTLE. 

of  the  landlord  and  the  tenant,  although  the  present  change  is  operating 
unfavourably  on  both. 

In  the  VALE  DISTRICT  of  Monmouthshire  the  farmers  w^ere  formerly 
content  with  the  Glamorgans,  and  the  better  kind  of  hill-cattle;  and  these 
after  being  kept  for  some  time,  increased  in  size  and  in  value.  Of  late 
years,  however,  the  Hereford  have  in  a  manner  superseded  both  of  these 
breeds,  and  many  fine  beasts  of  that  stock  are  to  be  found  in  the  vale  of 
Usk  generally,  and  particularly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Abergavenny. 
Some  intelligent  farmers  from  Herefordshire  have  settled  in  this  district. 
They  naturally  brought  witli  them  their  native  cattle:  and  the  Herefords, 
or  crosses  from  them,  may  now  be  considered  as  some  of  the  established 
breeds  through  the  whole  of  the  vale.  Sir  Charles  Morgan  has  introduced 
the  Durhams  into  the  lower  part  of  the  county,  and  with  a  prospect  of 
considerable  success.  Some  of  his  short-horns,  and  particularly  those  ex- 
hibited at  his  cattle-show  in  1830,  were,  as  the  intelligent  judge  of  the  cat- 
tle appropriately  called  them,  tremendously  fat.  At  wliat  expense  they 
Avere  made  so  is  not  perhaps,  considered  so  seriously  as  it  ought  to  be. 
For  the  dairy  especially,  it  is  probable  that  some  valuable  breeds  may  arise 
from  crosses  between  the  Durham  bull  and  the  best  of  the  vale  cows.  The 
Herefords  will  never  find  their  way  into  the  dairy:  they  belong  to  the  gra- 
zier and  the  butcher.* 

The  prevailing  cow  is  the  Glamorgan,  with  some  of  the  middle-sized 
Gloucester-vale  breed. 

A  great  proportion  of  the  labour  of  the  vale  husbandry  is  performed  by 
oxen,  but  the  bye-roads  of  Monmouthshire,  even  more  neglected  and  worse 
than  bye-roads  generally  are,  compel  the  farmer  to  keep  more  horses  than 
he  otherwise  would. 

There  is  a  large  tract  of  land  comprising  many  thousand  acres,  that 
can  neither  be  called  hill  nor  vale,  and  is  locally  known  by  the  name  of 
the  levels,  comprising  all  the  flat  land  bordering  on  the  Bristol  channel. 
Nearly  the  whole  of  this  is  meadow  land,  and  naturally  of  veiy  superior 
quality.  The  prevailing  stock  used  to  be  Glamorgans,  and  they  were 
selected  with  care  and  managed  with  judgment;  but  during  the  last  few 
years  the  pressure  of  the  times  has  paralysed  all  enterprise,  and  the  stock 
of  this  district  is  evidently  deteriorated.  The  Irish  catde  crossed  this 
tract  in  the  way  to  the  interior,  and  too  many  of  them  loitered  here  and 
are  becoming  in  a  manner  naturalized. 

CARMARTHENSHIRE. 

This  county  may  also  be  divided  into  the  hill  and  vale  districts,  and  the 
breed  of  cattle  in  the  two  is  very  dissimilar.    The  hill-breed  betrays  much 

*  Mr.  Walker,  of  Binton,  tells  us  that  this  is  too  strongly  expressed.  It  is  his  opinion 
that  "tliey  want  nothing  but  management  to  bring  them  into  the  dairy.  Being  so  ad- 
mirably adapted  for  the  grazier,  their  milk  is  quite  neglected.  The  Herefordshire  far- 
mers want  early  calves,  and  their  cows  and  heifers  calve  between  the  middle  of  Decem- 
ber and  February,  after  living  entirely  on  dry  meat,  and,  therefore,  by  the  time  the  grass 
comes,  they  are  nearly  or  quite  dry;  but  if  tiie  Hereford  heiler  calved  for  the  first  time 
at  grass,  and  about  the  middle  of  May,  she  might  become  a  good  milker.  Some  of  the 
cows  will,  under  the  present  management,  yield  from  ten  to  twelve  quarts  of  milk  at 
one  time,  and  their  milk  is  superior  to  that  of  any  other  cow  except  the  Alderney.  The 
quantity  of  milk  given  by  a  cow  will  greatly  depend  on  her  treatment  when  with  her 
first  calf.  If  she  has  not  proper  food  to  swell  the  milk  veins  at  first  starting,  she  will 
never  afterwards  make  a  good  milker.  The  Hereford  cow  has  seldom  a  fair  chance 
here.  '  I  speak  from  experience,'  he  says,  '  for  I  have  had  much  to  do  with  the  Here- 
fords for  several  years,  and  have  always  had  many  good  milking  cows  of  that  breed.' " 
These  are  very  important  observations;  and  although  we  are  not  sufficiently  convinced 
to  alter  what  we  have  written,  and  what  almost  universal  experience  and  belief  confirm, 
the  remarks  of  Mr.  Walker  deserve  serious  attention. 


THE  BRECKNOCKSHIRE  BREED.  57 

Irish  admixture.  The  cattle  are  small,  but  coarse;  generally  black;  and 
with  a  length  as  well  as  thickness  of  horn  that  would  better  entitle  them 
to  a  place  in  our  next  division,  than  among  the  aboriginal  middle-horns. 
They  are  a  hardy  race,  but  never  carry  much  flesh,  and  are  indiflferent 
milkers.  They  have  been  much  improved  by  the  introduction  of  bulls  and 
heifers  from  Pembrokeshire. 

The  vale-breed  is  larger.  The  Glamorgan  has  found  his  way  here, 
and  the  native  cattle  have  been  considerably  improved.  The  Shropshire 
has  also  been  introduced  with  advantage.  The  dairies  have  benefitted  by 
this  admixture,  and  a  cross  with  the  Hereford  has  been  attempted  with 
advantage  by  the  grazier.  They  are  now  much  less  used  than  formerly 
in  husbandry  work  or  on  the  road,  but  they  were  very  serviceable.  Mr. 
Davies  says  that  Mr.  Gwynne,  of  Glan  Bran  Park,  bought  five  three- 
year-old  bullocks  in  the  winter  of  1810,  and  began  to  work  with  them  im- 
mediately, and  continued  ploughing  with  them  until  the  barley  seed-time 
was  over.  They  were  fed  on  straw,  with  some  turnips,  and  when  they 
were  worked  unusually  hard  a  litde  hay  was  allowed.  In  the  summer 
they  went  daily  eighteen  miles  for  lime.  They  had  then  a  little  respite, 
but  they  were  worked  again  at  wheat-sowing,  and  sold  in  the  following 
January  for  5/.  each  more  than  their  prime  cost. 

The  average  produce  of  the  Carmarthenshire  cow  is  about  1  cwt.  of 
butter  during  the  dairy  season,  with  nearly  double  the  quantity  of  cheese. 
In  the  vale  of  the  Towy  a  greater  quantity  is  yielded,  when  the  river  over- 
flows its  banks  in  the  winter,  or  early  in  the  spring,  for  the  pastures  are 
then  richly  manured  for  the  following  season.  A  summer  flood,  however, 
materially  injures  the  feeding-grounds,  and  lessens  the  produce  of  the  farm. 

CARDIGANSHIRE. 

The  Cardiganshire  cattle  belong  to  the  Pembroke  or  Carmarthen  breeds, 
or  are  a  mixture  of  the  two.  Mr.  Walker  says,  that  the  Carmarthen  and 
Cardigan  cattle  are  so  much  alike  that  he  scarcely  knows  how  to  divide 
them.  They  are  not  quick  feeders,  nor  do  they  ever  carry  much  fat;  but 
the  litde  flesh  that  they  have  upon  them  is  very  good.  They  pay  more  by 
running  upon  tolerable  land  among  the  sheep,  than  they  would  do  by  any 
mode  of  stall-feeding.  Mr.  Lloyd,  in  Davies'  Survey,  more  truly  says, 
that  they  are  hardy,  work  and  travel  well,  and  take  on  fat  kindly;  but  that 
the  best  improvement  that  could  be  made  in  the  management  of  them, 
would  be  to  give  them  better  food  in  winter. 

In  speaking  of  Kent  as  a  grazing  county,  we  have  mentioned  that  a 
great  many  Welsh  are  fattened  there.  A  considerable  portion  of  them 
are  from  Cardiganshire;  and,  for  small  beef,  they  find  a  ready  sale  in  the 
London  market. 

The  Cardiganshire  cows  are  not  to  be  despised  for  the  dairy.  Mr.  Lloyd 
averages  the  produce  of  an  ordinary  cow  at  80  lbs.  of  butter  and  160  lbs. 
of  cheese  in  the  season.  Other  farmers  average  it  at  from  six  to  seven 
score  lbs.  of  butter,  with  a  corresponding  quantity  of  cheese.  This  com- 
putation seems  to  be  the  nearest  to  the  truth.  The  butter  is  sent  to  Bris- 
tol, or  to  the  iron-works  of  Glamorgan  and  Monmouth:  the  cheese  is  kept 
for  home  consumption. 

BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 

The  usual  breed  of  this  county  is  truer  than  many  of  its  neighbours  to  its 
native  origin.  The  middle-horn  may  be  clearly  traced  with  many  of  the 
excellences  of  that  division  of  cattle.     Much  cannot  be  said  of  the  Breck- 


58  CATTLE. 

nock  l)reecl  as  milkersi  but  they  are  useful  and  active  at  the  plough,  and 
deservedly  valued  by  the  grazier.  Recourse  has  of  late  years  been  had  to 
two  of  the  varieties  of  the  middle-horn,  the  Devon  and  the  Hereford,  and 
with  evident  advantage  botli  for  work  and  grazing.  The  catUe  on  the 
side  of  Brecon  tliat  is  nearest  to  Herefordshire  are,  in  a  particular  manner, 
becoming  very  strongly  mixed  with  the  Herefords. 

RADNORSHIRE. 

More  cattle  are  probably  bred  in  this  county  than  in  any  other  district  in 
Wales  of  equal  extent,  and  large  droves  are  sent  from  the  cattle  fairs  to 
Oxford,  Northampton,  Leicester,  and  even  to  Romney  Marsh.  The 
native  breed  is  the  Pembroke,  or  one  that  very  much  resembles  it;  but, 
Avith  commendable  spirit  and  industry,  the  Radnorshire  farmers  have 
endeavoured,  and  successfully,  materially  to  improve  it.  They  have  prin- 
cipally had  recourse  to  the  Herefords  as  a  cross  with  their  own  catde, 
and,  although  tliey  have  thus  produced  a  beast,  too  large,  and  too  capable 
of  yielding  beef  to  be  perfected  on  their  poor  land,  they  have  obtained  one 
that  will  thrive  and  pay  everywhere  else,  and  that  will  consequently  find  a 
ready  market.  The  general  colour  is  red,  or  brindled,  and  the  true 
white  face  of  the  Hereford  marks  the  source  whence  the  improvement  in 
the  stock  was  derived,  the  red  heifer,  however,  with  a  dark  and  smoky 
face,  is  most  in  request  for  the  dairy.  The  dairy-women  began  to  com- 
plain that  '  too  much  soap  had  come  into  the  country,' — that  the  red  had 
been  washed  off  from  the  faces  of  too  many  of  their  catUe;  for  it  cannot  be 
denied  that,  although  the  Hereford-cross  increases  the  size,  and  does  not 
diminish  the  tendency  to  fatten,  it  very  materially  lessens  the  quantity  of 
milk.  With  Shropshire  on  the  north,  and  Herefordshire  on  the  east,  they 
had  good  materials  at  command,  and  they  have  wisely  and  diligently  used 
them.  It  may  be  truly  said  that  they  have  got  the  start  of  most  of  their 
neighbours  in  the  breeding  of  good  cattle.  The  Radnorshire  farmer 
rarely  overstocks  his  ground,  but  the  cattle  have  plenty  of  food  both  in 
winter  and  summer,  and  on  which  they  rapidly  thrive,  however  coarse  it 
may  be.  The  calves  in  this  county  are  usually  taken  from  the  cow  at  the 
expiration  of  a  week  or  nine  days,  especially  if  the  farmer  wishes  the  dam 
to  breed  again.  The  young  animal  is  then  suckled  by  the  hand  with  new 
milk  for  four  or  iive  weeks,  when  gruel  or  linseed-tea  is  gradually  substi- 
tuted, and  dry-kneaded  pellets  of  barley,  or  pease  or  bean-meal,  or  vetches 
are  added.  Closes  of  suitable  size  are  appropriated  to  the  calves — the  soil 
being  good,  and  the  herbage  sweet,  and  the  stubbles  being  always  pre- 
ferred to  the  rouen  after  harvest. 

NORTH  WALES. 

Although  we  have  placed  the  cattle  of  North  Wales  in  the  same  chapter 
as  '  the  middle-horns,'  we  confess  that  we  are  a  little  approaching  to  the 
next  division,  '  the  long-horns.'  There  is  however  a  great  d^al  of  the  cha- 
racter of  '  the  middle-Iiorns'  about  them,  and  marking  their  common  origin, 
with  the  exception  perhaps  of  some  of  the  Anglesey  oxen;  but  their  pecu- 
liar bull-like  appearance  is  to  be  traced  to  a  practice  which  we  shall  pre- 
sently have  to  describe.  North  Wales,  considered  as  a  cattle  country, 
may  be  divided  into  two  districts.  In  the  first  the  rearing  of  catde  is  almost 
exclusively  attended  to;  in  the  second,  the  dairy  is  a  matter  of  consider- 
able if  not  primary  regard.  The  first  will  include  Anglesey,  Carnarvon, 
and  Merioneth;  and  to  the  second  belong  the  counties  of  Denbigh,  Flint, 
and  Montgomery. 


THE  ANGLESEY  BREED.  59 


ANGLESEY. 

The  island  of  Anglesey,  the  Mona  of  ancient  times,  the  peculiar  seat  of 
Driiidical  superstition,  and  long  the  rallying  point  of  British  independence, 
is  distinguished  from  the  other  divisions  of  North  Wales  by  the  absence  of 
an  irregular  and  mountainous  surface.  It  is  diversified  only  by  numerous 
undulations,  (they  scarcely  deserve  the  name  of  hills,)  covered  with  grass, 
although  not  of  a  luxuriant  nature,  and  on  which  a  considerable  number 
of  cattle  are  reared.  Roberts,  who  published  his  Map  of  Commerce  nearly 
two  hundred  years  ago,  says  that  three  thousand  head  of  catde  were 
annually  swum  across  the  straits  of  Menai.  We  shall  not  exaggerate 
when  we  say  that  ten  thousand  are  yearly  exported  from  this  island,  the 
aggregate  value  of  which  will  be,  at  least,  50,000/.  The  iron  bridge  of 
Menai  now  atfords  an  easier  and  securer  passage;  yet  the  losses,  when 
the  cattle  were  compelled  to  swim  across  the  strait,  were  surprisingly  kw, 
although  the  current  was  rapid  and  the  water  \vas  deep,  and  the  yearlings 
were  sometimes  swept  down  the  stream  even  so  far  as  three  or  four  miles. 

The  Anglesey  cattle  are  small  and  black,  with  moderate  bone,  deep  chest, 
rather  too  heavy  shoulders,  enormous  dewlap,  round  barrel,  high  and 
spreading  haunches,  the  face  flat,  the  horns  long,  and,  characteristic  of  the 
breed  with  which  we  will  still  venture  to  class  them,  almost  invariably 
turning  upward.  The  hair  is  apparently  coarse,  but  the  hide  is  mellow; 
they  are  hardy,  easy  to  rear,  and  well-disposed  to  fatten  when  transplanted 
to  better  pasture  than  their  native  isle  affords. 

The  Anglesey  calves  are  not  weaned  by  some  of  the  smaller  farmers 
until  a  late  age.  This  would  be  advantageous  to  the  future  growth  of 
the  beast,  were  it  not  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  false  economy 
which  is  practised  by  the  Anglesey  housewives  during  the  period  of 
suckling.  The  young  black  cattle  of  this  island  have  little  more  than 
hay-tea,  and  gruel,  and  the  common  broth  of  the  house;  and  when  they 
are  weaned,  they  are,  in  a  manner,  totally  abandoned.  The  best  treat- 
ment they  experience  is  to  be  folded  in  an  unsheltered  yard,  with  scarcely 
enough  oat  and  barley  straw  to  keep  them  from  starving;  for,  from  the 
face  of  the  country  and  the  nature  of  the  soil,  there  can  be  but  little 
provision  for  winter-feeding.  This  would  deteriorate  any  breed  less 
hardy  than  that  of  the  Isle  of  Mona. 

Mr.  Boggie,  of  Beaumaris,  assures  us,  that  the  better  kind  of  farmers 
give  their  calves  three  months'  milk,  either  by  allowing  the  calf  to  suck, 
or  to  have  milk  from  the  pail.  After  being  weaned  they  are  turned  to 
good  pasture  for  the  summer,  and  are  well  housed  at  night,  and  have  hay 
morning  and  evening  during  the  first  winter.  On  the  following  year  they 
fare  the  hardest  of  any  part  of  the  catde-slock,  being  turned  on  the  poorest 
pasture  in  the  summer,  and  foddered  on  barley  and  oat  straw,  and  gene- 
rally in  very  bleak  exposed  situations  in  the  winter,  for  there  are  few  farm- 
yards in  the  island.  If  they  are  kept  another  year  they  are  belter  pastured 
in  the  summer,  being  turned  into  the  next  best  grass  to  the  cows;  and, 
if  kept  over  the  winter,  are  generally  outlayers,  and  have  hay  or  straw 
night  and  morning.  Those  that  get  hay  are  sold  in  good  condition  in  the 
spring,  and  taken  to  England;  those  that  get  straw  only  are  kept  until 
the  autumn,  when,  having  had  good  pasture,  they  also  are  got  into  good 
store  condition,  and  are  purchased  for  the  English  Market. 

It  is  the  common  opinion,  and  we  fear  a  true  one,  that  the  breed  of 
Anglesey  cattle,  like  that  of  Glamorgan,  is  somewhat  deteriorated.  The 
state  of  the  case  is,  thart  the  attention  of  the  Anglesey  farmer  was  once 
strongly  directed  to  the  breeding  of  cattle;  copper  and  catde   were   the 


60  CATTLE. 

staple  commodities  in  this  island;  but  when  the  war  that  commenced  with 
the  French  revolution  so  suddenly  and  extravagantly  raised  the  price  of  corn, 
much  of  the  old  pasture-land  of  Anglesey,  like  that  of  Glamorgan,  was 
submitted  to  the  plough.  Cattle  were  then  comparatively  neglected;  the 
farms  were  overstocked,  in  order  to  furnish  the  usual  number  of  beasts; 
the  calf  was  half  starved;  the  yearling  was  stinted;  and  the  Anglesey 
runt  sunk  in  estimation  and  value.  Tlie  practice  of  the  middling  and 
small  farmers,  and,  indeed,  of  many  of  the  largest,  of  selling  off  their  best 
yearling  heifers,  and  keeping  the  poorest  only  for  the  dairy  and  breeding, 
and  the  culpable  and  general  neglect  of  selecting  good  bull-calves,  and 
also  the  want  of  proper  inclosures  by  which  the  steers  could  be  kept  fiom 
the  rest  of  the  stock,  contributed  to  increase  the  deterioration. 

Some  judicious,  and  many  ill-judged,  experiments  were  tried,  in  order 
to  restore  the  pristine  excellence  of  the  breed.  Bulls  from  other  districts 
were  introduced;  but  with  litde  good  effect.  There  were  two  impedi- 
ments in  the  way.  It  was  difficult  to  find  another  breed  sufficiently  hardy 
to  withstand  the  climate  and  the  privations  of  Mona;  and  even  if  such  had 
been  found,  there  seemed  to  have  been  such  an  identity  between  the 
cattle  and  the  climate,  that  little  permanent  alteration  could  be  accomplished. 
The  first  cross  effected  an  evident  change,  but  the  Anglesey  blood,  like 
that  of  the  Glamorgans,  predominated — the  produce  bred  back,  and, 
after  a  few  generations,  we  had  the  Anglesey  breed  again,  scarcely 
altered,  or,  if  so,  for  the  worse,  by  being  deprived  of  a  portion  of  its 
hajdihood. 


IThe  Anglesey  Ox.] 

The  Anglesey  heifer  has  been  crossed  with  the  Lancashire  bull,  witli 
an  evident  increase  of  size,  amounting  to  at  least  two  scores  per  quarter 
when  three  years  old,  and  even  an  increased  propensity  to  fatten,  and  that 
on  scanty  food;  but,  generally  speaking,  the  Angleseys  have  not  improved 
by  crossing,  and  least  of  all  from  the  Irish  cattle,  which  have  been  bought 
in  great  numbers  by  the  f\irmers,  on  account  of  their  being  cheaper  than 
their  own  country  beasts. 

The  breed  is  again  improving;  the  best  specimens  have  been  carefully 


THE   ANGLESEY  BREED.  61 

selected,  and  dearly  bought  experience  has  forced  upon  the  farmer  this 
truth,  that  it  is  false  economy  to  starve  the  growing  beast. 

The  Anglesey  cattle  are  principally  destined  for  grazing.  Great  num- 
bers of  them  are  purchased  in  the  midland  counties,  and  prepared  for 
metropolitan  consumption;  and  not  a  few  find  their  way  directly  to  the 
vicinity  of  London,  in  order  to  be  finished  for  the  market.  Li  point  of 
size,  they  hold  an  intermediate  rank  between  the  English  breeds  of  all 
kinds  and  the  smaller  varieties  of  Scotch  cattle;  and  so  they  do  in  the  facility 
with  which  they  are  brought  into  condition.  If  they  are  longer  in  pre- 
paring for  the  market,  they  pay  more  at  last;  and  like  the  Scots,  they 
thrive  where  an  English  beast  would  starve.  Both  the  Scotch  and  the 
Welsh  breed  have  their  advocates,  and  perhaps,  upon  the  whole,  the  palm 
in  point  of  profit  must  be  yielded  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  northern  kingdom. 

In  consequence  of  the  overstocking  of  their  land  and  the  dearth  of 
winter  provender,  the  Anglesey  breeders  are  anxious  to  get  rid  of  their 
cattle  as  soon  as  they  can.  Many  yearlings  cross  the  bridge  of  Menai; 
and  very  few  beasts  are  retained  in  the  island  after  they  are  three  years 
old.  The  three-years  old  are  the  most  profitable  to  the  English  grazier. 
They  are  eventually  brought  to  the  market  from  sixty  to  eighty,  and 
sometimes  even  a  hundred  stones,  and  their  meat  will  always  bear  a  supe- 
rior price  to  that  of  the  larger  cattle. 

In  Anglesey,  and  in  the  greater  part  of  North  Wales,  the  black  cattle 
were  formerly  used  extensively  for  the  plough,  and  even  on  the  road;  they 
were  docile  and  hardy;  but  their  use  for  draught  has  now  nearly  ceased. 
They  are  strong,  active,  and  willing;  but  it  might  be  no  disadvantage  if 
they  were  longer  in  the  leg  and  less  deep  in  the  chest.  The  Anglesey 
oxen  have  a  peculiarly  noble  appearance.  They  were  not  cut  until  they 
were  a  year  old;  this  gave  them  a  fierce  and  bull-like  form  about  the  head 
and  dewlap,  a  projection  of  the  breast,  and  lofty  bearing  of  the  head. 
There  is  still  a  stateliness  in  the  gait  of  an  Anglesey  ox,  and  a  haughtiness 
of  countenance,  which  we  have  not  recognized  in  any  other  breed.  It  pre- 
sents a  striking  contrast  with  the  mild  intelligence  of  the  Devon,  and  the 
quiet  submission  of  the  Hereford.  Early  castration,  however  is  now  com- 
monly practised  and  the  oxen  are  getting  ligliter  about  the  head  and  dewlap. 

Many  of  the  Welsh  traditions  confirm  the  early  and  indeed  the  exclusive 
use  of  oxen  for  the  plough;  and  Howell  the  Good  condescended  to  legis- 
late with  regard  to  these  useful  animals.  The  account  which  he  gives  of 
the  customary  length  of  the  yoke  would  show,  however,  that  the  oxen, 
in  those  times,  were  a  great  deal  smaller  than  we  now  find  them.  What- 
ever number  were  attached  to  the  plough,  (and  great  strength  was  re- 
quired, from  their  perpendicular  manner  of  forming  the  ridge,  even  on  the 
steepest  ground,)  they  were  all  yoked  abreast.  The  short  yoke  for  two 
oxen  was  four  Welsh  feet,  of  nine  inches  each,  (three  English  feet)  in 
length;  that  for  four  oxen  was  eight  feet  (six  English  feet)  long;  and  that 
for  eight  oxen  was  sixteen  (twelve  English  feet)  long.*  An  ordinary  ox 
of  the  present  day  would  require  a  somewhat  larger  space  than  eighteen 
inches,  in  order  to  work  or  even  to  stand. 

The  oxen  were  not  only  smaller,  but  far  less  numerous  than  at  present, 
or  the  land  was  divided  into  much  smaller  portions.  Each  circumstance, 
probably  was  influential  in  the  formation  of  the  Welsh  Ploughing  Societies 
with  regard  to  which,  also,  the  benevolent  Howell  legislated.  A  great 
many  little  farmers  clubbed  together,  according  to  their  means,  in  order  to 

»  Wotton's  Leg.  VVal.,  p.  284.     The  old  Welsh  acre  consisted  of  4320  square  yards, 
beinor  520  less  than  the  present  statute  one.     The  North  Wales  acre,  as  now  calculated, 
consists  of  3240  square  yards,  being  not  quite  three-quarters  of  the  statute  acre. 
7 


62  CATTLE. 

make  up  a  team,  which  was  to  plough  an  acre  of  land  per  day.  The  best 
acre  was  given  to  the  maker  and  conductor  of  the  plough,  who  was  always 
the  same  person;  the  second  acre  was  allotted  to  the  owner  of  the  plough- 
irons:  the  third  to  the  owner  of  the  right  hand  ox;  the  fourth  to  that  of 
his  yoke  mate;  the  fifth  to  the  driver;  then  an  acre  to  the  owner  of  each 
of  the  other  oxen;  and  the  last  acre  of  all  to  the  furnisher  of  the  plough 

timber.  rr  ■       c 

No  more  cows  are  kept  for  the  dairy,  in  Anglesey,  than  are  sufficient  for 
the  home  consumption.  Of  cheese,  little  is  made,  and  what  is  made  is 
often  ill-tasted,  and  of  a  spongy  appearance.  The  fault  of  this,  however, 
lies  more  with  the  farmer's  wife  or  the  dairy  maid,  than  with  the  cattle, 
or  the  soil. 

Having  given  so  full  a  description  of  the  Anglesey  cattle,  our  notices  ot 
the  other^districts  of  North  Wales  will  be  comparatively  short. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  straits  of  Menai  we  find 

CARNARVONSHIRE . 

This  county,  with  the  exception  of  the  promontory  of  Lleyn  at  the  south 
west  extremity  of  it,  consists  of  litde  more  than  a  succession  of  abrupt 
rocks,  some  of  them  swelling  into  enormous  mountains.  It  may  therefore 
be  supposed  that  the  cattle  are  small.  They  may  be  considered  as  a  variety 
of  the  Angleseys,  but  inferior  to  them  in  size  and  shape.  Few  attempts  to 
improve  them  have  been  made,  and  those  attended  by  no  great  success 
Both  the  farmers  and  the  drovers  obstinately  adhere  to  the  native  breed;  and 
certainly  with  this  apology,  that  no  others  can  vie  with  them  in  hardiness 
or  be  so  cheaply  reared. 

In  the  promontory  of  lileyn  the  surface  is  more  level,  and  the  breed  re- 
sembles that  of  Anglesey,  but  is,  perhaps,  a  little  inferior  for  the  soil  is  not 
so  rich,  nor  the  pastures  so  luxuriant.  Great  numbers  of  cattle  are  driven 
from  this  district  into  other  parts  of  Wales,  and  also  into  the  midland 
counties  of  England. 

A  very  few  oxen  are  here  worked,  but  none  in  the  other  parts  of  the 
county,  the  extreme  irregularity  of  the  surface  and  the  prejudices  of  the 
farmers  forbidding  it.  Some  good  cheese  is  also  made  in  this  part  of 
Carnarvon;  but,  otherwise,  the  business  of  the  dairy  is  completely  neglected. 

MERIONETHSHIRE. 

This  county,  chiefly  devoted  to  breeding,  is  situated  south-east  of  Car- 
narvon skirting  St.  George's  Channel  from  Carnarvon  to  Cardiganshire;  and 
is  almost  as  mountainous  as  Carnarvon.  Here  likewise,  on  the  hilly  ground 
the  cattle  are  only  a  smaller  variety  of  the  Angleseys,  and  very  inferior  to 
them.  They  are  ill-shaped  as  well  as  small,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  Mr. 
Sharp,  of  Rhagatt  near  Corwen,  they  are  some  of  the  worst  in  Wales.  It 
is  the  pure  Welsh  breed,  and  to  which  the  Merioneth  farmers  have  hitherto 
pertinaciously  adhered;  but  it  stands  at  the  very  bottom  of  the  list,  for  it  has 
been  most  disgracefully  neglected.  The  Merioneth  cattle,  however,  are 
capable  of  material  improvement,  if  attention  were  paid  to  the  selection 
of  the  best  of  the  native  breed.  It  is,  alter  all,  the  breed  best  adapted  to 
the  situation  and  climate,  and  every  attempt  to  render  it  more  valuable  by 
foreign  admixture  has  uniformly  failed. 

A  better  breed  is  found  in  the  vale  district,  principally  devoted  to  the 
dairy;  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  good  butter  is  made  ia  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Bala,  and  along  the  whole  course  of  the  Dovey.  The  valley 
of  Dovey  affords  the  richest  pasture  in  the  county. 


THE  FLINTSHIRE  BREED.  63 

The  improved  cattle  have  chiefly  been  obtained  from  Shropshire  or  Staf- 
fordshire, and  have  sometimes  been  crossed  with  the  Galloway.  East- 
ward of  Merionethshire,  and  bordering  on  Cardigan,  Radnor,  and  Shrop- 
shire, is 

MONTGOMERYSHIRE . 

Here,  in  the  hill  country,  the  cattle  are  diminutive,  but  no  longer  closely 
resembling  the  Anglesey.  They  are  of  a  blood-red,  with  a  dark  smoky 
face,  ill-made,  although  short  legged;  very  hardy,  good  milkers,  and  with 
a  tolerable  disposition  to  fatten:  but  in  the  vales  of  the  Severn  and  the 
Vyrnwv,  the  pasturage  is  excellent,  and  the  breed  of  cattle  much  superior. 

They  are  here  of  a  light  brown  colour,  with  no  white  except  a  narrow 
band  from  the  udder  to  the  navel.  The  horns  do  not  stand  wide,  or  turn 
upwards,  but  are  finely  made,  and  of  a  true  yellow  colour.  They  bear 
considerable  resemblance  to  the  Devons;  but  in  the  grazing  districts  they 
are  chiefly  abandoned  for  the  Herefords,  which  are  found  to  be  suitable  to 
the  soil  and  climate,  and  much  better  feeders.  Considerable  attention  is 
here  paid  to  the  dairy,  and  particularly  to  the  production  of  cheese,  which 
is  little  inferior  to  the  Cheshire. 

The  cows,  in  this  division  of  the  county,  are  not  only  fair  milkers,  but 
the  cattle  generally  show  great  aptitude  to  fatten.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Davies, 
in  his  Survey  of  North  Wales,  quotes  the  opinion  of  '  a  grazier  of  good 
judgment  and  great  experience,'  who  prefers  the  breed  of  this  district,  be- 
cause '  they  collect  bulk  on  the  most  valuable  parts,  and  have  less  offal 
than  those  of  Shropshire.'  About  nine  months'  feeding  with  grass,  hay, 
and  turnips,  will  add  about  threescore  pounds'  weight  to  each  of  their 
quarters. 

The  greater  part  of  this  county,  and  particularly  the  hills  of  Kerry  and 
Hopetown  are  litde  more  than  waste  land,  and  employed  in  the  breeding 
and  pasturing  of  sheep;  on  this  account  cattle  are  comparatively  neglected; 
but  a  great  many  Radnorshire  calving  heifers  used  to  be  bought  at  the 
fairs  on  the  borders  and  kept  on  straw  and  turnips  until  the  spring,  when 
the  Cheshire  drovers  bought  them  for  the  dairies  of  the  cheese-making 
districts. 

Lying  north  of  Merioneth  and  Montgomeryshire,  is 

DENBIGHSHIRE. 

This  is  a  great  breeding  county;  but  the  cattle  are  generally,  and  in  the 
hilly  district  particularly  of  an  inferior  kind,  although  resembling  the 
Angleseys.  The  system  of  overstocking  used  to  be  carried  to  a  ruinous 
extent  here.  In  the  vales,  however,  we  begin  to  recognize  a  larger  and 
more  valuable  breed — a  cross  between  the  Welsh  and  the  long-horn — 
and  prevailing  more  as  we  approach  the  borders  of  Flintshire.  The  dairy 
is  considerably  attended  to  in  the  lowlands,  and  some  excellent  cheese  is 
produced  there. 

FLINTSHIRE. 

This  county  is  placed  at  the  northern  extremity  of  Wales;  and  is  bounded 
on  the  north  by  the  Irish  Channel,  and  on  the  north-east  by  the  estuary  of 
the  river  Dee.  The  cattle  here  may  almost  be  said  to  have  lost  their 
Welsh  character.  They  most  resemble  their  neighbours  in  Cheshire  and 
in  Shropshire,  but  with  many  variations.  There  cannot  be  said  to 
be  any  distinct  breed;   for,   from  their  near  connexion  with  England, 


64  CATTLE. 

fresh  supplies  are  continually  brought  in  of  almost  every  kind.  A  great 
many  calves  are  also  sent  here,  from  Shropsliire,  to  be  suckled  and 
grazed,  and  more  particularly  from  Cheshire,  according  to  the  fancy  of  the 
breeders. 

The  Flintshire  cattle  appear  to  mingle  the  rare  qualities  of  being  excel- 
lent milkers  and  quick  feeders.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Davies  gives  some  illustra- 
tions of  this.  He  says  that  '  a  Flintshire  cow,  at  Mertyn,  of  the  true  lean 
milking  breed,  gave,  from  May  1st  to  October  30th,  4026  quarts  of  milk, 
which  produced  358  pounds  avoirdupois  of  butter,  being  nearly  equal  to 
two  pounds  of  butter  and  22  quarts  of  milk  per  day,  for  183  days  succes- 
sively.' On  the  other  hand,  he  says,  that  a  gentleman  of  Flintshire,  after 
'having  worked  his  oxen  until  he  had  finished  turnip-sowing  in  June,  sold 
a  pair  of  them  to  a  neighbouring  grazier  for  25/.,  being  about  the  market- 
price.  These,  without  the  aid  of  any  other  luxury  than  rest  from  labour 
and  plenty  of  grass,  were  so  increased  in  bulk,  by  the  December  follow- 
ing, that  they  sold  for  more  than  double  their  prime  cost.' 

A  considerable  quantity  of  good  butter  is  made  in  this  district,  but  the 
attention  of  the  dairyman  is  more  devoted  to  the  manufticture  of  cheese, 
which  is  little  if  at  all,  inferior  to  the  genuine  Cheshire.  Each  cow  is 
supposed  to  produce  nearly  three  hundred-weight  of  cheese  every  year. 


SCOTLAND. 


Scotland  contains  several  distinct  and  valuable  breeds  of  cattle  evidently 
belonging  to  our  present  division,  '  The  Middle  Horns.'  The  West 
Highlanders,  whether  we  regard  those  that  are  found  in  the  Hebrides, 
or  the  county  of  Argyle,  seem  to  retain  most  of  the  aboriginal  character. 
They  have  remained  unchanged,  or  improved  only  by  selection,  for  many 
generations,  or  indeed  from  the  earliest  accounts  tliat  we  possess  of  Scot- 
tish cattle. 

The  North  Highlanders  are  a  smaller,  coarser,  and  in  every  way 
inferior  race,  and  owe  the  greater  part  of  what  is  valuable  about  them  to 
crosses  from  the  Western  breed. 

The  North-Eastern  Cattle  were  derived  from,  and  bear  a  strong  re- 
semblance to  the  West  Highlander,  but  are  of  considerably  larger  size. 

The  Fife  Breed  are  almost  as  valuable  for  the  dairy,  as  for  the  gra- 
zier, and  yield  to  few  in  activity  and  docility. 

The  Ayrshire  Breed  are  second  to  none  as  milkers.  Many  of  the 
varied  mingling  breeds  of  the  Loivlands  are  valuable. 

The  Galloways,  which  scarcely  a  century  ago  were  middle-horned, 
and  with  difficulty  distinguished  from  the  West  Highlanders,  are  now  a 
polled  breed — inci-eased  in  size  with  more  striking  resemblance  to  their 
kindred  the  Devons — with  all  their  aptitude  to  fatten,  and  with  a  hardiness 
of  constitution  which  the  Devoris  never  possessed.  All  these  shall  pass 
rapidly  in  review  before  us. 

THE  WEST  HIGHLAND  CATTLE. 

We  will  first  describe  the  cattle  of  the  islands  on  the  Western  coast,  to 
which  the  honour  of  being,  or,  at  least  of  retaining  the  character  of  the 
primitive  breed  is  now  generally  yielded,  and  whence  are  procured  the  pu- 
rest and  the  best  specimens  selected  to  preserve  or  to  improve  the  High- 
land cattle  in  other  districts. 


(  65  ) 
THE  HEBRIDES  OR  WESTERN  ISLANDS. 


[  The  West  Highlaiid  Bull.] 

Skirting  the  coast,  from  the  promontory  of  Cantire  to  the  northern  ex- 
tremity of  Scotland,  is  a  range  of  islands  appearing  like  so  many  frag- 
ments torn  off  from  the  main  land — these  are  the  Hebrides,  or  Hebudas ; 
nearly  two  hundred  in  number,  and  about  half  of  them  inhabited  by  man. 
They  may  be  conveniently  divided  into  two  groups,  the  inner  and  the 
outer ;  the  inner  consisting  of  the  larger  islands,  and  some  of  them  sepa- 
rated from  the  main  land  by  narrow  channels  only ;  and  the  outer 
Hebrides  being  thirty  or  forty  miles  farther  from  shore. 

Little  is  known  of  the  history  of  the  Hebudans,  except  that  they 
descended  from  the  same  stock  with  the  Irish  and  the  Highlanders ; 
but  were  oftener  exposed  to  the  incursions  of  roving  tribes  from  every 
quarter,  and  who  successively  mingled  with,  and  were  lost  amono-,  but 
never  superseded  the  original  inhabitants.  If  we  are  to  credit  the  con- 
current testimony  of  many  old  legends,  and  confirmed  by  the  re- 
mains of  ancient  pillars,  and  castles,  and  fortifications,  which  some  of 
the  islands  yet  present,  the  Hebudans  of  early  times  were  powerful  and 
civilized.  '  The  kingdom  of  the  Innsegallians  was  the  pride  of  its  allies 
and  the  terror  of  its  foes.'* 

Sir  Walter  Scott  says,  that  'in  Malcolm's  reign  (Malcolm  IV.,  115.3,) 
the  Lords  of  the  Hebridean  islands,  scarcely  acknowledging  even  a  nomi- 
nal allegiance  either  to  the  crown  of  Scotland  or  that  of  Norway,  though 
claimed  by  both  countries,  began  to  give  much  annoyance  to  the  Western 
coasts  of  Scotland,  to  which  their  light-armed  galleys  or  birlins,  and  their 
habits  of  piracy  gave  great  facilities.'!  '  Alexander  II.  died  in  the  remote 
island  of  Kerrera  in  the  Hebrides,  while  engaged  in  an  expedition  to 
compel  the  island  chiefs  to  transfer  to  the  Scottish  king  a  homao-e 
which  some  of  them  had  paid  to  Norway.':}:  In  1263,  all  the  Western 
islands  were  annexed  to  the  Scottish  crown  under  Alexander  III.§ 

The  occupation  and  character  of  the  Hebudans  does  not  appear  to  have 

*  Macdonald's  Scandena. 

t  History  of  Scotland,  (Lardner's  Cabinet  Cyclopedia,)  toI.  i.  p.  34. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  43.  §  Ibid.,  p.  47. 

7* 


66  CATTLE. 

been  ameliorated  by  tliis  change ;  but  the  chiefs  of  the  dilTerent  islands, 
too  far  from  the  seat  of  government  to  be  under  much  control,  were  con- 
tinually at  war  with  each  other ;  and  the  arts  of  agriculture  being 
neglected,  they  were  compelled  to  resort  to  a  predatory  way  of  life  in 
order  to  obtain  the  means  of  subsistence :  and  thus,  for  more  than  three 
centuries,  the  Hebrides  were  the  resort  of  refugees,  smugglers,  and 
freebooters ;  r.nd,  at  no  very  remote  period,  the  inhabitants  were  singularly 
uncultivated,  ignorant,  idle,  and  miserable. 

After,  however,  the  union  between  the  English  and  Scottish  kingdoms, 
and  when  civilization  had  commenced  on  the  mainland,  the  Hebrideans 
began  to  be  reclaimed,  and  that  was  chiefly  manifested  in,  and  promoted 
by,  a  change  of  occupation.  Although  they  did  not  abandon  their  sea- 
faring life,  they  became  honest,  and  were  industrious  fishermen,  and  they 
began  to  learn  to  be  agriculturists.  Their  cattle,  which  had  been  totally 
neglected,  and  their  value  altogether  unknown,  retained  their  primitive 
character;*  the  Hebudans  for  tlie  first  time  became  aware  of  this,  and 
they  bred  them  in  greater  numbers,  and  a  few  of  the  most  intelligent 
farmers  endeavoured  to  improve  them  by  selections  from  the  best  speci- 
mens of  their  native  stock:  the  result  has  been,  that  the  breeds  of  some 
of  these  islands  now  bear  the  highest  price  among  the  Highland  cattle. 

It  may  be  supposed  that  in  a  group  of  islands  extending  nearly  two 
hundred  miles  from  north  to  south,  there  will  be  considerable  diflference 
in  the  character  and  value  of  the  breed;  but  through  the  whole  of  them 
the  striking  peculiarities  of  the  Highland  cattle  are  sufficiently  evident, 
except  where  they  have  been  debased  by  the  admixture  of  Irish  blood. 
The  principal  difference  is  in  the  size,  and  there  the  cattle  of  the  southern- 
most island,  Islay,  claim  the  superiority.  This  island  is  sheltered  by  its 
situation  from  the  storms  to  which  most  of  the  others  are  exposed,  and 
the  pasturage  is  better ;  the  cattle  are  therefore  earlier  ready  for  the 
market,  and  attain  a  greater  weight.  It  is  not,  however,  certain  that  this 
increase  of  size  would  be  of  advantage  on  the  northern  islands,  or 
even  on  the  mainland — the  cattle,  deprived  of  a  portion  of  their 
hardihood,  would  not  be  proof  against  the  inclemency  of  the  weaiher, 
and  would  starve  on  such  scanty  forage  as  the  Highlands  in  general 
can  supply.  Breeders  are  so  much  aware  of  this,  that  they  endeavour  to 
preserve  the  purity  and  value  of  their  stock,  by  selecting,  not  from  the 
districts  where  the  size  has  increased,  but,  by  almost  general  consent,  from 
the  Isle  of  Skye,  where  the  cattle  are  small,  but  are  suited  to  the  soil  and 
to  the  climate;  and  can  be  most  easily  and  securely  raised  at  the  least 
expense  ;  and  when  removed  to  better  provender,  will  thrive  with  a  rapi- 
dity almost  incredible. 

The  origin  of  the  term  Kyloe  is  obscure.  Some  writers,  and  among 
whom  is  Sir  John  Sinclair,  have  curiously  traced  it  to  their  crossing  the 
many  Kyloes,  or  ferries  which  abound  in  the  West  of  Scotland ;  others, 
and  with  more  propriety,  and  one  of  whom  is  Mr.  Macdonald,  the  author 
of  the  Agriculture  of  the  Highlands,  tells  us,  that  it  is  a  corruption  of  the 

*  That  excellent  agriculturist,  Adam  Ferguson,  Esq.,  of  VVoodhill,  expresses  a  similar 
opinion  in  his  ingenious  Essay  on  Crossing,  contained  in  the  First  Number  of  the 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Agriculture.  '  I  cannot  but  regard  the  West  Highlanders,  or, 
rather,  Islanders,  as  more  genuine  than  any  other  breed  we  possess  in  Scotland,  ex- 
cepting, it  may  be,  the  small  remnant  of  aborigines  in  the  park  of  his  Grace  the  Duke 
of  Hamilton.  The  moist  climate,  mild  winter,  and,  consequently,  grassy  tendency  of 
our  Western  Islands,  point  them  out  as  having  been,  in  all  likelihood,  early  stocked 
with  the  Boves  Tauri,  of  fine  form  and  healthy  constitution ;  and  the  little  intercourse 
or  commercial  purposes  with  the  mainland  during  many  ages,  gave  a  permanence  to 
hair  individuality  not  so  easily  secured  elsewhsre  . 


THE  HEBRIDEAN  BREED.  67 

Gaelic  word  which  signifies  highland^  and  is  commonly  pronounced  as 
if  spelled  Kael. 

We  have  been  favoured  with  the  following  excellent  description  of  the 
true  Kyloe,  or  West  Highland  bull,  by  Malcolm  M'Neill  Esq.,  of  the  Isle 
of  Islay,  the  southernmost  of  the  inner  jange  of  the  Hebrides: — '  The  High- 
land bull  should  be  black,  the  head  not  large,  the  ears  thin,  the  muzzle 
fine,  and  rather  turned  up.  He  should  be  broad  in  the  face,  the  eyes 
prominent,  and  the  countenance  calm  and  placid.  The  horns  should 
taper  finely  to  a  point;  and,  neither  drooping  too  much,  nor  rising  too  high, 
should  be  of  a  waxy  colour,  and  widely  set  on  at  the  root.  The  neck 
should  be  fine,  particularly  where  it  joins  the  head,  and  rising  with  a 
gentle  curve  from  the  shoulder.  The  breast  wide,  and  projecting  well 
before  the  legs.  The  shoulders  broad  at  the  top,  and  the  chine  so  full  as 
to  leave  but  little  hollow  behind  them.  The  girth  behind  the  shoulder 
deep;  the  back  straight,  wide,  and  flat;  the  ribs  broad,  the  space 
between  them  and  the  hips  small;  the  belly  not  sinking  low  in  the  middle; 
yet,  in  the  whole,  not  forming  the  round  and  barrell-like  carcass  which 
some  have  described.  The  thigh  tapering  to  the  hock-joint;  the  bones 
larger  in  proportion  to  the  size  than  in  the  breeds  of  the  southern  districts. 
The  tail  set  on  a  level  with  the  back.  The  legs  short  and  straight.  The 
whole  carcass  covered  with  a  thick  long  coat  of  hair,  and  plenty  of  hair 
also  about  the  face  and  horns,  and  that  hair  not  curly. 

The  value  of  the  West  Highland  cattle  consists  in  their  being  hardy, 
and  easily  fed;  in  that  they  will  live,  and  sometimes  thrive,  on  the  coarsest 
pastures;  that  they  will  frequently  gain  from  a  fourth  to  a  third  of  their 
original  weight  in  six  months'  good  feeding;  that  the  proportion  of  oflal  is 
not  greater  than  in  the  most  improved  larger  breeds;  that  they  will  lay 
their  flesh  and  fat  equably  on  the  best  parts;  and  that,  when  fat,  the  beef 
is  closed  fine  in  the  grain,  highly  flavoured  and  so  well  mixed  or  marbled, 
that  it  commands  a  superior  price  in  every  market. 

The  different  islands  of  the  Hebrides  contain  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  of  these  cattle,  of  which  it  is  calculated  that  one-fifth 
are  sent  annually  to  the  main  land,  principally  through  Jura,  or  across 
from  the  ferry  of  the  Isle  of  Skye.  If  these  average  about  5/.  per  head,  the 
amount  will  be  150,000/.,  or  more  than  the  rental  of  the  whole  of  the 
islands,  which  Mr.  Macdonald  calculated  at  106,720/.,  but  which  now 
produces  a  greater  sum.  Catde,  therefore,  constitute  the  staple  commodity 
of  the  Hebrides.  Three  thousand  five  hundred  are  annually  exported 
from  ihe  island  of  Islay  alone. 

Mr.  Moorhouse,  from  Craven,  in  Yorkshire,  in  1763,  was  the  first  Eng- 
lishman who  came  into  the  Hebrides  to  buy  cattle.  In  the  absence  of  her 
husband  Mr.  M'Donald,  of  Kingsburgh,  he  was  kindly  entertained  by 
Flora  M'Donald  who  made  up  for  him  the  same  bed  that,  seventeen  years 
before,  had  received  the  unfortunate  Prince  Charles. 

From  Skye  Mr.  Moorhouse  went  to  Raasay,  whither  in  three  days, 
Kingsburgh  followed  him;  and,  during  a  walk  in  the  garden,  on  a  fine 
harvest  evening,  they  bargained  for  one  thousand  catUe,  at  two  guineas  a 
head,  to  be  delivered  free  of  expense  at  Falkirk.  Two  days  before  he  had 
bought  six  hundred  from  Mr.  M'Leod,  of  Waterside,  at  2/.  5s.  6rf. 

Forty  years  ago  the  treatment  of  cattle  was,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
absurd  and  ruinous,  to  a  strange  degree,  through  the  whole  of  the  Hebrides. 
With  the  exception  of  the  milch  cows,  but  not  even  of  the  calves,  they 
were  all  wintered  in  the  field:  if  they  were  scantily  fed  with  hay,  it  was 
coarse,  and  withered,  and  half-rotten;  or  if  they  got  a  little  straw,  they  were 
thought  to  be  well  taken  care  of.     The  majority  got  little  more  than  sea- 


68  CATTLE. 

weeJ,  heather,  and  rushes.  One-fifth  of  the  cattle,  on  an  average,  used  to 
perish  every  winter  from  starvation.  When  the  cold  had  been  unusually 
severe,  and  the  snow  had  lain  long  on  the  ground,  one-half  of  the  stock 
has  been  lost,  and  the  remainder  have  afterwards  been  thinned  by  the 
diseases  which  poverty  had  engendered. 

It  proved  the  excellency  of  the  breed,  that  in  the  course  of  two  or  three 
months  so  many  of  them  got  again  into  good  store-condition,  and  might 
almost  be  said  to  be  half-fat,  and  could  scarcely  be  restrained  by  any  fence: 
in  fact,  there  are  numerous  instances  of  these  cattle,  which  had  been 
reduced  to  the  most  dreadful  state  of  impoverishment,  becoming  fattened 
for  the  butcher  in  a  few  months,  after  being  placed  on  some  of  the  rich 
summer  pastures  of  Islay,  Lewis,  or  Skye. 

The  cows  were  housed  during  the  winter;  but  among  the  small  farmers 
this  was  conducted  in  a  singular  way — for  one  rude  dwelling  contained 
and  sheltered  both  the  family  and  the  cattle.  The  family  had  their  beds  of 
straw  or  heath  in  the  niches  of  the  walls,  while  the  litter  was  never  removed 
from  the  cattle,  but  fresh  layers  of  straw  were  occasionally  laid  down,  and 
so  the  floor  rose  with  the  accumulation  of  dung  and  litter,  until  the 
season  of  spreading  it  upon  the  land,  when  it  was  at  length  taken  away.* 

The  peculiarity  of  the  climate  and  the  want  of  inclosed  lands,  and  the 
want,  too,  of  forethought  in  the  farmer,  were  the  chief  causes  of  this 
wretched  system  of  winter  starvation.  The  rapidity  of  vegetation  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  spring  is  astonishing  in  these  islands.  A  good  pasture 
can  scarcely  be  left  a  fortnight  without  growing  high  and  rank;  and  even 
the  unenclosed  and  marshy  and  heathy  grounds  are  comparatively  luxu- 
riant. In  consequence  of  this  the  farmer  fully  stocked,  or  overstocked, 
even  this  pasture.  He  crowded  his  fields  at  the  rate  of  six  or  eight 
beasts  or  more  to  an  acre.  From  their  natural  aptitude  to  fatten  they 
got  into  tolerable  condition,  but  not  such  as  they  might  have  attained, 
whether  destined  for  the  salesman  or  the  butcher.  Winter,  however,  suc- 
ceeded to  summer:  no  provision  had  been  made  for  it,  except  for  the 
cows;  and  the  beasts  that  were  not  properly  fed  even  in  the  summer, 
languished  and  starved  in  the  winter.f 

The  Hebrides,  however,  have  partaken  of  that  improvement  in  agricul- 
ture of  which  we  shall  have  frequently  to  speak  when  describing  the  dif- 
ferent districts  of  Scotland.  In  the  island  of  Islay,  the  greater  part  of 
which  is  the  property  of  Walter  F.  Campbell,  Esq.,  and  to  whom  we  are 
indebted  for  much  valuable  information,  the  following  is  the  general  system 
of  management  among  the  better  kind  of  farmers,  and  the  account  will 
apply  to  the  Hebrides  generally,  and  to  Argyleshire. 

*Mr.  Garnet  in  his  'Tour  through  the  Higlilands,'  gives  a  sadder  account  of  the 
frequent  joint  occupancy  of  the  same  hut,  by  the  peasant  and  his  cattle,  in  the  Island  of 
Mull.  He  had  been  speaking  of  the  privations  of  the  peasant,  he  adds — 'Nor  are  his 
cattle  in  a  better  situation:  in  summer  they  pick  up  a  scanty  support  among  the  moras- 
Bes  and  heathy  mountains,  but  in  winter,  when  the  ground  is  covered  with  snow,  and 
when  the  naked  wilds  afford  them  neither  shelter  nor  subsistence,  the  few  cows,  small, 
lean,  and  ready  to  drop  for  want  of  pasture,  are  brought  into  the  hut  where  the  family 
resides,  and  frequently  share  with  them  their  little  stock  of  meal  which  had  been  pur- 
chased or  raised  for  the  family  only;  while  the  cattle  thus  sustained,  are  bled  occasion- 
ally to  afford  nourishment  for  the  children  after  the  mingled  oatmeal  and  blood  has  been 
boiled  or  made  into  cakes.' 

t  Dr.  Walker,  in  his  Account  of  the  Hebrides,  gives  a  very  curious  statement  of  the 
disproportion  between  the  stock  and  the  rent  of  a  farm;  a  disproportion  which  must  be 
exceedingly  great,  however  low  the  rental  may  be.  '  A  farm  in  Kintail  was  found  to 
have  on  it  40  milch  cows,  which  with  their  young  stock,  from  a  calf  to  a  four-year  old, 
made  about  120  head  of  cattle;  besides  80  ewes  and  40  goats,  wliich,  with  their  young, 
were  about  250;  and  10  horses.  Yet  this  farm,  with  arable  land  sufficient  to  supply  all 
the  family,  was  rented  only  at  twenty  pounds  a-year.' 


THE  HEBRIDEAN  BREED.  69 

It  is  contrived,  as  much  as  possible,  that  the  calves  shall  be  dropped 
from  the  1st  of  February  to  the  middle  of  April.  All  the  calves  are 
reared;  and  for  the  first  three  or  four  months  they  are  allowed  to  suck 
three  times  in  the  day,  but  they  are  not  permitted  to  draw  any  great 
quantity  at  a  time.  In  summer  all  the  cattle  are  pastured;  the  calves  are 
sent  to  their  dams  twice  in  the  day,  and  the  strippings,  or  last  part  of  the 
milk,  is  taken  away  by  the  daiiy-maid,  for  it  is  commonly  supposed,  that 
if  the  calf  is  allowed  to  draw  all  the  milk  he  can,  it  will  keep  the  dam  in 
low  condition,  and  prevent  her  being  in  calf  in  proper  time.  The  calves 
are  separated  from  their  dams  two  or  three  weeks  before  the  cast-cows  are 
sent  to  the  cattle-tryst  at  the  end  of  October,  for  it  is  believed  that  if  the 
cows  had  milk  in  their  udders  they  might  be  injured  in  the  long  journeys 
they  are  then  to  take;  the  greater  part  of  them  being  driven  as  far  as  the 
Lowland  districts,  whence  they  gradually  find  iheir  way  to  the  central  and 
southern  counties  of  England. 

The  calves  are  housed  in  the  beginning  of  November,  and  are  highly 
fed  on  hay  and  roots  (for  the  raising  of  which  the  soil  and  climate  are 
admirably  adapted)  until  the  month  of  May.  When  there  is  plenty  of 
keep,  the  breeding  cows  are  housed  in  November,  but  in  general  they  are 
kept  out  until  three  or  four  weeks  before  calving.  In  May  the  whole 
cattle  are  turned  out  to  pasture,  and,  if  it  is  practicable,  those  of  difl!erent 
ages  are  kept  separate;  while,  by  shifting  the  cattle,  the  pasture  is  kept  as 
much  as  possible  in  eatable  condition,  that  is,  neither  eaten  too  bare,  nor 
allowed  to  get  too  rank,  or  to  run  into  seed. 

In  the  winter  and  the  spring  all  the  cattle  except  the  breeding  cows  are 
fed  in  the  fields,  the  grass  of  which  is  preserved  from  the  12th  of  August 
to  the  end  of  October.  When  these  inclosures  become  bare,  about  the  end 
of  December,  a  little  hay  is  taken  into  the  field  with  turnips  or  potatoes, 
once  or  twice  in  the  day,  according  to  circumstances,  until  the  middle  or 
end  of  April.  Few  only  of  the  farmers  have  these  roots  to  give  them,  and 
the  feeding  of  the  out-lying  cattle  with  straw  is  quite  abolished.  If  any 
of  them,  however,  are  very  materially  out  of  condition,  they  are  fed  with 
oats  in  the  sheaf.  At  two,  or  three,  or  four  years  old,  all,  except  the  heifers 
that  are  retained  for  breeding,  are  sent  to  market. 

There  is  litde  or  no  variety  of  breeds  of  cattle  in  the  Hebrides.  They 
are  pure  West  Highlanders.  Indeed,  it  is  the  belief  of  the  Hebridean 
farmer,  that  no  other  breed  of  cattle  will  thrive  on  these  islands,  and  that 
the  Kyloes  could  not  possibly  be  improved  by  being  crossed  with  any 
others.  He  appeals  to  his  uniform  experience,  and  most  correctly  so  in 
the  Hebrides,  that  attempts  at  crossing  have  only  destroyed  the  symmetry 
of  the  Kyloes,  and  rendered  them  more  delicate,  and  less  suitable  to  the 
climate  and  the  pasture. 

By  selection  from  the  choicest  of  the  stock,  however,  the  West  High- 
lander has  been  materially  improved.  The  Islay,  the  Isle  of  Skye,  and 
the  Argyleshire  beast,  readily  obtains  a  considerably  higher  price  than  any 
other  cattle  reared  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland.  Mr.  M'Neil  has  been 
eminendy  successful  in  his  attempts  to  improve  the  native  breed.  He  has 
often  obtained  100/.  for  three  and  four-year-old  bulls  out  of  his  stock;  and 
for  one  bull  he  received  200/.  He  never  breeds  from  bulls  less  than  three 
years,  or  more  than  ten  years  old;  and  he  disapproves,  and  rightly  in  such 
a  climate,  of  the  system  of  breeding  in  and  in.  He  also  adheres  to  that 
golden  rule  of  breeding,  the  careful  selection  of  the  female;  and,  indeed, 
it  is  not  a  small  sum  that  would  induce  the  Hebridean  farmer  to  part  with 
any  of  his  picked  cows. 

It  is  true  that  grazing  has  never  been  the  principal  object  of  the  Hebri- 
dean farmer,  or  has  scarcely  been  deemed  worthy  of  his  attention:  there 


70  CATTLE. 

are  very  few  cattle  fattened  upon  any  of  the  islands,  or  in  the  north  or 
centre  of  Scotland;  but  cast-cows  from  some  of  the  best  stocks,  when 
grass-fed  in  the  Lowlands  of  Scodand,  weigh  more  than  forty  Liiperial 
stones.  It  may,  however,  be  worth  inquiry,  whether  the  farmer  has  not 
forgotten  his  own  interest  in  this  exclusive  pursuit  of  breeding.  Mr. 
Macdonald,  in  his  '  Survey  of  the  Hebrides,'  has  placed  this  in  an  interest- 
ing point  of  view.  He  selects  the  islands  of  North  Uist  and  Tiree  for  the 
purpose  of  ilhistration,  because  the  i.nproved  system  of  husbandry  is  little 
adopted  there,  although  the  herbage  is  good.  We  will  condense  and  a 
litde  alter  his  calculation,  agreeably  to  the  different  prices  and  management 
of  the  present  time: — 

We  will  suppose  that  in  October  or  NovemberQOO  head 
of  neat  catde,  well  salted,  and  weighing  33  stones, 
Lnperial,    are    sold    at   Greenock   or   Liverpool    at 
4s,  6d.  per  stone.*     This  would  amount  to         .       ^66687     0     0 
We  will  also  suppose  that  the  same  cattle, 
sold  in  April  or  May  to  the   drovers, 
would  have  fetched  41.   15s.  per  head; 
but  as,  in  the  course  of  six  months,  at 
least  one  in  ten  would  have  been  lost 
by  disease  or  accident,  we  will  say  that 
the    farmer    had    then    1000   catde    at 
41.  15s.  amounting  to         .         .         ^£4,750     0     0 
The  best  grass  is  let  at  12s.  per  head  for 

these  six  months,  making         .  .         600     0     0 

The  expense  of  looking  after,  at  2s.  per 

head 100     0     0 

Salt  and  casks,  at  8s.  each         .  .         360     0     0 

Sending  to  market,  5s.  each         .         .         225     0     0 
Interest  of  4,750/.  for  six  months         .  148     6     0 

Total  expenses  . 6,183      6     0 


Balance  in  favour  of  fattening  .  £503  14  0 
Or  more  than  10  per  cent;  and  this  average  is  taken  very  low,  for  the 
catde  will  usually  weigh  more  than  20  stones  per  head. 

It  is  fair,  however,  to  suppose  that  the  Hebridean  farmer  best  knows  his 
own  interest — yet  this  may  deserve  consideration. 

It  will  be  concluded  from  what  we  have  said  of  the  milking  properties 
of  the  Kyloe,  that  the  dairy  is  considered  as  a  matter  of  little  consequence 
in  the  Hebrides;  and  the  farmer  rarely  keeps  more  milch  cows  than  will 
furnish  his  family  with  milk  and  butter  and  cheese.  The  Highland  cow 
will  not  yield  more  than  a  third  part  of  the  milk  that  is  obtained  from  the 
Ayrshire  one  at  no  great  distance  on  the  main  land;  but  that  milk  is  ex- 
ceedingly rich,  and  the  butter  procured  from  it  is  excellent.  In  Arran  and 
Bute,  in  the  Firth  of  Clyde,  the  Ayrshire  cow  was  partially  intioduced 
from  the  neighbouring  coast,  but  in  the  other  islands  of  the  Hebrides,  the 
Highland  cow  is  obstinately  retained.  In  North  Uist  and  Tiree  the 
dairy  is  more  successfully  followed   than  in  the  other  islands,   partly  on 

*  In  some  of  the  southern  islands,  and  particularly  in  Collonsay  and  Islay,  the  pure 
native  breed  are  frequently  fattened  to  from  34  to  42  stones  Imperial.  Mr.  Campbell, 
of  Shawfield,  had  a  heifer  whicii,  wlien  slaughtered,  weighed  63  stones;  but  among  the 
lower  class  of  farmers  a  bullock  of  fair  size  will  weigh  about  33  stones,  and  a  heifer 
25  stones.  They  are  larger  in  the  soutiiern  islands  than  they  are  in  Skyc,  for  the  pas- 
ture is  better,  and  they  might  be  raised  to  a  still  greater  size,  were  it  not  for  the  shame- 
ful system  of  overstocking,  to  which  we  shall  have  so  often  to  allude. 


THE  HEBRIDEAN  BREED.  71 

account  of  the  goodness  of  the  herbage,  but  pi-incipally  because  the  cows 
yield  milk  for  a  longer  time  after  calving  than  in  the  neighbouring  isles. 

The  management  of  the  dairy  is  exceedingly  simple,  and,  from  the 
very  simplicity  of  it,  other  districts  may  learn  a  useful  lesson.  The  cows 
are  driven  as  slowly  and  quieUy  as  possible  to  the  fold ;  the  wild  character 
of  the  animals,  as  well  as  a  regard  to  the  quality  of  the  milk,  show  the 
propriety  of  this.  They  are  carefully  drained  to  the  last  drop,  not  only  on 
account  of  the  superior  richness  of  the  latter  portion  of  the  milk,  but 
because  the  retention  of  any  part  is  apt  to  hasten,  if  it  does  not  produce, 
that  which  is  one  of  the  piincipal  objections  to  the  Highland  cows  as 
milkers,  the  speedy  drying  up  of  their  milk.  The  milk  is  carried  to  the 
house  with  as  little  disturbance  as  practicable,  and  put  into  vessels  of  not 
more  than  two  or  three  inches  in  depth.  The  cream  is  supposed  to  rise 
more  rapidly  in  these  shallow  vessels ;  and  it  is  removed  in  the  course  of 
eighteen  hours.  A  cow  will  not,  on  the  average,  yield  more  than  22  lbs. 
of  butter  (of  24  oz.  each)  in  the  summer  season:  she  will  yield  about 
90  lbs.  of  cheese,  which  is  much  liked  by  some  on  account  of  the  aromatic 
flavour  which  is  given  to  it  by  the  mixture  of  rose-leaves,  cinnamon,  mace, 
cloves,  and  lemon  with  the  rennet.* 

Oxen  are  never  used  for  the  plough  or  on  the  road  on  any  of  the 
Hebrides. 

We  have  stated  that  more  than  20,000  of  the  Hebridean  cattle  are  con- 
veyed to  the  mainland,  some  of  which  find  their  way  even  to  the  southern- 
most counties  of  England;  but  like  the  other  Highland  cattle  their  journey 
is  usually  slow  and  interrupted.  Their  first  resting-place  is  not  a  great 
way  from  the  coast,  for  they  are  frequently  wintered  on  the  coarse  pas- 
tures of  Dumbartonshire;  and  in  the  next  summer,  after  grazing  awhile 
on  the  lower  grounds,  they  are  driven  farther  south,  where  they  are  fed 
during  the  second  winter  on  turnips  and  hay.  In  April  they  are  in  good 
condition,  and  prepared  for  the  early  grass,  on  which  they  are  finished. 

Many  of  these  small  cattle  are  permanendy  arrested  in  their  journey, 
and  kept  on  low  farms  to  consume  the  coarse  grass,  which  other  breeds 
refuse  to  eat;  these  are  finished  off  on  turnips,  which  are  given  them  in 
the  field  about  the  end  of  Autumn,  and  they  are  sold  about  Christmas. 

In  the  Outer  Hebrides,  principally  separated  from  the  inner  range  by 
the  channel  called  the  Minsh,  and,  from  the  apparent  continuity  in  the 
range  of  the  islands,  and  the  hills  all  running  in  the  same  direction,  called 
the  Long  Island,  there  is  but  litde  improvement  in  agriculture,  although 
the  pasturage  is  quite  equal  to  the  generality  of  that  in  the  inner  range,  and 
the  cattle  are  of  somewhat  more  diminutive  size.  Mr.  Macgillivray,  in  his 
♦Prize  Essay  on  the  present  State  of  the  Outer  Hebrides,'  says,  'The 
black  catde  are  small,  but  \Vell  proportioned ;  and  on  the  tacksmen's  farms 
(a  tacksman  is  one  who  has  a  large  tract  of  land,  which  he  holds  by 

*  Martin,  iu  his  account  of  the  Western  Isles  of  Scotland,  sixty  years  ago,  describes 
a  superstition  which  then  prevailed  :  '  It  is  a  received  opinion  in  these  islands,  that 
women,  by  a  charm,  or  some  other  secret  way,  are  able  to  convey  the  increase  of  their 
neighbours'  cows'  milk  to  their  own  use  :  and  that  the  milk  so  charmed  does  not  pro- 
duce the  ordinary  quantity  of  butter,  and  the  curds  made  of  that  milk  are  so  tough  that 
it  cannot  be  made  so  firm  as  other  cheese,  and  is  also  much  lighter  in  weight.  The 
butter  so  taken  away  and  joined  to  the  charmer's  butter,  is  evidently  discernible  by  a 
mark  of  separation,  viz.  the  diversity  of  colours ;  that  which  is  charmed  being  still  paler 
than  that  part  of  the  butter  which  hath  not  been  charmed  ;  and  if  butter  having  these 
marks  be  found  with  a  suspjcted  woman,  she  is  directly  said  to  be  guilty.  Their  usual 
way  of  recovering  their  loss,  is  to  take  a  little  of  the  rennet  from  all  the  suspected  per- 
sons, and  put  it  in  an  egg-shell  full  of  milk,  and  when  that  from  the  charmer  is  mingled 
with  it,  it  curdles,  and  n»t  before.' 


72 


CATTLE. 


[The  West  Highland  Cow.] 


lease)  they  are  generally  of  good  breed,  and,  although  not  heavy,  very 
handsome.  They  are  covered  with  a  thick  and  long  pile  during  winter 
and  spring;  and  a  good  pile  is  considered  one  of  the  essential  qualifica- 
tions of  a  cow.  The  most  common  colours  are  black,  red,  brown,  or 
brandered,  (that  is,  a  mixture  of  red  and  brown  in  stripes — brindled.) 
A  whitish  dun  colour  is  also  pretty  frequendy  seen,  not  unlike  that  of  the 
origmal  wild  cattle  of  Scotland,  both  the  horned  breed  at  Chillingham, 
and  the  polled  one  at  Hamilton ;  and  it  is  remarked,  that  in  all  their  tra- 
ditions or  fables  of  what  are  called  fairy-cattle,  this  is  the  colour  ascribed 
to  these  animals.  The  breed  of  black  catde  has  been  greatly  improved  of 
late  years,  by  the  importation  of  bulls  and  cows  from  various  parts  of  the 
Highlands.' 

On  the  tacksmen's  farms  the  catde  are  not  housed  in  winter,  excepting 
the  calves;  those  belonging  to  the  cottars  generally  are.  In  summer  the 
cows  and  the  milch-sheep  are  sent  to  the  inland  glens  and  moors,  which 
are  covered  with  hard  grasses  and  rushes,  because  the  portion  Uiat  yields 
soft  grass  is  not  sufficient  for  their  consumption  during  the  whole  year. 
They  are  attended  by  a  woman  from  each  family,  who  has  a  small  hut  or 
shealing  for  her  habitation,  and  who  makes  the  little  butter  and  cheese 
which  their  scanty  milk  affords.  The  cows  sfre  thus  kept  in  good  pasture 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  summer  and  autumn,  when  the  young  beasts 
are  sent  to  the  moors.  Towards  the  winter  all  the  catde  are  brought  to  the 
lower  grounds,  and  the  stirks  are  separated  and  housed  at  night.  The 
latter  are  fed  exclusively  on  hay  and  straw,  portions  of  which  are  dis- 
tributed to  the  other  catde  during  snow. 

The  cattle  of  the  small  tenants  are  all  housed  at  night  during  the 
winter,  and  fed  upon  straw,  hay,  and  the  refuse  of  the  family  meals. 
The  habitations  of  these  people  are  usually  divided  into  three  apartments. 
The  first,  which  occupies  half  the  hut,  is  the  general  entrance,  and 
contains  the  agricultural  implements,  poultry,  and  catUe.  The  second, 
comprising  a  fourth  of  the  hut,  is  that  in  which  the  family  reside;  and  ihe 
inner  one,  of  the  same  size,  is  the  sleeping  room  and  granary.  There  are 
no  chimneys ;  the  smoke  fills  the  whole  hut,  and  escapes  partly  by  a  hole 


THE  ARRAN  BREED.  73 

in  the  roof,  partly  by  the  door,  and  partly  by  orifices  formed  between  the 
wall  and  the  roof  as  substitutes  for  windows,  and  which,  in  stormy 
weather,  are  closed  by  a  bundle  of  straw.  The  fire  is  placed  in  the 
middle  of  the  floor.  The  soot  accumulates  on  the  roof,  and,  in  rainy 
weather,  is  continually  dropping,  and  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  it  for 
manure,  the  hut  is  unroofed  in  the  beginning  of  May.  The  dung  of  the 
cattle  which  had  been  accumulating  during  the  winter  and  spring,  and 
liad  been  mixed  with  straw,  ashes,  and  other  matter,  is  at  the  same  time 
removed  from  the  outer  apartment. 

In  the  spring  all  the  cattle  are  in  poor  condition,  and  those  of  the  small 
tenants  are  in  most  wretched  plight:  sea-weed  (chiefly  Fucus  canalicu- 
latus,)  boiled  with  husks  of  grain  and  a  little  meal  or  other  substances  are 
then  employed  to  support  them;  and  in  many  places  the  cattle  during  the 
winter  and  spring  regularly  betake  themselves  to  the  sea-shore  at  ebb-tide 
to  feed  upon  the  fuci. 

The  milk  of  the  cows  is  said  to  be  excellent,  but  on  account  of  the 
filthy  habits  of  too  many  of  the  cotters,  the  butter  and  cheese  are  eaten  by 
few  beside  the  natives. 

Having  described  so  much  at  length  the  cattle  of  the  inner  and  outer 
Hebrides,  we  shall  be  able  to  pass  with  considerable  rapidity  over  the 
other  districts  of  the  Highlands. 

ARRAN  AND  BTJTE. 

These  islands  are  separated  from  the  other  Hebrides  by  the  promontory 
of  Caiityre,  and  are  situated  in  tiie  Firth  of  Clyde,  between  Argyleshire 
and  Ayrshire,  and  form  a  county  under  the  name  of  Bute. 

Almost  the  whole  of  Arran  is  the  property  of  the  Duke  of  Hamilton 
and  Brandon,  who  kindly  granted  us  every  facility  for  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  cattle  of  the  island,  and  to  whose  very  intelligent  factor,  Mr. 
Paterson,  we  are  indebted  for  much  valuable  information. 

Seventeen  years  ago  Arran  was  overrun  by  cattle  of  almost  every  ex- 
traction and  character.  The  West  Highland  was  probably  the  native  breed; 
but  many  had  been  imported  from  Ireland,  as  the  situation  of  Arran 
would  lead  us  to  suspect;  and  more  had  been  introduced  from  Galloway. 
The  Earls  of  Carrick  were  formerly  the  proprietors  of  this  district;  and, 
at  an  early  period,  and  even  before  the  time  of  Robert  I.,  they  had  probably 
introduced  many  catde  from  their  mainland  estates  into  Arran,  which  was 
then  little  better  than  a  mere  hunting-ground.  These  breeds  were  inter- 
mingled in  every  possible  way,  but  all  of  them  were  small,  narrow  across 
the  loins,  long  legged  and  thin  in  the  hams;  their  form  was  scraggy  and 
angular,  and  the  skin  coarse,  yet  with  litde  hair;  they  were  black  or  brown 
but  generally  with  white  intermingled,  frequently  with  white  faces,  and 
almost  invariably  with  white  about  the  belly. 

They  yielded  very  little  milk,  although  that  which  they  did  give  was 
good;  and  in  the  property  of  fattening,  they  were  far  inferior  to  those  of 
the  other  islands  which  we  have  just  described.  In  fact,  the  whole  system 
of  husbandry  was  wretched.  Each  farm  was  strangely  let  to  various 
tenants  who  occupied  in  common  or  in  rimridge;  i.  e.,  one  of  the  tenants 
sowed  one  ridge,  and  a  copartner  the  next,  and  so  on;  and  the  arable  part 
of  the  farm  was  divided  into  numerous  small  lots,  which  were  yearly  ap- 
portioned, and  almost  yearly  changed.*  No  improvement  could  be  eflected 

*One  of  the  oldest  arrangements  of  the  great  proprietors  of  land  was  to  collect  their 
whole  tenantry  or  vassalage  as  nearly  as  possible  around  their   own  mansion  or  castle. 
The  neighbouring  grounds  were  then  divided  into  fields  of  various  extent  according  to 
8 


74.  CATTLE. 

under  such  a  system.  The  ridges  were  cropped  with  oats  as  long  as  it 
was  supposed  they  would  produce  a  little  more  than  what  was  thrown 
upon  them,  and  they  were  then  abandoned  until  the  weeds  (no  grass  seeds 
were  sown)  covered  them  for  some  years,  and  they  were  thought  to  be 
able  to  bear  two  or  three  white  crops  again. 

The  croft  or  i»^e/f/land,  that  which  was  near  the  homesteads,  although 
a  little  better  treated,  suffered  too.  It  is  true  that  it  had  all  the  manure  of 
the  farm,  but  it  was  cropped  every  year,  and  oats,  and  bear  or  bigg,  and 
beans  or  potatoes  (this  last  invaluable  vegetable  was  just  beginning  to  be 
known,)  succeeded  each  other  without  pause;  and  the  weeds  were  covered 
for  a  little  while  by  the  crop  during  summer,  but  never  extirpated.  Little 
fodder  could  be  raised  for  cattle;  and  as  there  were  no  grass-seeds  sown, 
there  was  no  hay;  and  there  was  nothing  to  maintain  the  live-stock  during 
winter  but  oat-straw. 

Above  what  were  called  the  head-dykes,  i.  e.,  rude  banks  to  separate 
the  arable  from  the  hill  or  pasture  land,  the  cattle  and  sheep  and  horses  ranged 
in  common  over  the  whole  island;  and  the  farmer,  who,  for  generation  after 
generation,  had  been  taught  to  believe  that  his  riches  consisted  in  the 
number  of  his  cattle  instead  of  their  individual  worth,  not  only  sent  more 
cattle  to  the  hills  in  summer  than  they  could  well  maintain,  but  reserved  far 
more  than  could  possibly  be  kept  in  the  winter.  The  number  of  cattle  far 
exceeded  that  of  the  inhabitants:  a  great  many  of  them  were  carried  off  by 
starvation  and  disease;  and  the  remainder  were  found  in  the  spring  in  a 
state  of  emaciation,  provincially  termed  '  lifting;'  they  were  declining  in 
size,  and  their  good  points  were  fast  leaving  them. 

The  Duke  of  Hamilton  beheld  this  with  much  regret,  and  with  a  zeal 
for  the  improvement  of  the  agriculture  of  the  island,  which  reflects  on  him 
the  highest  credit,  and  which  is  the  best  direction  that  true  patriotism  can 
take,  he  set  himself  heartily  to  work,  not  only  to  ameliorate  the  breed  of 
cattle,  but  to  reform  and  change  the  general  system  of  husbandry. 

The  leases  of  nearly  the  whole  of  the  island  terminated  in  1814.  The 
Duke  directed  that  his  fine  property  in  Arran  should  be  surveyed.  He 
divided  it  into  distinct  and  separate  farms  of  different  dimensions,  from 
ten  acres  to  suit  the  former  tenants  in  common,  to  more  than  three  or  four 
Imndred  acres.  He  brought  much  of  the  waste  land  into  cultivation  by 
the  spade;  he  excavated   drains  to  the  extent  of  120   miles  in  length; 

Ihe  supposed  nature  of  the  soil;  and  again  subdivided  into  parcels  or  ridges  of  equal 
size,  corresponding  with  the  number  of  the  retainers:  and  one  of  the  rigs  or  ridges  was 
let  or  appropriated  to  each.  It  was  thouglit  that  all  would  thus  have  an  equal  share  of 
the  good  and  the  bad  land,  without  partiality  or  preference,  although  each  one'' s possession 
(the  term  still  used)  would  probably  be  dispersed  over  a  dozen  places.  This  system  of 
occupation  was  denominated  runrig  or  runridge.  Besides  this  general  practice  of  hav- 
ing the  land  in  runrig,  it  was  customary  in  some  places  for  the  tenantry  to  exchange 
their  respective  ridges  every  year;  so  that,  in  a  given  course  of  years,  each  tenant  would 
have  rented  and  tilled  the  wliole  of  the  ridges.  This  was  called  cou^-r?^,  or  change-rig, 
A  system  more  absurd  or  inconsistent  witli  good  cultivation  can  scarcely  be  imagined. 
The  division  of  arable  lands  into  injield  and  outfield,  was  universal  in  Scotland,  and 
is  not  yet  obsolete.  The  ivjield,  as  stated  in  the  text,  got  all  Ike  dung  produced  on  the 
farm,  and  was  kept  under  a  constant  rotation  of  crops.  Lime  and  fallow  and  artificial 
grasses  were  unknown.  The  ovtjield  bore  three  crops  of  oats,  and,  if  it  was  more  than 
usually  good  land,  four  crops,  and  then  lay  idle  for  five  or  six  years.  The  consequence 
was,  that,  not  more  than  forty  years  ago,  the  produce  of  every  land  was  little  in  quantity 
and  poor  in  quality:  the  horses  were  fed  in  summer  almost  entirely  on  thistles,  which 
covered  the  o«//ieZ(/  and  gre^r  too  plentifully  in  the  injield;  and  the  owner  of  a  little  field 
which  under  improved  cultivation,  now  produces  ninety  bushels  of  oats  yearly,  told  the 
author,  that  although  he  sometimes  had  1200  sheaves  upon  it,  he  would  have  given  the 
whole  of  the  grain  for  a  single  bushel  of  meal.  He  had  straw  for  the  winter  feed  of  hia 
cattle,  but  his  family  might  starve. — See  Robertson's  Rural  Recollections,  p.  263. 


THE  ARRAN  BREED.  75 

he  erected  all  necessary  fences,  and  he  built  comfortable  houses  of  various 
sizes.  He  then  offered  the  farms  at  a  moderate  rent,  but  with  these  re- 
strictions, that  the  land  should  be  managed  in  a  different  and  better  man- 
ner, and  that  the  number  of  cattle  which  were  kept  should  not  exceed  a 
certain  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  farm. 

The  old  tenants  were  at  first  strangely  averse  to  this  new,  and,  as  they 
thought,  absurd  and  tyrannical  system.  Some  of  them  quitted  the  island. 
The  Duke  then  let  some  of  his  farms  to  enterprising  tenants  from  better- 
cultivated  districts;  for  he  righdy  judged  that  persons  who  had  never  seen 
land  well  managed,  would  much  more  readily  adopt  changes  in  the  mode 
of  husbandry  if  successfully  made  under  their  own  observation,  than  if 
they  were  merely  described  to  them,  and  in  a  manner  forced  upon 
them.  The  consequence  has  been,  that  the  property  of  his  Grace  has 
more  than  doubled  in  value,  and  his  tenantry  are  more  prosperous  and 
happy. 

The  Duke  of  Hamilton  immediately  introduced  some  choice  and  expen- 
sive bulls  from  the  stock  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  in  order  to  improve  the 
wretched  breed  of  cattle,  but  they  were  found  at  first  to  be  too  large  for 
crossing  the  small  catde  of  Arran  with  perfect  effect.  Some  bulls  and 
queys  of  the  dairy  breed  were  brought  from  Ayrshire,  but  they  did  not  well 
combine  with  the  old  stock  of  the  island;  their  skins  and  hair  were  too  thin 
for  the  bleak  hills  of  Arran:  and  this  cross  was  soon  abandoned  as  a  breed- 
ing stock.  Some  farmers,  however,  again  had  recourse  to  the  Argyle 
bulls,  for  the  breed  had  evidently  improved,  at  least  on  some  farms,  and  a 
spirit  of  emulation  was  beginning  to  he  excited. 

In  consequence  of  this,  several  bulls  of  the  Argyleshire  sort  were  [)ur- 
chased  by  the  duke  in  the  summer  of  1822,  and  placed  in  various  parts  of 
the  country  for  the  use  of  the  tenants.  The  effect  was  now  immediate, 
and  palpable,  and  every  year,  and  at  very  considerable  expense,  twenty  or 
thirty  fresh  bulls  were  imported,  and  scattered  in  the  most  convenient 
places  throughout  the  island;  and,  as  far  as  influence  and  persuasion  could 
go,  the  old  breed  was  systematically  discouraged. 

The  improvement  was  rapid  and  progressive.  The  Arran  cattle  are  now 
black  or  brown,  and  horned,  and  in  most  parts  of  the  island  still  retaining 
somewhat  of  the  form  of  the  original  stock.  This  is  most  evident  in  the 
smallness  of  the  limbs,  the  thinness  of  the  neck,  and  the  shortness  of  the 
hair.  On  the  farms,  however,  of  more  careful  breeders,  the  difference 
between  the  Arran  and  Argyleshire  beasts  can  scarcely  be  observed,  and 
that  difference  is  yearly  decreasing.  The  Arran  improved  black  cattle 
are  gentle-tempered,  and  kindly  feeders;  but  better  adapted  for  grazing  than 
the  dairy. 

The  Arran  beasts  used  to  be  scarcely  saleable;  the  southern  drovers 
would  not  have  them  at  any  price:  but  in  1832  the  stots  of  three  years-off 
were  sold  in  great  numbers  at  ten  pounds  each  after  having  been  fed  on 
grass  alone,  and  queys  at  more  than  nine  pounds.  Cattle-husbandry  has 
of  late  improved  through  the  whole  of  Scotland;  and  in  many  of  the  dis- 
tricts the  character  of  the  breed  is  essentially  changed,  but  no  where  has  so 
much  been  done  in  a  few  years  to  ameliorate  the  stock,  and  better  the  con- 
dition of  the  tenantry.  Twelve  or  fourteen  years  ago,  the  average  weight 
of  an  aged  Arran  cow,  when  fed  on  grass,  did  not  exceed  eighteen  or  twen- 
ty stones:  she  would  now  be  at  least  three  or  four  stones  heavier,  and  some 
of  the  oxen  have  reached  forty-five  or  fifty  stones. 

The  calves,  which  are  generally  dropped  in  spring,  are  not  suffered  to 
suck  the  dara,  but  are  fed  on  milk  for  about  six  weeks.    Two  meals  only 


76  CATTLE. 

are  allowed  them  in  the  day,  and  two  or  three  quarts  of  genuine  milk  are 
given  at  each  meal.  Some  imagine  that  this  quantity  is  not  sufficient; 
and  it  is  perhaps  a  general  fault  in  the  Isle  of  Arran  that  the  calves  get  too 
little  milk  when  they  are  young.  A  small  portion  of  oatmeal  is  occasion- 
ally mixed  with  the  milk,  and  particularly  when  the  lime  for  turning  out 
approaches:  some  of  the  farmers,  however,  object  to  this,  as  frequently  dis- 
ordering the  bowels,  and  producing  griping,  inflammation,  and  death. 

The  calves,  when  weaned,  are  turned  on  a  reserved  pasture  on  the  low 
land.  They  are  generally  tethered  until  the  crop  is  off  the  ground,  and 
they  go  in  and  out  with  the  catde;  but  they  are  always  housed  at  night,  and 
none  of  them  are  sent  to  the  hills  during  the  first  season.  In  winter  a  lit- 
tle boiled  food  is  given  to  them,  consisting  of  potatoes  or  greens,  with 
chaff  or  straw,  and  chaff-fodder  like  the  old  catde. 

In  summer  the  yearlings  are  sent  to  the  hills,  generally  at  no  great  dis- 
tance from  the  dwelling;  and,  for  the  most  part,  they  remain  out  until  the 
winter;  tlien  all  die  cattle,  young  and  old,  are  housed  during  the  night. 
While  in  the  house  they  get  straw-fodder,  with  sometimes  a  little  hay;  the 
older  cattle  are  occasionally  indulged  with  potatoes  or  a  few  turnips,  and 
to  this  is  added  coarse,  strong-growing,  green  kail,  which  is  cultivated 
in  every  small  farmer's  garden  for  this  purpose.  This  practice,  if  not  pe- 
culiar to  Arran,  is  practised  there  to  a  greater  extent  than  in  most  other 
districts.  The  catde  calving  in  the  winter,  or  early  in  the  spring,  are 
fed  with  kail,  potatoes,  and  straw.  Both  the  kail  and  potatoes  are  usually 
boiled,  and  sometimes  the  chaff,  and  the  milch-cows  almost  always  before 
calving,  and  sometimes  for  a  litde  while  afterwards,  get  some  oats  or  meal 
boiled  with  their  other  provender.  Notwithstanding  the  addition  of  the 
kail,  the  Arran  catUe  are  not  too  well  fed  in  the  winter,  and  Uie  growth  of 
the  young  beasts  is  often  materially  stinted  by  a  false  economy.  When 
the  weather  is  not  stormy,  the  catde  are  driven  out  to  pasture  during  the 
day — the  young  ones  to  the  hills,  and  the  older  ones  to  the  arable  pas- 
tures and  stubbles. 

This  system  of  housing  at  night  is,  in  some  instances,  necessary  on 
account  of  the  exposed  and  shelterless  situation  of  the  farms;  but,  in  other 
cases,  it  might,  with  advantage,  be  dispensed  with,  especially  with  regard 
to  the  young  cattle;  for  it  makes  them  tender,  it  prevents  the  growth  of 
that  covering  of  thick  soft  hair  wliich  nature  provides  as  a  protection 
against  the  searching  blast,  and  it  renders  the  beasts  more  liable  to  hoose 
and  inflammation,  when  they  must  afterwards  he  exposed  to  no  little  cold 
while  feeding  on  grass. 

The  majority  of  the  catde  of  Arran  are  sold  in  the  autumn  from  two 
to  three  years  old.  They  are  transported  to  the  mainland,  and  after- 
wards south,  by  die  way  of  Dumfries,  where  they  are  fed  on  grass  for 
another  year,  and  thus  generally  well  prepared  for  the  butcher:  a  few 
sUrks  or  yearlings  are  annually  sold  at  the  same  time  from  farms  on 
which  too  many  have  been  reared.  The  greater  part  of  Arran  is  a 
breeding  and  rearing  district;  but  on  a  few  farms  the  cattle  are  fattened 
on  grass,  and  so  successfully  as  to  render  it  probable  that  the  practice 
might  be  more  generally  pursued  with  considerable  advantage.  Some  of 
the  old  cattle,  when  beginning  to  fail  in  milk,  are  fed  off' in  the  winter  on 
turnips  or  potatoes,  either  for  home  consumption  or  to  be  sold  to  the  dro- 
vers in  the  spring.  About  800  head  of  cattle  are  yearly  sent  to  the  main- 
land from  Arran. 

The  milch  cows  are  housed  at  night  even  in  the  summer:  they  are 
brought  home  in  the  evening  for  milking,  after  which  they  get  cut  grass 


THE  BUTE  BREED.  7T 

or  clover  during  the  night,  and,  having  been  milked  again  in  the  morning, 
are  turned  out  for  the  day.  The  produce  of  milk  has  much  increased 
with  the  improvement  in  general  husbandry,  and  the  consequent  better 
keeping  of  the  cows.  Some  of  the  black  cattle  will  give  from  three  to 
three  and  a  half  gallons  of  milk  daily  for  four  or  five  months  after  calving; 
the  average  quantity,  however,  will  not  much  exceed  two  gallons;  but  the 
milk  is  excellent.  There  are  some  farms  in  which  the  Ayrshire  cows  are 
estabhshed,  and  these  cattle  give  in  Arran  as  much  milk  as  in  their  native 
country.  The  small  farmers  consume  the  milk  and  butter  and  cheese 
which  their  cows  produce;  others  sell  a  little  butter;  and  the  larger 
farmers  manufacture  a  considerable  quantity  of  cheese,  which  can  scarcely 
be  distinguished  from  the  Ayrshire,  and  which  is  sent  to  the  towns  on  the 
banks  of  the  Clyde. 

We  have  dwelt  the  longer  on  the  cattle  husbandry  of  this  little  island 
because  it  is  a  splendid  example  of  what  may  be  effected,  in  a  very  fe\T 
years,  b}^  the  exertions  of  one  patriotic  individual. 

The  circumstances  which,  until  the  last  eighty  years,  caused  the  Scottish 
agriculturists  to  be  so  far  behind  their  brethren  in  England,  were  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  feudal  system,  and  consequent  vassalage  in  the  northern 
kingdom.  Short  leases  alone  were  granted,  frequently  of  not  more  than  a 
twelvemonth;  a  great  part  of  the  rent  was  demanded  in  kind,  and  the  tenant 
was  harassed  by  the  exaction  of  continual  services  in  every  oppressive  form. 
But  when  services  were  abolished,  and  a  fixed  rent  in  money  was  esta- 
blished, and,  by  the  length  of  the  lease,  security  was  given  to  the  occu])ant 
that  he  should  reap  the  fruits  of  his  improvement,  he  began  to  set  himself 
thoroughly  to  work.  The  rapidity  of  his  improvement  may  be  accounted 
for  by  circumstances  which  fall  not  to  the  lot  of  the  southern  agriculturists 
— tithes  had  been  annihilated  in  Scotland,  at  least  so  far  as  the  tenant 
was  concerned,  and  the  burden  of  supporting  the  poor  was  scarcely  felt. 

The  Isle  of  Bute,  in  Gaehc,  signifying  '  a  bold  furious  head,'  "and  so 
called  from  the  rugged  rocks  on  the  southern  extremity,  while  the  island 
itself  is  comparatively  flat,  is  higher  up  the  Firth.  It  is  about  fifteen 
miles  in  length,  and  three  in  breadth,  and  contains  24,000  Scotch  acres 
of  ground.  Rothsay  gives  the  title  of  Duke  to  the  heir-apparent  of  the  Bri- 
tish Crown;  and  was  formerly  the  residence  of  some  of  the  Scottish  kings. 
The  castle,  a  noble  ruin,  is  still  to  be  seen.  Agriculture  was  even  at  a 
lower  ebb  in  this  island  than  in  Arran,  but  it  somewhat  earlier  began  to 
emerge  from  its  degraded  state.  The  Marquis  of  Bute  was  induced,  by 
the  illness  of  his  lady,  to  reside  two  years  on  the  island.  He  had  ocidar 
demonstration  of  the  lamentable  condition  of  his  estates,  and  of  the  county 
generally,  and  interest  and  patriotism  induced  him  to  endeavour  to  effect 
their  improvement.  He  enclosed  many  of  the  farms.  This  was  the  first 
step,  and  without  which  every  thing  else  would  have  been  of  no  avail.  He 
introduced  the  system  of  draining,  fallowing,  liming,  &c.,  and  much  good 
was  effected;  but  the  attention  of  the  Marquis  being  completely  occupied  at 
court;  all  was  not  accomplished  that  he  wished;  and  the  island,  although 
improved,  continues  to  rank  low  in  the  scale  of  agricultural  merit.  The 
cattle  were  small.  The  farms  were  overstocked  with  them.  There  was 
little  sown  grass,  and  no  green  food  for  winter;  and  until  the  pasture* 
were  better  covered  than  formerly,  all  attempts  materially  to  increase  the 
value  of  the  breed  would  necessarily  fail.  With  the  advancement  of  agri- 
culture generally  the  cattle  have  increased  in  value,  although  they  are  still 
of  a  motley  character;  and  they  are  beginning  to  have  considerably  more 
of  the  Ayrshire  breed  in  them  than  is  to  be  found  in  Arran. 


78  CATTLE. 


ARGYLESHIRE. 


The  county  of  Argyle  stretches  along  the  western  coast  of  Scotland  fof 
115  miles,  but  its  average  breadth  is  litde  more  than  30  miles.  The 
southern  part  is  low,  and  comparatively  level,  and  the  temperature  is 
mild.  The  northern  part  is  rugged  and  mountainous,  and  the  climate 
cold  and  ungenial.  In  the  northern  part  there  is  much  barren  land,  and 
little  good  pasture;  but  in  Cantire,  at  the  south,  there  is  plenty  of 
excellent  feed  for  catde;  therefore  the  catde  differ  materially  in  the 
northern  and  southern  parts  of  the  country.  Among  the  mountains,  the 
Highland  breed  is  found  almost  unmixed;  in  the  level  country,  there  is 
the  same  variety  and  mixture  of  breed  which  is  observed  in  other  dairy 
districts. 

Although  the  system  of  sheep-husbandry  has  been  introduced  into 
Argyle,  and  is  increasing  there,  yet,  including  every  kind,  there  are  sup- 
posed to  be  nearly  65,000  black  catUe  in  the  county.  John  Campbell, 
from  Logwine,  in  Ayrshire,  was  the  first  who  stocked  a  farm  with  sheep 
in  Argyleshire,  in  the  year  1760,  in  the  united  parishes  of  Lochgoil  Head 
and  Kilmorick.  The  country-people  regarded  him  at  first  with  an  evil 
eye,  but  the  superiority  of  sheep-husbandry  is  now  acknowledged  in  all 
the  mountainous  districts  of  Scotland. 

The  North  Argyle  catUe  are  larger  than  the  Hebrideans,  and  ai-e 
now  bred  to  the  full  size  which  the  soil,  or  the  best  qualities  of  the 
animal  will  bear.  That  fundamental  principle  of  breeding  is  generally 
adopted  here,  that  the  size  must  be  determined  by  the  soil  and  the  food; 
and  that  it  is  far  more  profitable  to  the  farmer  to  have  the  size  of  his 
breed  under,  rather  than  over,  the  produce  of  his  land.  Both  will  gra- 
dually adapt  themselves  to  the  soil;  but  the  small  beast  Avill  become 
more  bulky,  and  improve  in  all  his  points — the  large  one  will  degenerate 
in  form  and  in  every  good  quality.  Therefore,  the  soil  and  management 
of  Argyle  being,  generally  speaking,  better  than  that  of  the  Hebrides,  it 
was  found  that  a  somewhat  larger  animal  might  be  admitted;  he  was, 
however,  procured,  not  by  crossing  with  a  breed  of  superior  size,  but  by 
careful  selection  from  the  best  of  the  pure  breed.  Experience  and  judg- 
ment soon  discovered  when  the  proper  point — the  profitable  weight — was 
gained;  and  then  the  farmer  went  back  to  the  equally  pure,  but  smaller 
breed  of  Skye,  lest  the  form  should  be  deteriorated,  and  the  fattening 
should  not  be  so  equable  and  true,  and  the  meat  should  lose  some  of  its 
beautiful  character  and  flavour. 

There  is  no  part  of  the  Highlands  where  the  soil  and  the  climate  are 
better  adapted  to  the  perfection  of  the  breed  than  in  Argyle,  or  where  we 
oftener  see  the  true  characteristics  of  the  best  Highland  cattle — short,  and 
somewhat  strong  in  the  shank,  round  in  the  body,  straight  in  the  back, 
well-haired,  long  in  the  muzzle,  and  with  a  well-turned  and  rather  small 
horn.  There  is  no  district  in  which  the  farmer  so  superstitiously,  and  yet 
we  will  say  properly,  refrains  from  foreign  admixture.  Could  the  two 
great  errors  of  the  Highland  farmer  be  remedied,  but  which  are  found 
even  here — namely,  overstocking  in  the  summer  and  starving  in  the 
winter — there  would  be  nothing  more  to  desire,  so  far  as  the  grazier  is 
concerned,  except,  perhaps  docility  of  temper;  and  that  will  be  gradually 
acquired  when  further  improvements  in  agriculture  have  rendered  it  unne- 
cessary for  the  beast  to  wander  so  far,  and  over  so  wild  a  country,  in 
search  of  food,  and  when  he  will  be  earlier  and  more  perfectly  domesti- 


THE  ARGYLSHIRE  BREED.  79 

cated.  The  Highlander,  however,  must  be  reared  for  the  grazier  alone. 
Every  attention  to  increase  his  weight,  in  order  to  make  him  capable  of 
agricultural  labour — every  effort  to  qualify  him  for  the  dairy,  will  not  only 
lessen  his  hardiness  of  constitution  and  propensity  to  fatten,  but  will  fail 
in  rendering  him  valuable  for  the  purpose  at  which  the  farmer  foolishly  , 
aims.  The  character  of  the  Highlander  must  still  be,  that  he  will  pay 
better  for  his  quantity  of  food  than  any  other  breed,  and  will  fatten  where 
any  other  breed  would  scarcely  live.  This  is  the  grand  secret  of  profita- 
bly breeding  or  grazing  the  Highland  cattle. 

The  management  both  of  the  cow  and  her  calf  depend  much  on  the 
object  which  the  breeder  principally  pursues.  If  he  studies  the  character 
of  liis  stock,  he  makes  little  butter  and  cheese,  generally  rears  a  calf  for 
every  cow,  giving  it  the  greater  part  of  her  milk.  A  likely  bull-calf  is 
sometimes  allowed  the  milk  of  two  cows  for  a  considerable  time,  and  often 
for  six  months.  When  the  calves  are  weaned,  they  are  fed  on  the  hills 
during  the  summer,  and  brought  on  the  lower  grounds  in  winter;  and  if 
the  pasture  is  not  good,  they  are  occasionally  fed  with  straw  and  hay.  It 
is  after  the  first  winter  that  the  absurd  and  cruel  system  of  overstocking 
and  starving  commences.  From  the  superiority  of  the  soil,  however,  this 
is  not  carried  to  the  ruinous  extent  that  it  is  in  the  Hebrides.  In  favour- 
able situations,  some  farmers  winter  their  calves  in  open  sheds,  where  they 
are  fed  with  hay  in  the  racks.  This  makes  them  hardier,  and  does  not 
cripple  their  growth. 

The  following  has  been  given  as  the  expense  of  rearing  a  Highland  stot 
in  Argyleshire: 

To  milk  to  the  calf  while  sucking,  1|  Scotch  pints  per 

day,  at  2d.  per  pint  -  -  -  -     £2     5     6 

To  expense  of  keeping  the  calf  housed  and  fed  on 
straw  and  hay  during  the  first  winter,  \2s. — but 
deducting  3s.  for  manure,  there  remains     -  -         0     9     0 

To  pasture  next  summer  on  hill  grass  -  -         0     7     6 

To  keeping  next  winter  on  low  grounds,  and  feeding 

in  the  fields  with  hay  when  necessary        -  -        0  10     0 

To  pasture  on  hilly  ground  next  summer,  being  then 

2i  years  old  -  -  -  -  -        0     7     6 

Deduct  for  risk  of  deaths  -  -  -        0  15     0 

Interest  of  money  -  -  -  -        0     5     0 

£4  19     6         • 

Supposing  that  they  then  sell  for  five  guineas  at  first  hand — and  the 
average  price  will  not  much  exceed  this — the  profit  will  be  but  5s.  6rf. 
This  and  the  increased  price  of  corn  will  sufliiciendy  account  for  the  gradu- 
al substitution  of  sheep  for  cattle  on  the  greater  part  of  the  breeding  coun- 
try of  Scotland. 

The  Argyleshire  farmer  is  sometimes  wrong  in  breeding  from  a  favour- 
ite cow  too  long.  Although  the  Highlanders  fatten  rapidly  for  a  certain 
time,  and  begin  early  to  fatten  where  the  pasturage  will  give  them  oppor- 
tunity to  show  it,  they  do  not  thrive  so  well  when  old.  A  cow  ultimate- 
ly destined  for  the  drover  should  not  be  permitted  to  breed  after  six  years- 
old.  She  may  make  fair  meat  for  home  consumption,  but  she  will  not 
fatten  so  quickly,  or  so  truly,  and  on  all  her  points;  and,  in  fact,  the  drover 
will  seldom  purchase  her  except  at  a  very  inferior  price. 

It  is  now  also  established  as  a  principle  among  them,  that  the  samebuU 


80  CATTLE. 

should  not  be  used  too  long.  The  hardiness  of  some  of  the  cattle  has  been 
thought  to  be  materially  affected  by  it.  The  bulls  are  generally  disposed 
of  at  six  years -old,  when  they  are  in  full  vigour,  and  valuable  for  some 
distant  herd. 


[TheJrgyle  Ox.} 

The  native  cattle  in  Cantire,  or  the  south  of  Argyle,  are  of  a  thinner, 
lighter  make,  and  not  well  haired;  they  are  evidendy  of  Highland 
extraction,  but  they  show  much  crossing  with  Irish  blood.  They  are 
better  adapted  for  the  pasturage  which  they  find,  and  are  fair  milkers; 
therefore  the  dairy  was  always  more  attended  to  than  rearing  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Cantire.  The  Ayrshire  cow  has,  however,  nearly  superseded  the 
native  breed,  not  only  in  Cantire,  but  through  the  whole  of  Argyleshire, 
for  the  purposes  of  the  dairy.  She  is  promising  to  spread  as  rapidly  and 
as  widely  through  the  middle  and  northern  parts  of  Scotland  as  the  short- 
horn has  done  along  the  whole  of  the  eastern  part  of  England.  A  few 
Holderness  cows  were  tried,  but  with  doubtful  success.  The  West  High- 
land cattle  are  universally  adopted  foi  grazing  farms,  and  the  Ayrshire 
nearly  as  generally  for  the  dairy.  The  butter  is  good,  except  that  it  is 
often  too  salt;  little,  however,  can  be  said  in  favour  of  the  cheese.  The 
manufacturer  of  the  cheese  is  often  more  in  fault  than  the  milk  or  the  pas- 
ture; for  in  Cantire  he  usually  keeps  his  milk  forty-eight  hours,  in  order 
to  separate  all  the  cream,  and  before  the  expiration  of  that  time  it  is 
quite  impoverished  and  becoming  sour;  curds  of  different  ages  are  also 
mixed  together,  and  which  will  not  amalgamate  and  form  one  uniform 
mass. 

Some  Galloways  are  found  in  Argyle,  and  particularly  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  county;  but  they  are  not  equal  to  the  native  Highlanders. 
The  latter  have  sometimes  been  crossed  with  the  Galloways,  to  give  in- 
crease of  weight;  but  the  experiment  has  not  succeeded:  they  have  neither 
fattened  so  quickly,  nor  so  equably. 


THE    INVERNESS  BREED.  81 


INVERNESS. 


This  county  will  complete  the  Western  Highlands,  properly  so  called. 
Inverness  stretches  across  the  mainland  from  the  little  channel  that 
divides  it  from  Skye  to  the  Murray  Firth.  The  ferry  of  Kyle  Rhea,  on  the 
north-western  point  of  it,  connects  together  the  different  districts  inhabited 
by  the  Highland  cattle;  for  all  the  cattle  from  Skye  and  the  outer 
Hebrides  cross  that  ferry,  not  only  in  their  way  to  Inverness  and  Argyle, 
but  to  all  the  southern  markets.  Six  or  seven  thousand  annually  pass  this 
little  strait.  They  are  not  ferried  in  boats,  as  from  the  Long  Island  to 
Skye,  but  by  means  of  ropes,  about  a  yard  in  length,  with  a  noose  at  each 
end,  one  of  which  is  tied  to  the  tail  of  the  cow  that  is  to  swim  before,  and 
the  other  round  the  jaw  and  under  the  tongue  of  the  next;  and  the  beasts 
are  thus  connected  together  until  there  is  a  string  of  six  or  eight.  The 
time  of  high  water  is  chosen,  when,  although  the  passage  is  wider,  there 
is  less  current.  The  beasts  are  led  into  the  water  as  quietly  as  possible 
until  they  are  afloat,  when  they  immediately  cease  to  resist,  then  the  man 
at  the  stern  of  the  ferry-boat  taking  hold  of  the  rope  that  holds  the  fore- 
most beasts,  the  vessel  is  rowed  steadily  across,  and  the  cattle  follow  with- 
out a  struggle.     It  is  very  rarely  that  one  of  them  is  lost. 

The  cattle,  at  least  in  Lochaber,  and  along  the  western  coast  of  Inver- 
ness, and  on  the  borders  of  Ross,  are  essentially  the  same  as  those  in  the, 
north  of  Argyle,  and  their  treatment,  with  all  its  fiiults,  the  same.  In  the 
central  parts  of  the  county,  however,  the  breed  is  mixed,  and  principally 
with  the  Galloway,  or  Fife,  or  Irish.  On  tlie  borders  of  Murray  there  is 
still  a  different  breed,  the  origin  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  trace;  heavier  than 
the  Highlanders;  better  milkers;  but  not  so  profitable  for  the  grazier.  It 
is  said  that  they  were  first  bred  of  this  superior  size  to  make  them  heavy 
enough  for  the  yoke,  but  at  present  the  ox  is  never  used  either  for  the 
plough  or  on  the  road.  So  late,  however,  as  the  year  1791,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Smitn,  in  his  statistical  account  of  the  parish  of  Petty  on  the  Moray  Firth, 
says,  that  '  1400  oxen  were  employed  in  that  neighbourhood  on  husbandry 
work.'  He  adds,  that  '  they  were  of  the  light  nimble  Highland  breed; 
and,  when  unfit  for  work,  disposed  of  to  the  dealers  in  cattle  for  the 
English  markets.'  Few  of  them,  however,  were  reared  in  Inverness,  but 
were  brought  from  the  Highlands  when  young. 

The  system  of  summer  feeding,  or  '  sroing  to  shealings,'  which  we 
have  described  as  occasionally  followed  in  the  Hebrides,  used  to  prevail 
in  Inverness;  but,  as  agriculture  has  improved,  and  sheep-feeding  was 
introduced,  these  rights  of  pasturing  on  the  distant  wastes  were  let  to 
shepherds,  who  live  on  them  all  the  year.* 

Dr.  Robertson,  in  his  '  Survey  of  Inverness,'  gives  the  following  descrip- 
tion of  '  the  shealings:' — '  After  the  crops  had  been  sown,  and  the  peats 
cut,  the  inhabitants  removed  annually,  in  the  month  of  June,  to  their 
distant  pastures,  with  all  their  cattle  and  families;  and  there,  in  some 
snug  spot,  the  best  sheltered  in  all  the  range  allotted  to  the  cattle,  they 

*  It  is  mentioned  in  Sir  John  Sinclair's  'Statistical  Account  of  Scotland,'  where  the 
parish  of  Laagan,  in  the  mountainous  country  to  the  south-west  of  Inverness,  is  describ- 
ed, that  the  number  of  cattle  had  considerably  decreased  in  that  district;  'people  deeming 
it  more  profitable  to  reduce  their  stock  ot  black  cattle,  and  increase  their  stock  of  sheep. 
But  the  cattle  that  remain  are  very  much  improved.  Twenty  years  ago  (1770)  a  High- 
land slot  was  not  worth  more  than  20/.  Scots,  wliereas  it  will  now  sell  for  31.  or  4Z,  eter- 
ling;  and  milch  cows  have  risen  in  value  from  3/.  10s.  to  5/.  or  6/.'  Black  cattle,  how. 
ever,  may  still  be  considered  as  the  staple  riches  of  Inverness,  and  on  which  principally 
the  farmers  depend  to  enable  them  to  pay  their  rents. 


83  CATTLE. 

resided  for  a  certain  number  of  weeks,  until  the  pasture  became  scarce. 
A  trusty  person  was  sent  before  them  to  drive  away  any  wandering  cattle 
that  might  have  trespassed  within  the  bounds  that'were  to  be  preserved. 
The  men  returned  occasionally  to  the  farm  or  homestead,  to  collect  the 
fuel,  or  hoe  the  potatoes,  or  weed  the  crop;  and,  when  the  season  for 
weeding  the  flax  arrived  the  women  went  home  for  that  purpose.  When 
the  bounds  are  extefisive  they  have  frequently  more  than  one  of  these 
stations,  which  are  called  ree  or  aree,*  in  the  language  of  the  country,  and 
sheallngs  in  English.  In  such  cases  the  guardian  of  the  grass  was  sent 
forward  to  another  shealing  whenever  the  family  arrived  at  that  destined 
for  their  temporary  residence.  He  was  called  the  poindler,  probably 
because  he  had  public  aiuhority  to  poind  (whence,  pound,)  and  confine  the 
stray  cattle,  and  to  demand  the  fine  established  by  law  for  the  trespass. 
When  these  pastures  were  unusually  rich,  as  at  the  head  of  a  lake  or  by 
the  sides  of  brooks  in  the  valleys,  the  inhabitants  of  two  or  more  farms 
associated  together,  and  ate  the  grass  of  their  sheallngs  in  common.  This 
was  the  season  of  contentment  and  often  of  festivity.  The  women  em- 
ployed themselves  in  spinning  wool  to  clothe  their  families,  and  in  making 
butter  and  cheese  for  part  of  their  winter  provisions;!  and  the  youths 
occupied  themselves  in  fishing  or  athletic  exercises;  and  at  evening  the 
primitive  custom  of  dancing  on  the  green  and  singing  Gaelic  songs  was 
not  forgotten.  The  sheallngs  lasted  from  one  to  two  months  or  more, 
and  when  the  pasture  was  all  consumed  they  returned  to  their  home- 
steads.':}: 

The  Rev.  Mr.  M'Lean,  in  an  Appendix  to  this  Survey,  has  some 
remarks  on  these  shealitigs,  the  importance  of  which  has  been  acknow- 
ledged bythe  Inverness  farmers,  and  the  most  valuable  part  of  what  he 
recommended  has  been  adopted.  He  is  speaking  of  the  system  of  over- 
stocking generally,  and  even  on  these  shealings.  He  says  tliat,  'on  every 
farm,  an  overstock  is  kept.  If  the  cattle  are  brought  through  the  winter, 
that  is  considered  sufficient;  and  after  a  severe  winter  they  appear  in  a 
most  miserable  plight,  and  those  of  them  intended  for  sale  are  seldom  fit 
for  the  market  before  the  end  of  tlie  summer;'  and,  he  asks,  'is  there  not 
an  evident  loss  here? — is  there  not  more  profit  from  one  beast  well,  than 
from  two  poorly  or  indiflerently  kept?'  He,  therefore,  submitted  to  the 
Society  of  Agriculture  '  to  give  premiums  to  those  who  shall  have  their 
whole  stock  of  black  cattle  in  the  best  order  in  the  month  of  May,  or  who, 
in  that  month,  shall  have  the  beasts  intended  for  sale  in  the  best  market- 
able condition.  An  emulation  of  this  kind  would  prove  an  incitement  to 
the  cultivation  of  turnips  and  sotvn  grass,  as  without  these,  it  is  not  easy 

*  Ree  is  a  Gaelic  word,  which  signifies  a  deer-forest:  these  shealings,  therefore,  were 
tlie  first  encroachments  made  by  the  inhabitants  and  their  cattle  on  the  territories  of  the 
deer,  after  they  had  got  full  possession  of  the  straths,  or  lower  valleys. 

t  Mr.  Stewart,  in  his  '  Highland  Superstitions,'  tells  us  that  great  virtue  was  once  sup- 
posed to  belong  to  some  of  this  cheese,  but  the  difficulty  which  attended  the  manufacture 
of  it  corresponded  with  its  value.  He  says,  '  you  must  go  to  the  sununit  of  some  steep 
cliff  or  mountain,  where  the  feet  of  quadrupeds  never  trod,  and  gather  that  herb  in  the 
Gaelic  language  called  'mohan,'  which  can  be  pointed  out  by  any  '  wise  person.'  This 
herb  you  must  give  to  the  cow;  and  of  the  milk  of  the  cow  you  are  to  make  a  cheese,  and 
whoever  eats  of  that  cheese  is  for  ever  after  perfectly  secure  from  every  species  of  fair)' 
agency.' 

t  The  Rev.  Mr.  Bremmer,  in  his  Statistical  Account  of  Walls  in  the  Orkneys,  says  of 
these  shealings, — 'Their  household  furniture  must  be  described  negatively.  No  bed, 
no  table,  no  chair.  These  the  Highlander  does  not  reckon  among  the  necessaries  of  life, 
as  he  can  make  the  earth  serve  him  for  all  the  three.  In  his  shealing,  composed  of  earth 
and  a  few  sticks,  you  find  no  other  furniture  than  a  few  dishes  for  his  milk,  and  a  bowl 
for  his  meal:  so  true  in  fact,  as  well  as  in  philosophy,  is  the  maxim,  "  nature  is  content 
with  a  little." ' 


THE  INVERNESS  BREED.  83 

to  keep  cattle  in  good  order  through  the  winter.'  He  also  asks  '  whether 
it  would  not  be  for  the  interest  of  the  tenants  not  to  keep  a  larger  stock  of 
black  cattle  than  they  could  maintain  without  sending  any  part  of  it  to 
the  hill  at  any  season  of  the  year,  and  that  the  hill-grass  should  be  ap- 
plied exclusively  to  the  maintenance  of  sheep?  Mr.  M'Lean  little  thought 
how  soon  the  sheep  would  be  thus  introduced,  and  how  many  '  flocks' 
would  be  fed  '  on  the  Grampian  hills,'  to  the  improvement,  and  not  the  di- 
minution and  deterioration  of  the  breed  of  cattle. 

If  Inverness  were  no  otherwise  interesting  to  the  agriculturist,  it  would 
have  some  importance  in  his  estimation  as  the  grand  mart  of  the  West 
Highland  catde.  Not  only  all  those  from  Skye  and  the  outer  Hebrides 
are  sent  there  for  sale,  and  many  come  from  Argyle  to  the  trysts  of  Inver- 
ness, whence  they  travel  south  again,  but  it  contains  within  itself  more 
than  42000  head  of  catde.  These  trysts  are  not  fairs  or  markets  appoint- 
ed by  public  authority,  but  by  concert  among  the  dealers.  The  manner 
of  conducting  them  is  very  curious.  When  the  drovers  from  the  south, 
or  from  the  interior  of  Scodand,  make  their  appearance  in  the  Highlands, 
about  the  latter  end  of  Aprd  or  the  beginning  of  May,  they  give  notice  at 
the  churches  that,  on  a  particular  day,  and  at  some  central  place  in  the  dis- 
trict, they  will  be  ready  to  purchase. 

The  price  is,  like  that  of  every  thing  else,  regulated  by  the  demand,  and 
of  this  the  farmers  can  cudy  judge  by  the  number  of  the  drovers  or  the 
intelligence  which  they  have  received  from  their  correspondents  in  the 
south.  Much  address  is  used  on  both  sides  to  feel  the  pulse  of  the  mar- 
ket at  these  meetings,  and  perhaps  many  trysts  are  held  before  the  price 
is  finally  determined.  Some  appear  to  be  resolved  to  guard  themselves 
from  imposition,  for  they  sell  their  catUe  conditionally,  bargaining  that  if 
the  prices  rise  within  a  limited  time  they  shall  receive  so  much  more,  and 
that  if  they  fall  the  drover  shall  obtain  a  deduction. 

This  traffic  is  carried  on,  with  litde  intermission;  from  May  to  October; 
for  from  the  system  of  winter  starvation,  too  much  pursued,  comparatively 
few  may  be  able  to  travel  at  first,  or  for  a  considerable  time  afterwards; 
although  the  cattle  that  are  ready  fetch  the  best  price,  because  they  can  be 
immediately  put  on  the  southern  pastures. 

The  practice  of  letting  catde  for  hire  is  not  unfrequent  in  Inverness. 
The  hirer  is  usually  bound  to  furnish  the  owner  with  one  calf,  one  stone 
(of  twenty-two  pounds)  of  butter,  and  two  stones  of  cheese  annually,  or 
one  calf  and  a  variable  sum  of  money  according  to  the  quality  of  the  cat- 
tle, all  expenses  of  keep  being  defrayed  by  the  owner.  This  is  a  very 
unsatisfactory  mode  of  conducting  a  farm;  and  when  the  interests  of  the 
two  parties  are  continually  clashing,  as  they  must  with  such  an  arrange- 
ment, there  can  be  litde  cordiality  on  either  side,  and  there  will  often  be 
great  injustice  on  both. 

THE  NORTH  HIGHLAND  CATTLE. 

These  occupy  the  whole  of  Scodand  north  of  Inverness,  including  the 
counties  of  Ross,  Sudierland  and  Caithness,  and  the  Orkney  and  Shedand 
islands.  The  catde  were  exceedingly  different  from  those  which  we  have 
described,  more  diminuUve  in  size,  and  fifty  years  ago  were  deficient  in 
many  valuable  points.  The  heads  of  the  native  breed  were -large  and 
coarse,  the  backs  high  and  narrow,  the  ribs  flat,  the  chest  small,  the  bones 
large,  the  legs  long;  and,  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  all  this,  there 
was  great  difficulty  in  getting  them  fat  at  all,  and  they  never  fattened 
equably.     This  is  easily  explained  by  the  consideration  that  the  climate 


84 


CATTLE. 


is  cold,  the  country  is  an  arable  one,  the  distance  from  the  market  is 
great,  and,  therefore,  the  breeding  of  cattle  had  not  always  been  a  con- 
sideration of  much  importance  to  the  farmer.  This  defect  and  disgrace 
of  tlie  northern  district  was  at  length  forced  on  the  attention  of  the 
agriculturist,  and,  by  crosses  from  various  breeds,  he  has  endeavoured 
to  improve  his  stock  both  for  the  dairy,  the  grazier,  and  the  plough:  with 
what  success  he  has  laboured,  a  rapid  survey  of  the  northern  counties  will 
show. 

THE    SHETLAND    ISLANDS. 


IThe  Shetland  Bull.} 

We  commence  with  the  northernmost  group  of  islands,  situated  nearly 
half-way  between  the  coasts  of  Scotland  and  Norway.  They  consist  of 
one  chief  island,  nearly  sixty  miles  in  length,  and  ten  or  twelve  in  breadth, 
and  a  numerous  group  of  diminutive  ones  scattered  around,  and  particular- 
ly on  the  north.  Jaimeson,  in  his  '  Mineralogy,'  page  2,  says  that,  '  on 
viewing  these  islands,  a  wonderful  scene  of  rugged,  black,  and  barren 
rocks  presents  itself  to  our  view.  No  tree  or  shrub  appears  to  relieve  the 
eye  in  wandering  over  these  dreary  scenes,  and  only  gray  rocks  appear 
rising  from  the  midst  of  marshes,  and  pools,  and  shores,  bounded  by  the 
wildest  precipices.'  There  are,  in  fact,  few  or  no  artificial  grasses  or  green 
crops,  or  enclosures  capable  of  protecting  these  crops,  and  grasses  could 
not  be  brought  to  perfection  in  the  open  fields  of  these  islands:  there  is 
nothing  but  moss,  and  heath  and  sea-weed,  yet  there  is  a  breed  of  horses, 
diminutive,  indeed,  but  beautiful,  and  hardy,  and  strong;  and  the  cattle 
exhibit  evident  traces  of  the  same  origin  with  the  West  Highlanders. 
They  have  been  diminished  in  size  by  the  coldness  of  the  climate  and  the 
scarcity  of  food;  but  they  have  not  been  so  seriously  injured  by  the  folly 
of  men — they  have  not  been  domesticated  to  be  starved  outright.  They 
are  small,  gaunt,  ill  shaped,  so  far,  indeed,  as  their  shape  can  be  ascertained 
through  the  long  thick  hair  with  which  they  are  covered,  and  which  forms 
an  impenetrable  defence  against  the  snow  and  the  sleet.  They  are  rarely 
more  than  four  feet  high  at  the  withers,  and  sometimes  scarcely  more  than 
thirty-five  or  forty  pounds  a  quarter. 


THE  SHETLAND  BREED.  85 

The  Shetland  cattle  contrive  to  live  on  their  native  moors  and  wastes, 
and  some  of  them  fatten  there  ;  for  a  considerable  and  increasing  quan- 
tity of  beef  is  salted  in  Shedand  and  sent  to  the  mainland,  the  quality  of 
which  is  exceedingly  good.  When,  however,  the  Shedanders  are  trans- 
ported to  the  comparatively  richer  pastures  of  the  north  of  Scodand,  they 
thrive  with  almost  incredible  rapidity,  and  their  flesh  and  fat,  being  so  newly 
and  quickly  laid  on,  is  said  to  be  peculiarly  delicious  and  tender.  They 
run  to  fifteen  or  sixteen,  or  even  twenty  stones  in  weight.  If  they  are 
carried  still  farther  south  they  rarely  thrive ;  they  become  sickly,  and  even 
poor,  in  the  midst  of  abundance :  the  change  is  too  great,  and  the  consti- 
tution cannot  become  habituated  to  it.  The  Duke  of  Bedford  and  Mr. 
Wilmot  Horton  have  given  a  fair  trial  to  these  Lilliputian  catde,  and  the 
result  has  not  been  satisfactory. 

The  Shedand  cows  are  housed  every  night,  whether  in  winter  or 
summer  ;  and  not  having  straw  for  litter,  the  defect  is  supplied  by  heath 
and  peat-dust.  The  dung  used  to  be  suffered  to  accumulate  in  a  strange 
manner.  Instead  of  being  dady  carried  out,  it  was  spread  over  the  byre, 
until  the  cattle  could  no  longer  find  entrance  between  the  floor  and  the 
roof.  Then  only  it  was  of  necessity  removed.  They  yield  a  very  small 
portion  of  mdk,  whether  in  their  native  country  or  elsewhere,  but  that 
which  they  do  give  is  exceedingly  rich. 

The  Shedanders  have  a  curious  way  of  extracdng  the  butter  from  it. 
The  milk  is  put  into  the  churn  as  soon  as  procured,  and  in  small  farms 
two  or  three  days  elapse  before  the  vessel  is  full.  The  process  of  churn- 
ing then  commences  ;  and  when  the  butter  is  about  to  separate  from  the 
whey  some  red-hot  stones  are  thrown  in,  and  the  churning  continued 
until  the  separation  is  complete,  and  the  butter  floats  on  the  top.  This  is 
sometimes  very  carefully  washed  for  home-consumption  or  for  the  market; 
but  when  it  is  destined  to  constitute  part  of  the  rent  (for  a  portion  of 
that  was,  not  many  years  ago,  demanded  in  kind)  it  was  sadly  dirty  and 
badly  tasted.  The  butter-milk  is  then  boiled,  and  another  portion  of  butter 
is  separated,  which  is  not  so  rich  :  this  is  chiefly  reserved  for  home  use. 
The  remaining  fluid,  called  bland,  used  to  be,  but  is  not  so  much  now, 
the  ordinary  drink  of  the  poorer  Shedanders.  It  is  sometimes  preserved 
until  the  winter,  and  is  supposed  to  be  very  wholesome. 

A  country  so  barren  may  be  easily  overstocked,  and  it  is  so  to  a  certain 
degree,  pardcularly  since  the  introduction  of  sheep  husbandry.  A  great 
many  of  the  calves  are  therefore  killed  very  early,  and  some  even  on  the 
day  that  they  are  dropped.  The  calves  that  are  reared  are  never  allowed 
to  suck  their  mothers,  but  are  fed,  at  first,  with  milk,  and  afterwards  with 
bland.  This  is  poor  food,  but  they  are  by  this  means  early  prepared  for 
the  privations  to  which  they  are  afterwards  exposed. 

The  litde  Shedand  oxen  are  stiU  occasionally  worked  in  the  plough. 
Horses  and  oxen  were  formerly  yoked  abreast  to  the  same  plough  ;  but  the 
oxen  are  gradually  getting  into  disuse  :  indeed  a  great  part  of  the  island 
is  too  rocky  for  the  plough,  and  is  dug  with  the  spade ;  and,  sometimes, 
even  at  the  present  day,  the  spade  husbandry  is  used  where  the  plough 
might  be  profitably  introduced. 

Some  of  the  smaller  islands  called  '  The  Holmes,''  and  which  are  nearly 
or  quite  uninhabited,  yield  more  succulent  pasture ;  and  the  catde  are 
occasionally  sent  there  to  prepare  them  for  their  migration  to  the  south. 
They  thrive  rapidly  on  these  litde  solitudes.  When  a  stadstical  account  of 
these  islands  was  taken  forty  years  ago,  they  contained  3000  cows,  1000 
oxen,  and  10,000  young  catde.  They  have,  however  rapidly  increased, 
for  more  than  44,000  now  inhabit  the  Shetland  and  Orkney  Islaiid?,     it 


86  CATTLE. 

is  much  to  be  regretted  that  so  numerous  and  valuable  a  breed  should  be 
so  much  neglected  :  but  the  fact  is,  that  the  Shetland  isles  are  principally 
a  fishing  station.  Their  very  appearance  caused  them  to  be  selected  for 
this  purpose,  and  the  profits  occasionally  resulting  from  the  fisheries — to 
the  heritors  or  propiietors,  at  least — have  made  them,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Orkneys,  comparatively  careless  as  to  the  productions  of  the  soil. 

THE  ORKNEY  ISLANDS. 

The  Orkney  Islands,  or  ancient  Orcades,  lie  much  nearer  the  mainland, 
and  are  not  so  considerable  as  the  Shetland  Islands.  The  number  of 
inhabited  islands  is  twenty-nine,  and  tliere  are  thirty-nine  smaller  ones, 
called  holmes,  covered  with  constant  herbage,  and  on  which  cattle  and 
sheep  are  sometimes  grazed.  The  climate  is  moist  and  variable,  the  sum- 
mer short,  and  rarely  hot,  the  winters  long,  but  not  cold,  the  spring  late, 
and  the  ungenial  weather  often  continuing  until  June. 

The  cattle,  which  were  formerly  even  smaller  and  more  ill-shaped  than 
the  Shetlanders,  have  been  considerably  improved,  for  there  is  much  good 
pasture  in  the  Orkneys  ;  but  there  is  necessity  for  greater  improvement  in 
the  management  of  them  ere  they  can  become  a  very  profitable  stock.  So 
late  as  1795  '  all  the  cattle,  except  the  milch-cows,  were  turned  out  to  the 
hills  and  moors,  where  they  made  a  shift  to  preserve  life,  but  were  stinted 
in  their  growth,  and  the  queys  were  often  five  and  six  years  old  before  they 
had  a  calf.  When  the  cattle  are  thus  turned  out  to  their  liberty,'  the 
reporter  says,  '  he  whose  corn  is  unripe  must  cut  it  down,  or  expect  to 
have  it  destroyed ;  and  when  hunger  and  cold  force  home  the  half-starved 
cattle  from  the  hill,  the  hill  dykes  are  too  weak  to  keep  them  out ;  it  is 
impossible  either  to  poind  these  animals,  or  to  prevent  their  incursions  ; 
and  they  must  be  hunted  with  dogs  to  the  mountains,  perhaps  after  dozens 
of  them  have  run  through  fields  of  standing  corn.' — Eev.  J.  Malconi's 
Statistical  Account  of  Stenness. 

The  caitle  are  better  milkers  than  the  Shetlanders,  and  quite  as  good 
feeders.  More  oxen  are  used  fot  agricultural  labour,  and  they  aie  deci- 
dedly better  for  this  purpose  than  the  Shedanders  ;  yet,  compared  with 
the  Western  Highlanders;  they  are  an  inferior  race.  Their  heads  are  low, 
their  backs  high,  their  buttocks  thin,  their  bones  prominent,  their  horns 
short,  and  bending  towards  the  forehead.* 

*  Mr.  Morison,  in  his  « Statistical  Account  of  the  Parish  of  Dalting,'  after  saying  that 
a  small  part  of  it  only  is  under  cultivation,  gives  a  very  curious  account  of  the  manner 
of  ploughing.  He  says,  that  '  there  are  not  more  than  six  ploughs  in  the  parish.  The 
plough  is  made  of  a  small  crooked  piece  of  wood,  at  the  end  of  which  is  fixed  a  slender 
pliable  piece  of  oak,  that  is  fastened  to  the  yoke  laid  across  the  necks  of  the  oxen.  The 
man  who  holds  tlie  plough  walks  by  its  side,  and  directs  it  with  a  stilt  or  handle  fixed 
to  the  top  of  it.  The  driver,  if  so  he  can  be  called,  goes  before  the  oxen,  and  pulls  them 
on  by  a  rope  tied  round  their  horns,  and  some  people  with  spades  follow  the  plough,  to 
level  the  fiirrow  and  break  the  clods. 

'A  considerable  number  of  cattle  and  sheep  are  sold  to  the  Lerwick  merchants,  who 
kill  them,  and  send  them  packed  to  Lcith  market:  700  milch  cows  are  kept  in  the  parish, 
besides  oxen  and  young  cattle.  A  great  part  of  the  land  is  let  on  Initter-rent.  Good  I2d. 
land  will  let  at  sixteen  merks  of  butter  (about  20  lbs.),  and  24s.  Scots  (2s.  English)  per 
merk,  equivalent  to  about  three-fourths  of  an  acre.  The  butter  is  generally  compounded 
for  at  the  average  price.  Beside  this,  40d.  is  required  from  each  family  for  services,  (as- 
Bisting  in  the  reaping,  hay-making,  and  various  agricultural  labours,)  if  they  arc  not 
paid  in  kind ;  and  also  a  cock  and  a  hen  is  demanded  for  every  two  merks  of  land.' 
These  rslics,  however,  of  feudal  tenure  are  now  growing  into  disuse.  At  that  time  a 
good  ox  was  worth  361.  {31.  sterling)  Scots ;  and  a  fat  cow  sold  for  2il.  {21.  sterling). 
The  ox  would  weigh  from  300  to  400  cwt.,  and  the  cow  from  170  to  250  lbs. 

Mr.  Morison  says,  that '  the  situation  of  that  parish,  and  of  the  Highlands  generally, 


THE  CAITHNESS  BREED.  87 


CAITHNESS. 


This  is  the  northernmost  county  of  Scotland,  and  the  climate  is  cold  and 
ungenial ;  there  is  no  highland  on  the  north  coast  to  break  the  force  of 
the  wind,  which  sets  in  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year  from  the  north- 
west or  the  west.  In  that  season  of  the  year  when  vegetation  is  most 
rapid  in  other  countries,  namely,  from  the  beginning  of  May  to  the  middle 
of  June,  the  north-west  wind  blows  incessantly,  and  the  growth  of  every- 
thing is  completely  checked.  Three-fourths  of  the  whole  surface  of  the 
county  is  either  a  deep  peat-moss,  or  lofty  barren  mountain  covered  only 
with  peat-earth  and  heather.  It  will  not  then  be  wondered  at  that,  not  fifty 
years  ago,  the  Caithness  breed  of  cattle,  although  hardy,  was  the  worst  in 
all  Scotland.  The  distance  of  this  county  from  all  the  markets  for  cattle, 
discouraged  any  attempt  at  improving  the  breed,  and  the  same  improvi- 
dent system  of  overstocking  which  we  have  reprobated  in  the  Highlands 
completed  the  evil*.  Captain  Henderson,  the  scientific  as  well  as  instruc- 
tive author  of  the  '  Agricultural  Survey  of  Caithness,'  very  expressively 
says  that  '  these  animals  were  not  fed,  but  merely  kept  alive  by  a  little 
straw  given  them  twice  a  day  from  the  end  of  December  until  the  hill- 
pasture  would  recover  them  in  May  and  June ;  and  that  being  thus 
starved  one-half  of  the  year,  they  assumed  a  thin,  lank  shape. f' 

was  most  deplorable  in  the  winter  of  1784.  The  crop  of  oats  failed  in  1782.  It  was 
worse  in  1783;  and  the  winter  of  1784  was  a  long;  and  severe  one.  Many  cattle  died 
of  absolute  starvation.  A  mortality  broke  out,  and  destroyed  many  more ;  427  were  lost 
in  that  parish.  Oats  rose  to  45s.  per  boll.  The  most  substantial  farmers  fared  badly  ; 
the  poorer  ones  lived  on  welks,  and  limpets,  and  sucli  other  fish  as  the  sea  shore  aiFord- 
ed.' — Sir  John  Sinclair's  Statistical  Account  of  Scotland. 

*  The  Rev.  Mr.  Cameron,  in  liis  Stitistical  Account  of  Halkirk,  in  this  county,  has 
some  appropriate  remarks  on  this  point : — '  I  am  persuaded  that  the  number  (of  black 
cattle)  reared  is  near  one-third  more  than  it  ought  to  have  been,  or  the  parish  can  well 
maintain.  This  is  the  cause  why  our  cows  do  not  usually  yield  so  much  milk  as  might 
be  expected — why  the  cattle  are  in  general  poorer,  and  of  less  size  than  they  might  have 
been,  and  consequently  fetch  such  low  prices  in  the  market.  What  is  their  motive  for 
this  unfrugal  and  mistaken  plan?  Because  the  commerce  in  that  cattle  is  their  principal 
dependence ;  and  they  calculate  their  stock  according  to  their  number,  and  not  according 
to  their  quality.  Besides,  having  no  other  way  to  answer  Martinmas  demands,  they 
pinch  their  families  in  the  necessary  food  arising  from  these  animals,  from  an  overwean- 
ing  expectation,  and  the  mistaken  idea,  tliat  if  they  have  plenty  of  calves  they  will  be  able 
to  answer  these  demands,  which  hang  a  mighty  terror  over  their  heads  every  year.  Thus 
it  happens  that  they  themselves  and  their  cattle  are  half-starved,  and  their  ill-founded 
expectations  often  frustrated.  Whereas,  had  they  adopted  another  plan,  and  kept  an 
adequate  number  of  cattle  only,  their  families  would  be  better  supported,  their  cattle 
better  in  quality  and  value,  and  the  demands  of  the  landlord  more  readily  answered.' 

t  The  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor,  in  his  Statistical  Account  of  Watlin,  in  this  county,  in  1794, 
very  strongly  and  properly  reprobates  the  system  of  cattle-management  in  Caithness. 
He  says — '  From  our  remote  situation  and  little  intercourse  with  other  countries,  we 
have  hitherto  been  neglected,  if  not  despised.  Of  late,  strangers  have  begun  to  creep  in 
among  us,  but  there  are  local  practices  and  local  prejudices  among  us  which  require  to 
be  laid  aside  before  great  improvement  can  take  place,  or  strangers  reside  with  real 
comfort  to  themselves.  From  time  immemorial  it  had  been  the  practice  here,  for  cattle 
of  all  kinds  to  travel  and  feed  promiscuously,  without  distinction  of  property,  from  the 
day  the  last  sheaf  was  put  into  the  farm-yard  til!  the  conclusion  of  the  bean  seed,  in  the 
end  of  May,  or  the  beginning  of  June.  The  prejudice  of  this  practice  to  land  in  general, 
and  to  arable  land  in  particular,  is  suificiently  evident.  The  active,  enterprising  farmer 
can  never  avail  himself  of  all  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  his  possession,  unlesa 
he  is  at  liberty  to  use  and  lay  it  out  as  he  pleases.  He  can  never  benefit  himself  either 
by  fallow  or  green  crops,  so  long  as  cattle  of  every  kind — his  neighbors,  as  well  as  his 
own — are  at  frredom,  for  eight  months  nearly  out  of  twelve,  to  traverse  his  fields,  day 
and  night,  wet  and  dry.  Such  a  custom  may,  and  no  doubt  does  profit  the  sluggard. 
His  cattle  are  half  maintained  at  the  expense  of  his  neighbour  ;  but  men  of  this  descrip- 
tion ought  not  to  be  supported  at  the  expense  of  the  willing,  industrious  farmers.     Hi» 


88  CATTLE. 

Caithness  affords  a  splendid  example  of  what  one  scientific  and  zealous 
man  is  capable  of  effecting.  Sir  John  Sinclair  had  large  property  in 
Caithness  :  he  observed  and  lamented,  and  materially  suffered  by  this 
wretched  state  of  the  cattle,  and  thoui^ht  of  many  plans  for  their  improve- 
ment. He  first  tried  what  he  could  do  by  crossing  the  native  breed.  The 
chest  was  small,  and  the  ribs  flat,  and  the  back  thin ;  there  was  not  room 
for  the  heart  to  beat  nor  the  lungs  to  play.  He  first  thought  of  the  deep 
chest,  and  broad  loins,  and  barrelled  carcase  of  tlie  Gallowa)'.  Here 
seemed  to  be  the  very  points  in  which  the  Caithness  breed  was  most  defi- 
cient, and  in  which  it  was  of  most  importance  to  improve  them;  and  there- 
fore he  crossed  the  Caithness  cow  willi  the  Galloway  bull.  But  he  had 
not  sufficiently  thought  that  although  he  might  bring  the  rounded  form, 
and  larger  size  of  the  Galloway  bull,  he  could  not  bring  the  mild  climate 
and  the  fine  herbage  of  Galloway  ;  and  experience  taught  him  the  truth  of 
the  axiom,  that  the  breed  must  be  suited  to  the  climate,  or  it  will  not 
thrive.  He  improved  the  size  of  the  Caithness  catde :  they  were  better 
for  the  yoke,  but  they  did  not  fatten  so  kindly,  and  their  milking  proper- 
ties were  even  deteriorated. 

He  then  bethought  him  of  the  West  Highlanders,  a  kindred  race,  even 
though  his  o-.vn  were  so  degenerated  ;  the  inhabitants  likewise  of  a  cold 
and  variable  climate ;  thriving  there,  and  possessing  also  those  admirable 
points  in  which  the  Caithness  w^ere  so  deficient.  The  experiment  suc- 
ceeded. On  a  loAvland  farm,  the  Skye  cattle  grew  to  a  size  with  which 
none  of  the  Caithness  breed  could  compare,  and  they  lost  not  one  point 
of  excellence.  On  a  Highland  farm  they  were  somewhat  inferior  in  size; 
but  they  throve  even  more  rapidly  than  the  others;  they  made  beef  of  the 
most  excellent  quality,  and  they  well  paid  the  farmer  for  their  keep. 

Then  the  Caithness  cattle  were  crossed  by  the  West  Highlanders  ;  and 
at  every  cross  they  were  improved ;  and  Avhen  they  had  become  almost 
entirely  Skye  or  Argyle  blood,  they  were  best  of  all.  The  Argyle  cattle 
were  preferred  for  the  lowlands — the  Skye  for  the  higher  and  rougher 
country  ;  and  very  considerable  improvement  was  effected  with  regard 
both  to  the  breeding  and  the  grazing  of  cattle.  Tlie  only  cause  of  regret 
was  the  distance  of  the  markets,  yet  the  growing  excellence  of  the  cattle 
paid  for  the  length  of  the  journey. 

After  this.  Sir  John  Sinclair  gradually  discarded  the  Galloway  even 
from  the  plough  ;  and  from  tlie  Skye,  and  more  particularly  from  the 
Argyle  breed,  he  got  as  quick,  and  honest,  and  hardy  workers,  and  pro- 
fitable fatteners,  as  he  could  reasonably  desire  ;  and  Caithness  will  not 
now  yield  to  the  neighbouring  counties  of  Sutherland  or  Ross  in  the  form 
or  value  of  her  cattle. 

The  peculiarity  of  the  climate  of  Caithness,  and  the  want  of  food  even 
to  the  middle  of  June,  Avere  great  obstacles  to  improvement ;  to  which 
may  be  added  the  same  miscalculating  avarice  which  induced  the  breeders 
here,  as  in  other  counties,  to  overstock  their  farms.  The  want  of  spring  food, 
however,  was,  in  some  measure  supplied  by  the  introduction  of  the  rye- 
grass, which  will  start  early,  and  in  the  coldest  weather,  and  afford  a  bite 
at  least,  if  not  be  ready  to  cut,  when  nothing  else  is  to  be  had  :  and  when 
turnip-feeding  Avas  added  to  this,  the  improvement  of  the  cattle,  and  the 
profit  of  the  farmer  became  greater ;  for  the  beast  w^hich  had  been  turnip- 
fed  in  the  winter,  and  got  rye-grass  in  the  spring,  was  ready  for    the 

spirited  endeavours  to  provide  for  himself  and  serve  the  public,  ought  not  to  be  rendered 
abortive  merely  to  gratify  the  indolence  of  the  sloven,  who,  rather  than  exert  himself 
in  constant  acts  of  industry,  is  content  to  live  in  a  hovel,  to  be  clothed  in  rags,  and  to 
feed  upon  bread  and  water.' 


THE  CAITHNESS  BREED.  89 

market  a  full  year  before  he  otherwise  would  have  been.  This  improved 
mode  of  feeding  was,  however,  in  the  hands  of  few,  and  the  majority  of 
the  catde  were  straw-fed  ia  the  winter,  and  had  mere  common  pasturage 
in  the  summer;  yet  even  they  did  well  when  not  overstocked,  and  yielded  a 
reasonable  remuneration  to  the  farmer. 

A  few  beasts  are  fed  for  home  consumption;  but  they  are  generally  old 
cows  and  oxen  which  the  drovers  refuse  to  purchase:  yet  at  nine,  ten,  and 
eleven  years  old,  they  will  fatten  speedily  enough,  and  make  good  beef. 
Some  are  grass-fed  in  the  spring  and  summer;  and  the  early  rye-grass  is 
particularly  valuable  here.  Others  are  stall-fed,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
autumn,  this  is  accomplished  quickly  and  without  difficulty.  Turnips  with 
oat-straw  are  given  at  first,  and  the  beasts  are  finished  off  with  bruised 
oats  and  beans,  which  are  said  to  give  firmness  to  the  flesh.  The  common 
cattle  do  not  now  fare  so  badly  in  Caithness  as  in  some  other  counties. 
There  is  more  arable  ground  here  than  is  found  farther  south;  and  although 
the  beasts  often  wander  over  the  commons  during  the  day,  they  get  straw, 
and,  sometimes,  turnips  in  the  morning  and  evening. 

In  the  highland  part  of  the  county  the  attention  of  the  farmer,  so  far  as 
cattle  are  concerned,  is  principally  devoted  to  the  rearing  of  them.  That, 
in  fact,  is  the  primitive,  although  not  always  the  most  profitable,  business 
of  the  Highlander;  but  in  the  lower  part  of  the  coun^  the  care  of  the 
dairy  is  added,  or  the  land  is  principally  cultivated  for  the  dairy.  Here 
a  different  breed  of  cows  is  necessary.  It  is  nedless  to  repeat  that  the 
Highland  cattle,  excellent  as  they  are  for  grazing,  will  yield  no  remu- 
nerating profit  as  milkers.  Sir  John  Sinclair  first  endeavoured  to  crofj 
the  native  cattle  Avith  the  Buchan  Breed.  These  were  the  near'-'"'  -^ 
they  were  excellent  dairy  cows  in  their  own  peculiar  district.  TO  a  c  ^ 
extent  they  answered,  but  the  quantity  was  not  mcreased  ho  mucu  as 
been  expected,  and  the  grazing  qualities  were  a  little  impairtfd.^,,jjj^(j   ^l^g 

He  next  tried  the  Dunlop  or  Ayrshire  bull.  The  Caithness  becaLv,  a 
better  milker;  but  there  was  something  in  the  character  of  the  Highland 
beast  that  would  not  amalgamate  with  the  lowland  dairy  blood,  for  even 
when  on  its  native  ground,  it  lost  much  of  its  propensity  to  speedy  fatten- 
ing. Many  of  the  pure  Ayrshire  cows  were  therefore  used  in  the  dairies 
of  Caithness,  and  they  still  maintain  their  ground,  either  pure  or  gradually 
working  upon  the  milking  unthriftiness  of  the  Highlander. 

The  dairy  is  often  managed  here  in  the  same  unsatisfactory  manner  as 
in  other  places  more  to  the  south.  The  farmer  provides  catde  and  pasturage, 
but  he  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  manufacture  of  the  produce;  he  bar- 
gains with  some  dairy-woman  to  deliver  to  him  annually  a  calf  for  every 
two  cows,  and  forty  or  fifty  pounds  of  butter,  and  the  same  quantity  of 
cheese  for  each  cow,  the  value  of  which  may  be  nearly  5/.;  but  others, 
and  more  satisfactorily,  and  profitably  too,  take  upon  themselves  the  whole 
management  of  their  property.  The  dairy  has  much  improved  in  Caith- 
ness; but,  on  account  of  its  situation  and  soil,  it  must  always  be  very 
inferior  to  that  in  the  southernmost  counties  of  Scotland.  Many  of  the 
Orkney  cows  are  used  by  the  small  farmers,  and  for  a  cottager's  cow  there 
are  few  better. 

Including  the  cattle  both  for  the  dairy  and  grazing,  Caithness  contains 
about  15,000.  Three  thousand  of  these  are  annually  sold  to  the  dro- 
vers, who  make  their  appearance  in  this  county,  and  begin  to  hold  their 
trysts  about  the  latter  end  of  April.  The  first  regular  market  for  the  sale 
of  the  north-country  cattle  is  at  Amulrie  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  May: 
to  this  succeeds  Cockhill  on  the  16th,  and  then  Falkirk,  Broughill,  and 
Newcastle.  The  stots  are  usually  three  years  and  a  half  when  first  oifered 

9* 


90  '^'^^^     CATTLE. 

for  sale,  and  then  weigh  about  twenty  stones :  when  fattened,  they  Avill 
double  that  weight  if  of  the  improved  breed  ;  but  the  old  Caithness  cattle 
will  seldom  weigh  more  than  twenty-five  stones,  when  in  the  best  condi- 
tion. The  price  of  these  slots  varies  with  the  demand,  and  the  season,  and 
the  breed.  The  old  Caithness  will  frequently  not  sell  for  more  than  3/. ; 
the  best  Highlanders  have  brought  8/.  or  91.  per  head.  The  journey  from 
Caithness  to  Carlisle  occupies  from  twenty-eight  to  thirty-two  days  ;  they 
are  usually  taken  in  droves  of  about  250,  and  the  expense  is  nearly  7s.  Gel. 
per  head. 

Oxen  are  yet  used  in  Caithness  for  husbandry  work.  The  native 
breed  has  neither  sufficient  substance  nor  spirit ;  the  Galloways  are 
heavier  but  slow,  and  do  not  thrive  well  in  Caithness,  and,  on  the  whole, 
the  Highlanders  are  the  best  working  oxen.  A  pair  of  oxen  are  generally 
used  in  the  cart.  Four  were  often  driven  abreast  in  the  plough,  the  driver 
curiously  walking  backward  between  the  central  oxen.*  A  small  farmer, 
now  and  then,  harnesses  two  ponies  with  a  pair  of  oxen.  The  heavier 
southern  catde  have  had  a  fair  trial,  and  are  nearly  abandoned  :  and  hus- 
bandry work,  even  with  the  West  Highland  oxen,  is  not  performed  so  much 
as  it  used  to  be.  The  oxen  are  btoken-in  at  three  years'  old  ;  at  five  they 
are  in  their  prime,  and  they  are  worked  until  eight  or  ten  years;  when  they 
are  sometimes  sold  to  the  drovers  in  travelling  condition,  but  oftener  fat- 
tened at  home.  Their  food  in  winter  is  straw,  or  chaff,  and  occasionally  a 
few  turnips ;  in  summer  they  have  hay,  but  no  corn,  except  the  larger 
oxen ;  and  when  they  are  not  at  work,  they  pasture  with  the  milch  cows. 

,  It  may  be  supposed  that  in  so  ungenial  a  climate  as  that  of  Caithness 

^■"^le  are  subject  to  many  distempers.     The  sudden  variation  of  tem- 

l    rature   and   of  food,  and    the    change  from  starvation  to  comparative 

'•-^  "  .^^^hen  vegetation  does  at  length,  and  with  strange  rapidity,  proceed 

'  ?'v^.Jil.'f^i-  part  of  the  spring,  are  the  causes  of  some  of  the  most  fre- 
quent and  fatal  diseases.  Among  the  rest  is  inflammatory  fever,  known 
in  its  various  stages  by  the  names  of  black  quarter  and  hasty.  Supersti- 
tion is  still  prevalent  enough  in  all  parts  of  the  Highlands,  but  nowhere 
more  so  than  in  Caithness.  Captain  Henderson  gives  some  strange  ac- 
counts of  the  treatment  of  these  diseases  in  a  country  where  the  name  of 
a  veterinary  surgeon  is  almost  unknown.  He  says  that  '  in  former  times, 
when  a  beast  was  seized  with  the  black  quarter  it  was  taken  to  a  house 
where  no  cattle  were  ever  after  to  enter,  and  there  the  heart  was  torn  out 
while  the  animal  M'as  alive,  and  hung  up  in  the  house  or  byre  where  the 
farmer  kept  his  cattle,  and  while  it  was  there,  none  of  his  cattle  would 
again  be  seized  with  that  distemper.' 

When  the  murrain  appeared  the  farmer  would  send  for  a  charm-doctor 
to  superintend  the  raising  of  a  need-fire.  A  circular  booth  was  erected 
upon  some  small  island  in  the  nearest  river,  or  burn  ;  and  in  the  centre  of 
it  a  straight  pole  was  fixed,  extending  from  the  roof  to  the  ground. 
Another  pole  was  set  across  horizontally,  with  four  short  arms  or  levers  in 

*  The  Rev.  Mr.  Jolly,  in  his  Statistical  Account  of  Dunnot  (1794),  explains  this  : — 
'  The  tenant's  ploughs  are  generally  drawn  by  four  oxen  or  Jiorscs  yoked  abreast.  That 
practice  appears  ridiculous  to  strangers,  but  a  better  acquaintance  with  the  people's  cir- 
cumstances would  lead  to  a  more  favourable  opinion.  The  cattle  are  very  small  and  ill- 
fed,  and  hence  their  strength  is  not  sufficient  for  drawing  a  plough,  if  they  were  yoked 
in  any  manner  where  part  might  have  an  opportunity  of  throwing  the  whole  burden  oc- 
casionally on  the  rest.  TJiis  practice,  however,  is  attended  with  the  inconvenience,  that 
one  of  the  cattle  must  walk  on  the  ploughed  ground;  of  this  some  are  beginning  to  be  sen- 
sible, and  are  substituting  three  cattle  abreast,  endeavouring  to  get  those  of  a  better  quali- 
ty.' The  ploughman  used  to  walk  backward,  or  with  his  face  to  the  plough,  because  he 
could  thus  better  observe  whether  the  strength  of  the  team  was  fairly  and  equally  exerted. 


THE  SUTHERLAND  BREED.  91 

Its  centre  to  work  it  rapidly  round,  and  the  ends  were  tapered.  One  end 
was  exactly  fitted  into  a  hole  in  the  perpendicular  timber,  and  the  other 
into  some  side  support.  All  the  neighbours  were  then  collected ;  they 
carefully  divested  themselves  of  all  metal — not  even  a  button  was  left  on 
any  part  of  their  clothes — and  they  set  heartily  to  work,  two  by  two,  turn- 
ing the  end  of  the  horizontal  timber  in  the  hole  of  the  central  and  upright 
one,  and  rapidly  relieving  each  other  as  they  became  tired,  until  by  the 
violence  of  the  friction,  and  assisted  now  and  then  by  a  little  gunpowder 
and  tinder,  the  wood  began  to  blaze.  This  was  the  need-Jire.  Every  fire 
in  the  farmer's  house  was  immediately  quenched,  and  others  kindled  from 
this  need-Jire:  all  the  cattle  were  then  driven  in,  and  made  to  pass  through 
the  smoke  'of  this  new  and  sacred  conflagration,  and  the  plague  was  at 
once  stayed.  Old  traditions  say  that  the  Druids  used  to  superintend  the 
kindling  of  a  similar  fire  on  the  1st  of  May.  That  day  is  still  called  in  the 
Gaelic  la-Beal-tin,  i.  e.  the  day  of  Baal's  fire. 

A  remnant  of  this  superstition  still  exists  among  those  who  lag  a  little 
behind  in  the  march  of  improvement,  and  they  are  not  a  few.  When  a 
beast  is  seized  with  the  murrain  a  few  pieces  of  sooty  divots  (turf)  are 
taken  from  a  thatched  roof  (we  have  said  that  in  some  of  the  poor  cottages 
there  is  no  chimney)  and  put  into  a  metal  pot  with  a  coal  of  fire,  so  that  a 
strong  sooty  smoke  ascends.  The  patient  is  then  brought,  and  its  nostrils 
are  forcibly  held  in  the  smoke  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Then  some  ale 
with  plaintain  root  is  given,  and  the  beast  is  cured.  Some  interesting 
resemblances  to  old  customs  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  far  earlier 
times,  are  evident. 

SUTHERLAND. 

Sutherland  and  Caithness  form  the  northern  extremity  of  Scotland,  the 
western  coast  of  which  is  occupied  by  Sutherland.  The  western  and 
northern  coasts  are  bleak  and  stormy  enough,  and  the  mountains,  of  im- 
mense height,  have  not  even  a  stalk  of  heath  on  their  barren  surfaces ;  but 
the  south-eastern  part  of  the  country  is  more  sheltered,  and  not  a  great 
deal  colder,  although  rather  more  backward  than  some  of  the  midland 
counties  of  Scotland. 

The  soil  is  as  various  as  the  climate.  There  are  few  or  no  artificial 
grasses,  and  the  only  natural  meadows  are  the  valleys  formed  by  the  rivers 
and  burns ;  on  them  some  catde  are  fed,  but  on  the  higher  ground,  in 
Sutherland  and  Ross,  and  the  eastern  and  central  Highlands,  the  black 
cattle  have  given  way  to  sheep.  Although  four  times  as  large  as  Caith- 
ness, this  county  does  not  contain  twice  the  number  of  cattle.  It  has 
never  been  calculated  to  possess  more  than  25,000,  and,  probably,  there 
not  now  more  than  two-thirds  of  that  number. 

The  statistical  accounts  of  the  numbers  of  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep  in 
Sutheiland,  in  1798  and  1808,  will  afford  a  convincing  proof  of  the  decrease 
of  horses,  catde,  and  goats,  and  the  wonderful  increase  of  the  sheep : — 

Horses.  Cattle.  Goats.  Sheep. 

1798  -  -  7736  -  -  -  24,287  -  -  -  6227  -  -  37,130 
1808     -     -     4291     -     -      -     17,3.33      -      -     -     1128      -       -      94,570 


Decrease  3445       Decrease  6954     Decrease    5099   Increase  57,440 

If  the  value  of  each  were  the  same  at  both  times,  we  should  find  that 
20,670/.  less  capital  was  employed  in  horses,  32,502/.  less  in  cattle,  1532/. 
less  in  goats,  and  34,806/.  more  in  sheep.    But  the  manifest  improvement 


92  CATTLE. 

in  the  breed  of  cattle  would  materially  diminish  this  apparent  difference. 
How  far  this  may  be  ultimately  advantageous  is  a  question  which  belongs 
more  to  political  economy  than  to  a  treatise  on  that  part  of  agriculture 
which  is  connected  with  cattle,  and  for  which  we  are  otherwise  not  quite 
prepared,  since  we  have  not  yet  inquired  into  tlie  nature  of  the  cultivation, 
and  the  comparative  value  of  sheep.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  sheep 
is  the  more  useful  animal — that,  in  the  aggregate,  he  is  reared  and  kept  at 
the  least  expense — that  the  value  of  the  land  and  the  rent  of  the  farm  are  also 
enhanced — and  that  there  are  millions  of  acres  that  may  be  appropriated 
to  the  feeding  of  sheep,  and  especially  in  the  rugged  and  barren  parts  of 
the  country,  which  are  now  in  a  manner  useless.  There  is  one  objection, 
it  must  be  confessed,  to  the  exclusive  cultivation  of  sheep  anywhere,  and 
that  is  the  incompatibility  between  it  and  a  numerous  and  increasing 
population.  They  are  things  which  cannot  exist  together,  and  especially 
not  in  a  mountainous  district,  like  the  Highlands,  or  like  Scotland  gene- 
rally. If  a  quantity  of  food  is  raised,  sufficient  to  maintain  the  same 
number  of  inhabitants  as  before,  the  same  number  of  hands  are  not 
required  to  procure  it.  Towns  will  be  multiplied  and  filled,  but  the  pea- 
santry must  be  driven  from  the  country,  and  their  character  and  their 
occupation  must  be  changed  :  this  will  be  a  uork  of  time — it  cannot  be 
accomplished  in  one  generation — and  the  starving  cottagers  and  the  small 
farmers  (for  they  must  give  way  where  sheep  husbandry  is  introduced) 
have  no  resort  but  to  emigrate  to  foreign  climes.  All  this  is  worth  con- 
sideration as  a  general  principle,  and  also  as  applicable  to  particular 
districts. 

Entering  now,  however,  on  that  part  of  the  Highlands,  where  this 
new  system  has  been  adopted,  we  are,  in  a  manner,  compelled  to  draw 
some  more  detailed  comparison  between  the  old  and  the  new  way  of 
occupying  the  land.  We  will  suppose  that  the  proprietor  of  a  consider- 
able district  is  taking  a  survey  of  his  property — the  produce  and  the  rent, 
the  improvement  or  deterioration  of  his  land,  the  character  and  the  degree 
of  happiness  of  its  occupants.  What  we  have  already  said  of  the  West 
Highlands,  and  of  Caithness,  will  prepare  us  for  the  result  of  his  inquiry. 
He  traverses  some  of  the  romai.'jc  Highland  glens,  and  he  finds  them 
thickly  studded  with  miserable  huts,  the  occupants  of  which  rent  from  him 
little  patches  of  land,  for  which  they  nominally  pay  him  an  exceedingly 
trifling  sum  of  money. 

Each  farm,  if  so  it  may  be  called,  consists  of  a  strip  of  land  on  the  side 
of  the  glen,  and  a  larger  portion  on  the  hill  above.  Some  of  the  glen 
division  is  attempted  to  be  cultivated  to  raise  a  little  corn  for  the  winter 
support  of  the  family.  This  rarely  succeeds  ;  for  the  torrent  pours  down 
and  destroys  the  greater  part  of  the  crop  long  before  it  is  ready  for  the 
harvest :  and  the  farmer  has  seldom  sufficient  remaining  for  the  support 
of  his  family  during  the  winter,  and  that  a  long  one  in  such  a  climate. 
But  he  has  his  black  cattle  and  his  goats,  and  for  the  short  summer  months 
he  can  send  them  to  the  hills,  and  there,  at  the  shealings,  they  get  fat,  and 
he  is  happy. 

The  summer  rapidly  passes  over,  the  herbage  on  the  hills  is  all  con- 
sumed, and  he  and  his  cattle  return  to  the  glen.  The  grass  had  in  the 
mean  time  grown  there  ;  it  had  ripened  for  hay ;  some  of  the  family  had 
been  sent  to  mow  it,  and  he  has  a  little  stock  awaiting  his  return.  It  is  a 
little  one,  and  barely  sufficient  for  his  coivs  and  his  calves.  His  growing 
cattle  have  nothing  but  the  straw  of  his  half-destroyed  oat  crop,  on  which 
they  are  to  starve  during  the  winter — and  starve  many  of  them  literally  do 
— while  the  rest  are  mere  walking  skeletons,  and,  for  a  while,  compara- 
tively worthless. 


THE  SUTHERLAND  BREED.  93 

What  becomes  of  the  rent? — why  it  is  paid  when  the  tenant  can  pay  it. 
but  that  is  not  regularly,  and  often  not  at  all:  on  the  contrary,  the  land- 
lord has  to  supply  his  tenant  with  necessaries,  and  to  half-maintain  him 
during  a  great  part  of  the  year ;  and  his  land  is  all  this  while  becoming 
impoverished,  worn  out,  and  valueless. 

This  was  the  actual  state  of  things.  How  was  it  to  be  remedied? 
AVhy,  only  by  the  introduction  of  a  new  system  of  husbandry  ;  by  intro- 
ducing stock  of  another  kind,  which  would  longer  feed  on  the  upland 
pasture — which,  with  some  help,  would  feed  there  all  the  year  round  ;  and, 
by  leaving  the  greater  part  of  the  lower  ground  for  the  feeding  of  the  milch 
cattle,  for  the  growing  of  corn,  and  for  the  preparation  of  winter  food  ;  and 
which  would  be  ready  and  in  its  prime  when  it  was  most  wanted  ;  in  short, 
if  not  entirely  to  substitute  sheep  for  cattle,  yet  to  make  them  the  principal 
objects  of  the  farmer's  care. 

Would  the  Highlander  consent  to  this  ? — would  he  give  up  his  shealings, 
the  joyous  time  of  his  miserable  year? — would  he  abandon  those  customs 
and  modes  of  management  which  had  been  practised  by  his  forefathers 
time  out  of  mind? — Never!  Then  it  was  necessary  to  introduce  a  new 
race  of  men  to  accomplish  this ;  and  that  was  attempted,  in  despite  of  the 
prejudices,  and  violent  opposition  of  the  people. 

The  new  settlers  were  at  first  maltreated  :  the  inhabitants  gathered  from 
every  part ;  they  broke  down  the  fences  ;  they  got  together  thousands  of 
the  new  sheep;  some  they  forced  into  the  lakes  and  drowned,  and  the  rest 
they  drove  triumphantly  to  the  edge  of  the  county,  there  to  be  delivered 
over  to  the  mob  of  the  next  district,  until  they  were  expelled  from  the 
Highlands,  or  had  perished  by  the  way.  The  laws  of  the  country  were 
successfully  appealed  to;  the  violence  of  the  mob  was  suppressed  ;  and  the 
new  system  was  left  to  feel  its  own  way,  and  to  stand  or  fall  as  it  might 
deserve. 

It  has  weathered  the  storm,  and  is  now  the  established  system  of  hus- 
bandry in  most  of  the  Highland  districts.  Sheep  now  cover  the  hills  on 
which  the  half-starved  stot  and  goat  formerly  wandered.  The  deer-forests, 
which  had  not  then  been  intruded  apon — which  were  perfect  deserts — have 
been  brought  under  a  certain  degree  of  cultivation  ;  the  mountains,  which 
were  depastured  for  a  few  months  and  left  waste  for  the  rest  of  the  year, 
are  now  grazed  all  the  year  round  ;  and  the  lowlands,  freed  from  that  which 
impoverished  it,  and  which  it  could  not  support,  yields  plentifully  for  man  and 
beast.  The  cattle,  far  from  being  banished,  are  somewhat  reduced  in  num- 
ber— improved  in  quality — fatter,  and  happier — fully  equal  to  the  demand — 
far  more  profitable  to  the  breeder,  and  only  confined  to  those  pastures  on 
which  sheep  could  not  be  safely  fed.  The  population  is  certainly  not  so 
numerous,  but  it  is  of  a  different  character — more  intelligent,  more  indus- 
trious, more  respectable,  more  useful;  and  the  remainder  have  either 
sought  employment  in  the  south,  or  emigrated  to  America  or  some  of  the 
British  colonies.  The  value  and  the  rent  of  the  land  is  trebled — quadru- 
pled ;  and  the  tenant  can  pay  it,  which  he  could  not  before :  while  in  a 
national  point  of  view,  the  addition  of  food,  the  increased  value  of  stock, 
and  the  unprecedented  supply  of  the  raw  material  for  one  of  our  most  im- 
portant manufactures,  are  circumstances  of  immense  importance. 

Having  taken  this  cursory  view  of  the  change  in  the  system  of  agricul- 
ture, as  it  regards  cattle,  we  can  proceed  more  rapidly. 

The  native  breed  of  Sutherland  is  much  smaller  than  that  of  Caithness, 
but  far  more  valuable,  and  requiring  only  to  be  crossed  by  those  from 
Argyle  and  Skye,  to  be  equal  to  any  that  the  northern  Highlands  can 
produce.     It  is  much  to  be  lamented   that  the  Argyleshire   cattle  in  the 


9i  CATTLE. 

possession  of  the  Marquis  of  Slaflbrd,  at  Dunrobin,  have  not  been  more 
employed  in  improving  the  breed  of  the  surrounding  districts.  The  best 
cattle  are  to  be  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dunrobin  and  Skibo,  on 
the  eastern  coast ;  and  most  of  them  are  the  pure  Argyle  or  Skj^es,  or 
crosses  between  the  Sutherland  cow  and  the  West  Highland  bull.  At 
Skibo,  in  particular,  a  small  breed  is  carefully  preserved,  which  is  much 
sought  after  for  its  superior  propensity  to  fatten  ;  and  although  they 
do  not  often  weigh  more  than  fifteen  stones,  their  flesh  is  little  inferior 
to  venison.  Some  of  the  Skibo  cattle  have  been  raised,  in  southern  pastures, 
to  more  than  treble  that  weight. 

Assynt,  on  the  south-western  coast,  is  celebrated  for  its  catde,  of  the 
pure  West  Highland  breed,  or,  if  occasionally  with  one  cross  of  the 
native  Sutherlands,  not  injured  by  that  mixture.  They  are  not  larger 
than  t-he  Skye  cattle ;  but  they  are  hardier,  short-legged  and  well  shaped. 
A  great  many  other  breeds  have  been  tried,  as  the  Galloways,  the  Fifes, 
the  BanfTs  and  the  improved  Leicesters;  but  none  of  them  have  answered 
so  well  as  the  West  Highlanders,  or  crosses  between  them  and  the  natives. 

Some  of  the  little  islands  on  the  coast  aflTord  very  good  winter-pasture 
for  the  cattle.  Oldney  contains  some  valuable  pasturage  of  this  kind, 
which  is  strictly  preserved  during  the  harvest,  and  on  which  the  cattle  are 
turned  some  time  in  November,  and  gradually  taken  out  to  be  housed  in  the 
beginning  of  spring,  or  when  they  may  appear  to  need  provender.  Some  of 
the  cattle,  however,  are  lost  every  year  by  attempting  to  climb  to  little 
plots  of  grass  among  the  rocks,  with  which  the  coasts  of  the  islands 
abound. 

Very  few  catde  are  fattened,  but  only  got  into  good  travelling  condition 
for  the  drover.  The  four-year-old  improved  stots  will  probably  weigh 
36  or  40  stones  ;  the  country  catde  not  more  than  from  18  to  20  stones. 

The  manner  of  feeding  is  the  same  as  in  Caithness,  and  the  shealings  used 
to  be  of  the  same  kind.  The  sheep  now  have  left  but  litde  upland 
feed  for  the  primitive  pastoral  life.  In  the  winter  most  of  the  cattle 
are  housed  at  night,  avd  fed  with  straw,  and  turned  out  into  the  fields 
during  the  day ;  and,  on  the  whole,  although  the  system  of  stocking  is 
much  to  be  complained  of,  the  catUe  are  not  subject  to  all  the  hardships 
Avhich  are  so  injurious  to  them  in  Caithness.  When,  however,  it  is  consi- 
dered that  in  many  parts  of  Sutherland  the  cattle  are  not  merely  in  the  next 
room  to  the  owner,  but  actually  enjoy  the  fire  in  common  with  the 
family ;  and  then,  in  the  morning,  however  cold  or  wet  that  may  be,  they 
are  driven  out  to  wander  in  the  fields,  it  does  not  admit  of  much  doubt 
that  they  must  be  seriously  injured  by  the  sudden  transition.  In  the 
neighbourhood  of  Dunrobin,  they  are  not  housed  at  all,  not  even  the 
calves  after  they  have  been  weaned,  nor  the  cows  except  at  calving  time. 

Mr.  Sellar  gives  the  following  account  of  the  management  of  cattle  on  the 
northern  coast  of  Sutherland  (Farmer's  Series — Farm  Reports,  p.  75)  : — 
'  The  grazing  cattle  are  all  bought  in  from  the  people  who  are  settled 
round  the  shores  of  Sutherland,  in  small  lots  of  land,  for  the  prosecution 
of  the  herring-fishmg.  These  people  have  one,  two,  or  three  cows  each  : 
they  sell  the  calves  at  from  nine  months  to  a  year  old.  The  tillage  farmer 
buys  them,  and  prepares  them  to  travel  south.  He  purchases  them  in  April, 
puts  them  during  smmmer,  on  his  superabundance  of  deer-hair,  transfers 
them  in  August,  to  certain  coarse  rushy  loams,  where  coarse  grass  grows  ; 
brings  them  to  his  court ines  to  eat  straw  in  winter,  and  finishes  them  oft' for 
the  road  during  the  next  summer  in  the  inclosures  above-mentioned.  With 
some  little  assistance  from  the  field  appropriated  to  the  horses  the  four 
fields  summer,  on   an  average,  one  beast  and  a  half  per  acre.     It  is  the 


THE  ROSS  AND  CROMARTY  BREED.  95 

practice  to  fill  up  two  fields  with  three  cattle  per  acre,  and  to  shift  them 
once  a  fortnight.'  The  sales  for  the  southern  market  take  place  in  July, 
August,  and  September,  and  the  fields  are  then  cleared,  in  order  to  pre- 
pare them  for  sowing  wheat. 

The  dairy  is  a  minor  consideration  with  the  Sutherland  farmer;  and  he 
only  manufactures  butter  and  cheese  enough  for  his  own  consumption. 
The  quantity  produced  will  not  exceed  70  lbs,  of  butter  per  year,  and  the 
same  quantity  of  cheese  from  each  cow,  and  one  calf  reared  between  two 
cows.  This  is  a  small  quantity  compared  with  what  some  of  the  southern 
cows  yield;  yet  it  is  not  often  that  the  Sutherland  dairyman  gets  so 
much  as  this. 

There  is  the  same  superstition  among  the  peasantry  as  in  the  other 
Highla-nd  counties ;  and  when  sometimes,  as  will  naturally  occur  in  so 
barren  a  country,  and  under  such  absurd  and  injurious  management,  the 
cow  yields  little  milk,  or  becomes  suddenly  dry,  Mr.  Pennant,  in  his 
'  Second  Tour  to  Scotland,'  tells  us,  that  '  when  the  good  housewife 
perceives  the  effects  of  the  malicious  one  on  any  of  her  kine,  she  takes  as 
much  milk  as  she  can  drain  from  the  enchanted  herd ;  for  the  witch  gene- 
rally leaves  her  very  little.  She  then  boils  it  with  certain  herbs,  and  adds 
to  them  flints  and  tempered  steel.  This  puts  the  witch  in  such  agony, 
that  she  comes  nilling-willing  to  the  door,  and  begs  to  be  admitted  to 
obtain  relief,  by  touching  the  powerful  pot:  the  good  woman  makes  her 
own  terms ;  the  witch  restores  the  milk  to  the  cattle,  and  is,  in  return, 
freed  from  her  pains.' 

Oxen  are  employed  to  a  considerable  extent  on  the  coast  of  Sutherland 
for  road-work,  and  for  the  plough  on  many  of  the  farms  in  the  interior;  but 
they  are  getting  somewhat  out  of  use  :  they  are  never  shod. 

ROSS    AND    CROMARTY. 

These  were  originally  distinct  counties;  but  Cromarty  was  so  small,  and 
the  additions  that  were  made  to  it  were  in  such  detached  portions,  and  so 
scattered  over  Ross,  that  it  is  now,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  and 
almost  of  necessity,  considered  as  amalgamated  with  Ross,  and  the  two 
constituting  but  one  county.  The  climate,  like  that  of  most  of  the 
Highland  counties,  is  moist,  but  considerably  warmer  than  that  of  Caith- 
ness or  Sutherland.  The  meadow-ground  is  of  small  extent,  and  usually 
reserved  for  winter-feed  for  the  cattle,  and  comparatively  little  of  the 
arable  land  is  laid  down  for  permanent  pasture.  The  eastern  part  of  Ross 
and  some  portion  of  Cromarty  contain  excellent  soil;  and  not  only  the 
wheat  but  the  turnip  husbandry  is  carried  on  extensively  and  successfully. 
The  system  is  more  connected  with  sheep-feeding  than  with  either  the 
breeding  or  rearing  of  cattle. 

For  many  excellent  observations  on  the  character  and  management  of 
the  Ross  cattle,  we  are  indebted  to  Sir  George  Stewart  Mackenzie's  able 
survey  of  that  county  and  Cromarty.  It  is  a  model  of  what  agricultural 
surveys  ought  to  be. 

Ross  may  be  divided  into  the  low  and  high  country :  the  former  occu- 
pies the  eastern  coast  and  district,  and  the  latter  the  western  part  of  the 
county.  The  cattle  which  are  kept  in  the  lowlands  are  principally  for  the 
dairy,  and  they  are  a  mixed  breed.  There  are  many  pure  West  High- 
landers, but  not  so  small  as  the  common  breed  of  cattle  in  the  counties  far- 
ther north,  but  there  are  more  of  the  native  catde,  with  various  degrees  of 
crossing ;  and  others  have  the  Fife  and  the  Moray,  and  crosses  of  every 
kind  with  them.     The  dairy,  however,  is  not  attended  to  for  profit  here  ; 


96  CATTLE. 

but  the  farmer  must  have  milk  and  butter  and  cheese,  and  he  must  also 
have  catde  to  eat  down  the  grass  where  he  does  not  dare  to  turn  on  his 
sheep.  The  Leicesters  have  been  tried,  but  they  did  not  answer  for 
breeding  or  for  the  dairy.  There  is  a  singular  practice  prevailing  in  Ross. 
On  some  parts  of  the  sea-coast  the  cheeses  are  buried  separately  within 
the  high-water-mark  for  several  days,  in  order  to  give  them  a  blue  colour, 
and  a  rich  taste. 

On  the  western  coast  the  pure  West  Highlanders  prevail,  and  this  is  de- 
cidedly a  breeding  district.  Next  to  the  pure  West  Highlanders,  is  a  cross 
between  them  and  the  small,  well-haired,  hardy  cattle  of  the  country. 
The  best  cow  for  the  dairy  is  here  supposed  to  be  produced  from  that  of 
upper  Fife,  crossed  with  the  true  Highland  bull :  she  will  generally  yield 
four  gallons  of  milk  per  day — is  easily  fattened,  and  will  weigh  from  120 
to  140  lbs.  per  quarter.  They  are  a  middle-sized,  strong,  compact,  hardy 
race,  well  suited  to  the  general  means  and  climate  of  the  country ;  but 
they  are  very  apt  to  degenerate,  and,  after  the  third  or  fourth  generation, 
will  often  be  little  better  than  the  common  country  catde.  The  cattle  of 
KintaU,  called,  on  this  account,  Kintail  no  Bogh,  Kintail  of  cows,  are 
celebrated  all  over  the  highlands.  Some  say  that  they  are  the  progenitors 
of  the  Argyle  breed ;  but  we  are  more  inclined  to  trace  them  to  the  Skye 
cattle,  to  which  they  bear  great  resemblance,  and,  like  them,  they  are 
smaller  than  the  Argyles.  Their  distinguishing  and  favourable  points 
are,  short  legs,  a  thick  pile,  and  weight  in  proportion  to  their  apparent 
size.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Kilmure  there  used  to  be  a  peculiar  breed 
of  cattle,  the  result  of  a  cross  between  the  Fife  or  Aberdeen  and  the 
Hiffhlander,  and  a  cross  that  added  to  the  size  and  value  of  the  beast. 

Before  cattle  became  so  valuable  in  this  district  it  was  customary,  as  in 
some  other  parts  of  the  Highlands,  to  allow  one  calf  to  suck  two  cows. 
The  foster-mother  was  easily  reconciled  to  it  after  it  had  been  covered  a 
few  times  with  the  skin  of  her  own  that  had  been  slaughtered;  but  now 
each  cow  rears  her  calf.  The  young  ones  are  suffered  to  suck  for  four, 
five,  or  six  months,  according  to  the  time  at  Avhich  they  were  dropped — a 
part  of  the  milk  being  previously  drawn  for  the  dairy  ;  but  the  cow  will 
take  care  that  too  much  shall  not  go,  for,  after  the  dairy-maid  has  wrung 
the  last  drop  she  can  extract,  the  mother  has  retained  more  than  enough 
for  her  offspring.  The  latest  of  them  are  weaned  in  the  early  part  of 
November;  and  all  are  then  sent  to  the  best  pasture  until  the  winter 
begins  thoroughly  to  set  in ;  when  they  are  housed,  and  fed,  as  the  farm 
will  afford,  on  oat-straw  and  hay,  to  which  turnips  or  potatoes,  and 
particularly  the  former,  are  occasionally  added.  On  the  following  spring 
they  are  sent  to  hill-pasture ;  and  in  the  winter  are  brought  home  to  the 
grounds  which  had  been  occupied  by  the  milch-cows,  and  are  fed,  if 
necessary,  with  straw  and  hay.  Thence,  in  the  spring,  they  are  removed 
to  the  coarser  grass  of  the  farm,  and  still  occasionally  fed,  if  needful ; 
and  on  the  approach  of  the  third  winter  they  once  more  follow  the  cows 
in  the  reserved  and  best  winter  pasture  of  the  farm. 

The  overstocking  of  the  farm,  although  now  sometimes  to  be  com- 
plained of,  is  not  carried  to  the  ruinous  extent  to  which  it  used  to  be  ;  and 
if  the  farmer  has  fewer  catde  for  the  drover,  they  bring  him  more  money : 
they  are  at  once  fit  for  travelling,  and  he  has  escaped  the  serious  losses 
which  used  to  annoy  and  cripple  his  predecessors. 

The  cattle  are  irsually  sold  at  three  and  a  half  and  four  years,  and 
drovers  come  from  Perth,  and  Sterling,  and  Dumbarton,  at  the  latter  end 
of  March,  to  purchase  them.  The  trysts  and  markets  continue  here  until 
September,  when  the  cows  come  into  request.     So  much  business,  how- 


THE  ROSS-SHIRE  BREED.  97 

ever,  is  not  done  at  these  public  meetings  as  in  some  other  counties;  but 
the  drovers  go  from  farm  to  farm,  and  the  sale  is  effected  privately. 

Mr.  Baigrie,  who  wrote  the  account  of  Ross-shire  in  No.  is  of  the 
Farmer's  Series,  informs  us  that  the  first  regular  market  for  the  sale  of  the 
north  country  cattle  is  the  '  Stafford  Market,'  which  is  held  at  Clashmore, 
in  Sutherlandshire,  on  the  Monday  after  the  first  Wednesday  in  May. 
The  second  is  held  on  the  Tuesday  following  at  Kildary  in  Ross-shire, 
and  the  third  at  the  Muir  of  Ord,  on  the  confines  of  Inverness  and  Ross- 
shire,  being  the  first  of  the  series  of  great  cattle-markets  held  monthly  at 
the  latter  place  daring  the  season.  The  cattle  from  all  these  early  markets 
proceed  to  Cockhill. 

The  weight  of  the  stock  from  three  to  five  years  old  maybe  averaged  at 
70  or  80  lbs.  per  quarter,  but  he  will  fatten  to  110  lbs.  The  cow,  when 
lean,  will  weigh  from  60  to  70  lbs.  per  quarter,  and  will  likewise  fatten  to 
100  lbs. 

Very  kw  beasts  are  fattened  in  any  part  of  Ross;  and  the  few  that  are 
so  consist  of  old  oxen  or  cows,  and  principally  for  the  supply  of  Inverness 
and  Fort  St.  George.  For  home  consumption  the  West  Highlanders  are 
preferred;  but  the  spare  turnips  are  mostly  used  in  bringing  forward  young 
cattle. 

Oxen  were  formerly  more  used  for  husbandry  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
county  than  they  are  at  present.  They  were  not  reared  in  Ross,  but 
purchased  at  the  different  fairs  in  this  county,  or  in  Sutherland.  After  some 
years'  work  they  were  generally  sold  to  the  grazier  or  the  butcher  at  a 
higher  price  than  that  at  which  they  were  bought.  Where  oxen  are  now 
used  generally  there  are  four  to  a  plough,  or  four  oxen  and  two  horses.  Oa 
a  stiff  and  stony  ground  six  oxen  were  occasionally  used.  The  four  oxen 
cannot  well  go  without  a  driver,  but  it  is  sometimes  attempted.  The  pair 
used  for  the  harrow,  on  very  light  land,  do  not  require  a  driver.  Curious 
stories  were  formerly  told  of  the  medley  of  horses  and  oxen  and  cows  har- 
nessed to  the  ploughs  of  the  small  fanner.  Oxen  are  rarely  used  on  the  road.* 

*  Since  this  sketch  of  Ross-shire  was  sent  to  the  press,  we  have  been  favoured  with  a 
valuable  account  of  the  cattle  of  this  district  and  their  manag-ement,  by  Mr.  Mackenzie 
of  Milbgnk,  near  Dingwall.  It  strongly  corroborates  our  main  points;  but  at  the  same 
time  giving  a  different  illustration  of  a  few  particulars,  wc  deem  it  right  to  present  it  to 
our  readers. 

'Although  it  is  difficult  to  trace  the  history  or  true  pedigree  of  the  old  Ross-shire  breed 
of  cattle,  the  various  accounts  that  are  handed  down  regarding  it  show  that  it  has  long 
existed  as  a  separate  and  distinct  one.  The  breed  taken  collectively,  or  as  it  may  be  termed 
the  north  Highland  breed,  is  exceedingly  hardy  and  of  very  compact  form.  It  is  compar- 
atively light  in  form,  but  the  bone  is  fine,  and  the  carcass  is  deep  and  lengthy,  it  is  round 
in  the  barrel,  straight  in  tiie  houghs  and  back,  with  a  pile  stronger  and  more  closely  laid 
than  that  of  almost  any  other  breed.  The  head  is  generally  light,  with  broad  forehead, 
short  shaggy  ears,  and  well-turned  horns;  and  they  are  of  all  colours,  but  black  and 
brindled  predominate,  and  are  the  favourites,  as  indicating  most  healthy  constitutions.  ; 

'  No  description  of  cittle  answers  the  soil  and  climate  of  Ross-shire  so  well  as  the  origi- 
nal north  Highlanders;  but  as  a  considerable  part  of  the  county  is  very  highly  cultivuttd, 
producing  every  variety  of  feeding,  and  fit  for  the  reception  of  any  kind  of  stock,  several 
crosses  have  been  introduced,  and  some  with  advantage.  Of  these,  a  cross  with  the  Aber- 
deenshire horned  cattle  has  produced  very  superior  stock,  both  in  point  of  symmetry  and 
weight,  and  for  the  use  of  the  dairy.  For  the  latter  purpose,  a  cross  with  the  Ayrshire  is 
often  made;  but  that  is  found  advantageous  only  in  situations  where  there  is  great  pro- 
fusion of  grass  and  turnips  in  their  season;  and  the  stock  produced  from  it  is  coarse,  and 
not  in  demand  either  for  feeding  or  driving.  That  which  is  most  successfully  followed 
by  the  extensive  breedersof  the  county, isa  cross  from  the  Argyleshirc  Highlander,  which 
is  of  greater  weight  and  size  than  the  cattle  of  the  north:  but  in  availing  themselves  of 
this  cross,  the  Ross-shire  breeders  are  always  anxious  to  preserve  as  much  as  possible  of 
their  own  stamp,  because  it  is  more  hardy,  more  suited  to  their  pastures  generally,  and  in 

10 


98  CATTLE. 

THE  NORTH-EASTERN  DISTRICT. 
This  district  extends  along  the  eastern  coast  from  Murray  Firth  to  the 
Firtli  of  Forth,  and  there  is  a  general  resemblance  between  the  cattle  in 

more  general  demand  for  driving  to  the  south.  There  are  a  few  graziers  in  Ross  and 
Inverness-shirc  who  cross  their  cattle  with  superior  bulls  from  the  west  Highlands  of 
Perthshire,  which  is  found  to  answer  equally  as  well  as,  if  not  better  than,  any  other 
yet  introduced  in  that  part  of  tiie  country. 

'  The  Ross-shire  cattle,  as  already  described,  arc  decidedly  more  adapted  for  the  graz- 
ing than  the  dairy  system.  The  cows,  particularly  those  pastured  on  hilly  grounds,  out- 
field or  meadow,  are  not  famed  for  the  quantity  of  their  milk,  although  it  is  e.xlremely 
rich  in  quality;  and  as  there  are  comparatively  but  few  cattle-farms  now  in  tlie  county, 
dairy  produce  does  not  form  an  article  of  export,  or  of  which  money  is  made.  The  pro- 
duce of  an  ordinary  country  cow  may  be  computed,  during  five  months  of  the  year,  at 
from  five  to  seven  Scoteli  pints  of  milk  per  day,  and  from  four  to  six  pounds  of  butter 
with  rather  more  than  that  quantity  of  cheese,  in  the  week. 

'  Grazing,  as  the  more  profitable  course,  is  what  is  followed,  and  there  being  but  little 
encouragement  for  feeding,  the  cattle  are  chiefly  sold  to  the  southern  dealers  at  two  and 
three  years  old;  and  such  of  them  as  have  been  kept  for  some  time  by  the  agricultural 
farmers  of  the  county,  and  brought  to  their  full  growth,  are  as  fine  animals  as  can  be 
produced  anywhere.  It  also  very  often  happens  that  the  breeders  dispose  of  their  young 
stock  to  the  graziers  and  farmers  at  the  age  of  six  quarters,  there  being  many  fari.iS  cal- 
culated for  breeding  that  have  not  advantages  for  rearing,  and  vice  versa.  A  well-bred 
Ross-shire  bullock  of  three  or  four  years  old,  when  fully  fed,  will  weigh  twenty-five 
stones,  of  twenty-one  pounds  Dutch;  but  though  it  rafely  brings  a  remunerating  price 
to  the  feeder  at  liome,  the  breed  is  reputed  for  quick  feeding  and  for  yielding  more  tallow 
in  proportion  to  size  than  most  others,  while  it  is  ascertained  that  when  they  arrive  on 
the  pastures  of  the  south,  they  compete  in  point  of  profit  with  any  kind  whatever. 

'Of  all  the  cattle  that  are  sent  out  of  Ross-shire,  those  of  the  island  of  Lewis  (from 
which  three  thousand  are  annually  exported)  are  most  sought  after  for  the  table,  from 
the  fineness  of  their  quality.  Though  of  less  size,  and  less  prepossessing  in  appearance, 
than  most  other  cattle,  their  beef,  which  is  always  marbled,  is  esteemed  as  being  very 
superior;  and  they  are  so  hardy,  that  in  driving  even  to  the  most  southern  jiarts  of 
England  they  rather  improve  than  lose  in  condition,  if  properly  attended  to. 

'  The  system  of  managing  a  breeding  stock  of  Highland  cattle  is  simple,  but  very  in- 
teresting, and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  it,  at  the  period  when  it  wnp  most  extensively 
prastised  in  Ross-shire,  was  confined  to  the  natives  of  its  pastoral  districts,  and  formed 
their  peculiar  element.  This  was  about  twenty  or  twenty-five  years  ago,  when  one-half 
of  the  county  was  under  black  cattle,  in  farms  carrying  from  twenty  to  sixty  breeding 
cows,  of  a  stamp  so  equal  as  to  be  always  distinguished  at  market.  The  principal  and 
leading  points  of  managemeut  consist  in  particular  attention  to  pedigree;  in  a  careful 
disposal  of  the  stock  upon  the  farms;  and  in  the  various  arrangements  connected  with 
tlieir  food,  whether  in  storing  up  the  produce  of  the  meadows,  or  in  the  approi)riation 
of  tlie  pasturage  to  the  different  seasons,  scrupulously  reserving  the  roughest  grasses 
and  more  sheltered  portions,  for  the  fall  of  tlie  year,  when  it  is  of  great  consequence  to 
have  the  stock  of  Highland  farms  kept  in  condition. 

'The  establishment  necessary  for  a  breeding  fold  of  cows  is  generallyxomposcd  of  an 
experienced  principal  herdsman,  known  by  the  name  of  the  'Bowman,'  whose  wife  is  head 
dairy  woman,  with  female  assistants,  at  the  rate  of  one  to  twenty  cows,  and  herd-lads  in 
the  same  proportion,  and  some  younger  followers  to  tend  the  calves,  during  the  intervals 
of  separation  from  their  dams.  It  is  customary,  on  extensive  farms,  to  have  '  shcal 
bothies'  erected  at  different  stations,  for  the  temporary  accommodation  of  such  an  esta- 
blishment, when  it  is  necessary  to  move  the  cows  from  place  to  place  in  order  to  give 
them  the  benefit  of  the  whole  grasses  in  due  season;  and  as  undivided  attention  is  be- 
stowed on  the  charge,  very  superior  stock  is  bred  in  this  manner.  The  mode  of  rearing 
calves,  under  such  management,  is  by  suckling,  and  not  by  hand-feeding — that  is,  by 
allowing  them  to  suck  a  certain  portion  of  the  milk  at  stated  periods  in  the  mornings  and 
evenings.  The  common  way  is,  to  allow  the  calf  to  suck  two  teats,  while  the  dairy-maid, 
at  the  same  time,  milks  the  otlier  two;  or  else  to  allow  the  calf  the  use  of  the  whole,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  dairy-maid.  Both  calves  and  cows  are  found  to  thrive  much  better 
in  this  way  than  by  allowing  them  to  run  constantly  together;  and  besides,  there  is  the  ad- 
vantage of  so  much  extra  dairy  produce.  This  mode  of  half-suckling  prepares  tliem  like- 
wise for  their  winter-feeding;  and  the  process  of  weaning  generally  takes  place  towards 
the  end  of  October.  Having  been  weaned,  the  stirks,  as  they  are  then  called,  are  put  up  for 
the  winter,  generally  loose,  in  large  byres,  and  fed  on  the  finest  of  the  meadow  hay;  and  as 
turnips  are  not  frequently  grown  to  any  extent  on  the  large  pastoral  farms  of  the  High- 


THE  NAIRN  BREED.  99 

every  part  of  it.  They  evidently  belong  to  the  West  Highlanders,  but  the 
difference  of  pasture  has  given  them  a  larger  form.  We  will  commence 
at  the  north,  and  proceed  downwards. 


This  is  a  small  county  lying  between  Inverness  and  Elgin,  and  having 
the  Murray  Firth  on  the  north.  It  does  not  contain  many  more  than  six 
thousand  cattle,  and  about  double  that  number  of  sheep.  Towards  the 
borders  of  Inverness  some  of  the  pure  West  Highlanders  are  found,  but 
mixed,  on  the  lower  grounds,  with  the  Fife  and  with  other  varieties. 
Formerly  the  whole  of  the  husbandry  work  in  tliis  county  was  performed 
by  oxen,  and  then  the  object  of  the  farmer  was  to  obtain  a  stronger  and 
heavier  breed  than  the  native  one,  or  the  West  Highlanders.  That  object 
was,  to  a  certain  degree  accomplished,  but  the  beast  became  coarser,  and 
did  not  fatten  so  kindly,  and  even  its  qualities  as  a  milker  were  not  mate- 
rially improved.  Very  few  pairs  of  oxen,  however,  are  now  seen,  and 
the  farmers  have  gone  back  to  the  native  and  smaller,  but  more  valuable 
and  profitable  breed.  The  Isle  of  Skye  bulls  have  been  in  much  request, 
and  being  crossed  with  the  best  cows,  there  are,  in  the  higher  parts  of  the 
county,  as  fine  specimens  of  Highland  cattle  as  any  part  of  Scotland  will 
produce;  the  colour  is  not  so  uniform,  but  none  of  the  good  points  or  qual- 
ities are  lost. 

Nairn  is  a  breeding  and  rearing  district.  The  early  cattle,  as  they  get 
into  tolerably  good  grazing  condition,  are  sent  to  Banffshire,  where  the 
fiiirs,  in  almost  every  village,  succeed  one  another  from  the  spring  to  the 

lands,  a  run  or  outgo  during  the  day,  on  the  roughest  of  the  pasture,  supplies  their  place. 
The  cows,  after  being  separated  from  their  calves,  are  sent  to  the  portion  of  the  farm 
that  has  been  set  apart  for  a  general  wintering;  but  when  calving  time  approaches,  or 
wlien  the  season  is  very  severe,  they  are  again  brought  near  to  the  byre,  fed  from  the 
barn,  and  treated  with  much  care.  The  ivinter  and  spring  being  past,  the  year-olds 
are  generally  put  upon  low-lying  haugh  or  woodland  pasture,  while  the  stronger  part 
of  the  young  stock  is  sent  to  graze  on  the  higher  and  more  remote  pendicles  of  the  farm, 
to  await  a  sale;  special  care  being  taken  to  select  and  retain  such  of  them  as  are  best 
calculated  for  supplying  the  place  of  the  draft  of  aged  cows  annually  made  from  the 
fold,  while  as  many  young  bulls  are  kept  as  will  afford  a  choice. 

•The  breeding  of  cattle  in  Ross-shire,  hov/ever,  has  decreased  very  much,  and  the 
breed,  generally  speaking,  has  become  much  deteriorated  within  the  last  twenty  years, 
owing  to  the  rapid  extension  of  sheep-farming.  Sheep  have,  in  fact,  become  the  staple 
commodity  of  tlie  North  Highlands,  and  tlie  system  is  attended  with  less  expense,  and 
affords,  pcriiaps,  a  more  certain  return  than  any  other  to  the  occupier  of  the  land.  But 
although  the  greater  part  of  the  pastoral  districts  of  Ross-shire  is  best  adapted  for  sheep, 
it  is  the  opinionof  many  persons  of  experience,  that,  from  the  almost  universal  breeding 
of  that  species  of  stock,  cattle  would  pay  fully  as  well  in  situations  where  equal  justice 
as  to  keeping  could  be  afforded  in  winter  as  in  summer.  So  great  is  the  preference 
given  to  sheep  now  in  Ross-shire,  that  the  breeding  oi  Jine  cattle  is  almost  entirely 
confined  to  the  amateur  proprietor,  and  a  few  tenants,  who  still  maintain  opinions  dif- 
fering from  those  of  tlie  shepherds,  who  have  acquired  by  fiir  the  greatest  part  of  the 
lands.  Still  the  number  of  cattle,  of  all  descriptions,  bred  within  the  county  is  very 
considerable,  but  though  the  greater  proportion  of  them  are  of  the  native  breed,  they 
liave  become  diminutive,  from  there  being  but  little  reservation  of  hill  grqund  made  in 
their  favour,  and  from  being  consequently  excluded  from  the  pastures  that  produce 
most  bone  and  constitution.  The  system  of  throwing  several  cattle-farms  into  one  sheep- 
walk  has  limited  the  breeding  of  cattle  generally  to  tenants  of  small  holdings,  in  the 
least  favoured  situations,  and  to  cottars  placed  either  along  the  shores,  or  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  larger  tenements;  and  from  wanting  good  bulls  in  such  situations,  joined  to 
other  disadvantages,  the  breed,  though  it  retaine  the  original  character,  has  greatly  fall. 
en  off. 

'Upon  the  whole,  therefore,  there  is  at  present  a  great  decrease  and  a  general  deteri- 
oration in  Ross-shire  cattle;  but  many  of  a  superior  description  are  still  bred  in  the 
county,  while  the  greater  number  of  the  whole  are  of  the  original  stamp.' 


100  CATTLE. 

autumn.  The  small  farmers  adopt  the  same  system  of  overstocking  and 
false  economy  which  we  have  so  often  reprobated,  and  their  cattle  are  sel- 
dom got  into  condition  before  the  autumn,  when  they  are  disposed  of  in 
the  same  manner. 

Tiie  dairy  used  to  be  sadly  neglected  in  Nairn,  and  even  now  it  is  re- 
garded as  an  object  of  only  secondary  importance.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Leslie 
gives  a  curious  illustration  of  the  extent  to  which  this  neglect  was  carried: 
lie  tells  us  that  considerable  quantities  of  butter  and  cheese  are  brought 
from  Banlishire  and  even  from  Cheshire  and  Gloucester;  and  that,  so 
late  as  1770,  on  many  farms  along  the  coast,  no  better  way  of  making 
butter  was  known  than  by  a  woman  whisking  about  the  cream,  with  her 
naked  arm,  in  an  iron  pot. 

ELGIN,  OR  MORAY. 

The  Elgin  breed  of  catde  is  undoubtedly  the  Kyloe  improved,  or,  rather, 
raised  in  size  by  good  keeping,  and  crossing  with  Aberdeenshire  horned 
bulls,  and  by  the  great  number  of  Buchan  cows  brought  over  as  milch  cows. 
They  are  of  an  intermediate  size  between  the  Aberdeens  and  Kyloes,  a 
hardy  breed,  more  adapted  for  grazing  than  for  the  dairy,  affording  beef 
of  the  finest  quality,  but  scarcely  of  the  size  that  would  be  desirable. 

Mr.  Wagstaff  informs  us  that  some  short-horned  bulls  have  been  lately 
introduced,  with  a  view  to  the  production  of  an  animal  that  will  attain  a 
greater  weight.  There  has  not,  however,  been  time  to  ascertain  the  result 
of  the  experiment,  but  a  previous  cross  with  the  Galloways  did  not  an- 
swer the  expectations  of  those  who  tried  it.  The  cross  with  the  short- 
horns, if  it  succeeds,  will  effect  two  very  important  objects,  and  in  which 
the  Highlanders  are  deficient — increase  of  weight,  and  earliness  of  ripen- 
ing. According  to  Mr.  Deuchar,  by  Avhom  we  have  been  favoured  with 
some  valuable  remarks,  the  Moray  or  Elgin  cattle  have  more  of  the  Aber- 
deen about  them  than  of  the  Kyloe;  but  they  are  neater  and  more  compact 
than  the  Aberdeens,  and  have  of  late  greatly  improved  in  consequence  of 
the  premiums  given  for  breeding  stock  by  the  Morayshire  Farming  Club 
and  the  Highland  Society. 

Very  few  are  full  fed  in  their  native  district,  being  too  far  distant  from 
the  large  markets.  A  four-year-old,  stalled  in  winter  and  fed  on  straw 
and  turnips,  will  average  about  45  stones.  Some  oxen  that  have  been 
worked  until  seven  or  eight  years  old,  have  weighed  70  or  80  stones. 
Very  few,  however,  are  brought  to  perfection  in  Moray;  but  after  having 
been  stalled  during  the  winter,  or  put  into  a  straw-yard,  and  fed  on 
straw,  with  as  many  turnips  as  -will  keep  them  in  tolerable  condition  and 
fresh  for  grass,  they  are  generally  sold  to  the  Aberdeen  and  Angusshire 
graziers  in  the  spring,  as  soon  as  the  grass  is  ready.  Several  cattle  have 
been  recently  full-fed  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Elgin,  particularly  by  Mr. 
Peter  Brown,  of  Linleswood,  and  conveyed  to  Smithfield  by  steam-ves- 
sels from  Aberdeen.  Steam  navigation  will  probably,  ere  long  effect,  a 
material  alteration  in  the  system  of  breeding  and  feeding  in  the  maritime 
counties  of  the  west  and  north-east  of  Scotland. 

The  calves  are  suffered  to  suck  until  they  are  weaned.^  In  winter  they 
are  kept  in  the  straw  yard,  and  fed  on  straw  or  turnips,  and  in  the  spring 
turned  to  grass.  The  queys  are  not  allowed  to  have  calves  until  they  are 
three  years-old,  and  are  fed  off  at  six  or  seven. 

The  straw-yard,  with  the  same  quantity  of  straw  and  turnips,  is,  in  this 
district,  thought  to  be  preferable  to  stall-feeding.  The  cattle-dealers 
imagine  that  the  beasts-stand  the  road  better,  and  especially  in  case  of  bad 


THE  BANFF  BREED.  101 

weather  happening  when  driving  south.  The  dealers  also  complain  of  the 
crosses  with  the  Galloway  and  short-horn,  the  progeny  not  being  suffi- 
ciently hardy  to  drive  to  the  distant  markets. 

Sir  John  Sinclair,  in  his  general  report  of  Scotland,  computes  the 
number  of  cattle  in  Elgin  at  16,900.  There  are,  probably,  net  so  many 
at  present,  more  of  the  land  having  been  enclosed  and  submitted  to  the 
plough. 

BANFF. 

This  county,  lying  between  Elgin  and  Aberdeen,  contains  nearly  25,000 
cattle,  the  ancient  and  still  preponderating  breed  of  which  is  the  Aberdeen- 
shire horned,  the  qualities  of  which  are  well  known  to,  and  appreciated 
by  graziers  from  the  Firth  of  I\Ioray  to  Smithfield.  The  Banffshire  cattle 
are  somewhat  smaller,  however,  than  the  Aberdeens,  and  of  finer  sym- 
metry. 

Very  few  true  specimens  of  that  hardy  and  valuable  breed,  the  old 
Banffshire  cattle,  are  now  to  be  met  with,  except  in  some  of  the  upper 
districts  of  the  county;  and  even  these,  from  the  shortness  of  keep  and  the 
want  of  turnips,  in  winter  are  considerably  stinted  in  their  growth. 
Mr.  Tatt,  veterinary  surgeon  at  Portsoy,  to  whom  we  return  our  thanks 
for  some  valuable  information,  says,  that  '  Any  of  the  old  breed  that  are 
to  be  seen  in  the  better  cultivated  districts  are  very  handsome  animals  ; 
for  the  most  part  with  fine  springing  white  horns  with  black  points,  fine 
small  heads,  but  broad  between  the  eyes,  and  with  short  clean  muzzles. 
They  are  short  in  the  legs,  clean  in  the  bone,  and  the  flesh  well  down 
upon  the  legs.  The  body  is  rather  long,  the  ribs  round  and  the  back 
broad  and  straight;  the  colour,  for  the  most  part,  black  or  brindled,  party- 
colours  being  rarely  met  with  in  the  native  breed.  They  are  hardy,  supe- 
rior travellers,  and  at  four  years  old  will  weigh  from  50  to  60  stones.' 

'^I'he  cows  are  not  celebrated  for  the  quantity  of  milk  that  they  yield, 
but  it  is  usually  of  very  superior  quality.  From  three  to  five  gallons  of 
milk  may  be  reckoned  the  average  produce  on  good  pasture  and  in  the 
prime  of  the  season. 

Banff  is  principally  a  breeding  country;  a  few  oxen  only  are  worked 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  district;"  on  the  coast  some  cattle  are  pre- 
pared for  the  Mearns  and  Aberdeen  markets:  most  of  them  are  sold 
half  fat;  but  a  few  are  finished  off'  with  turnips  and  hay.  Mr.  Mill, 
tenant  of  Mill  of  Byndie,  near  Banff,  feeds  a  considerable  number  of  beasts 
full-fat,  which  he  sends  to  Smithfield  by  the  smack*  from  Portsoy  and 
Banff',  and  by  the  Aberdeen  steam-vessels.  There  are  some  good  artificial 
pastures  about  the  coast,  but  in  the  upper  part  of  the  country  there  is  lit- 
tle beside  the  natural  herbage,  and  that  not  often  improved  by  manure. 
Banffshire  is  indebted  to  Lord  Findlater  for  the  greater  part  of  the  improve- 
ments that  have  taken  place  in  that  district.  When  his  Lordship  first  took 
up  his  residence  in  Banff  Castle,  about  the  year  1753,  there  were  no  roads, 
no  turnips  or  potatoes  reared  in  the  field,  no  grass-seed  sown,  and  no  in- 
closure  made,  except  about  the  mansions  of  a  few  of  the  proprietors.  He 
first  took  into  his  own  possession  one  of  his  farms  (Craigherbs)  near  Banff 
Castle,  and  fallowed  and  limed  it,  and  laid  down  part  of  it  in  turnips,  and 
part  of  it  in  grass-seeds.  He  sent  the  sons  of  some  of  the  farmers  to  study 
agriculture.  As  soon  as  the  lease  was  expired,  he  commenced  the  manage- 
ment of  another  of  his  farms;  he  raised  better  and  constant  food  for  the  cat- 

*  The  old  Banir  plough  used  to  be  drawn  by  six,  or  eight,  or  ten  oxen,  or  by  oxen 
and  cows  intermingled,  or  by  oxen  and  horses.     The  black  cattle  were  usually  bought 
in  about  Whitsuntide  and  sold  again  in  the  autumn. 
10* 


102  CATTLE. 

tie,  he  improved  the  breed  by  crosses  from  the  best  of  his  own  stock  and 
the  neighbouring  districts,  and  the  agricuUure  of  Banffshire,  about  the  low- 
land part  of  the  country,  is  now  equal  to  any  in  Scotland.  The  local  Ag- 
ricultural Society  has  also  been  of  great  service  in  carrying  on  the  work  of 
improvement;  and  the  facilities  afforded  by  steam  passage  will,  in  Banff- 
shire, as  in  all  the  counties  on  the  coast,  give  an  additional  stimulus  to 
improvement,  and  effect  a  rapid  change,  both  in  the  breeding  and  manage- 
ment of  cattle. 

The  lowland  farmers  sometimes  buy  young  cattle  at  two  years  old  from 
the  small  upland  farmers,  and  sell  them  again  at  three  years.  Their  food 
in  the  winter  is  almost  entirely  straw  and  turnips,  a  little  hay  being  added 
for  the  cows  that  have  calved.  The  cattle  of  the  lower  districts  of  Banff- 
shire are  of  a  medium  size,  between  those  of  the  native  Highlands  and  the 
better  fed  ones  of  Kincardine.*  Mr.  M'Pherson,  factor  to  the  Duke  of 
Gordon,  informs  us,  that  about  thirty  years  ago  the  Galloway  breed  of  cat- 
tle was  introduced  into  this  district,  and  has  increased  so  much,  that  it  now 
forms  a  large  portion  of  the  heavy  stock;  some  of  the  Buchan  cattle,  also 
polled,  but  a  distinct  breed,  appear  in  some  of  the  districts  of  Banff;  they 
are  devoted  to  the  purposes  of  the  dairy.  Many  of  the  farmers  crossed 
the  Banff  with  the  polled  breed  of  Aberdeen,  in  order  to  obtain  greater 
weight,  and  which  was  warranted  by  the  superior  system  of  husbandry 
that  has  lately  been  adopted  in  the  greater  part  of  the  county;  and  they 
also  reckoned,  but  not  with  so  much  reason,  on  the  early  maturity  of  this 
cross.  Others,  and  at  the  head  of  them  stands  Mr.  Milne  of  Mill  Boyn- 
die,  and  to  whom  also  we  owe  much  obligation,  has  all  his  cows  of  the 
Banff  breed,  crossed  with  the  Isle  of  Skye  bull.  Mr.  Milne  considers  this 
to  be  the  most  valuable  stock  that  the  country  produces. 

A  few  Ayrshire  and  Teeswater  beasts  are  likewise  also  seen.  A  short- 
horned  bull  Avas  lately  introduced  by  Mr.  Wilson,  of  Brangan,  whose 
stock  is  promising.  There  is  much  prejudice  against  the  short-horns  at 
present  in  Banffshire.  It  is  supposed  that  the  keep  of  this  district  can 
never  be  good  enough  for  them,  and  that  the  greater  price,  in  proportion 
to  their  weight,  fetched  by  the  native  stock,  would  yield  greater  profit  to 
the  farmer  than  he  could  obtain  from  a  heavier  and  more  expensively  fed 
beast.  To  a  great  degree  this  is  an  unfounded  prejudice;  and  we  have  no 
doubt  that  in  Banffshire,  as  every  where  else,  the  short-horn,  cautiously 
and  judiciously  introduced,  will  ultimately  have  justice  done  to  him. 

Much  injury  is  supposed  to  have  been  done  to  the  Banffshire  breed  of 
cattle  by  the  attempted  introduction  of  the  long-horns,  forty  or  fifty  years 
ago.  A  cross  with  these,  and  especially  when  persisted  in,  produced  an 
ill-framed,  unshapely  animal,  in  which  every  good  quality  of  the  progeni- 
tors was  lost.  Among  the  most  intelligent  and  successful  breeders  in 
Banffshire  we  may  reckon  Mr.  Gordon  of  Laggan,  Mr.  Gauld  of  Edin- 
glassie,  and  the  late  Rev.  A.  Milne  of  Boyndie. 

Although  horse-ploughing  has  superseded  ox-labour,  the  number  of 
cattle  in  Banffshire  has  materially  increased  since  the  establishment  of  the 
system  of  winter  feeding. 

ABERDEENSHIRE. 

This  extensive  county,  breeding  or  grazing  more  cattle  than   any  other 
district  of  Scotland,    will  require   particular   attention.     Tlie  number  of 

*  Mr.  Ballingall,  in  his  Statistical  Account  of  Forglen,  says,  in  1795,  that  '  on  the 
waterside,  tiie  cuttle,  by  the  richness  of  the  pasture,  are  of  a  large  size.  One  tenant  in 
Eastside  had  a  plough  of  eight  oxen,  which  would,  in  most  seasons,  iiave  been  good  beef 
ffom  tlie  yoke,  and  would  have  weighed  from  fifty  to  seventy  stones,  at  an  average, 
and,  if  full-fed  from  seventy  to  ninety,  and  some  seemed  size  enough  to  carry  one  hundred.' 


THE  ABERDEENSHIRE  BREED.  lOS 

cattle  in  Aberdeenshire  has  been  calculated  at  110,000,  of  which  more 
than  20,000  are  either  slaughtered,  or  sold  to  the  graziers  every  year. 

The  soil  and  climate  are  very  different  in  the  hilly  country  tovs^ards 
the  "^outh-west,  bordering  on  Forfar,  Perth,  and  Inverness,  and  in  the 
lowlands  skirting  the  sea.  There  is  better  natural  pasture  on  the  hills 
than  the  Highlands  usually  afford,  except  upon  the  very  ridges  of  the 
Grampians,  wliile  the  mellow  clayey  soil  in  the  lower  parts  yield  abundant 
crops.  The  climate  on  the  hills  is  cold  enough,  and  especially  when  the 
wind  blows  from  the  north-east;  but  in  the  lowlands  there  is  a  mildness 
and  an  equality  of  temperature,  scarcely  exceeded  in  the  south-eastern 
parts  of  England.  Storms  from  the  north  and  the  east,  however,  some- 
times do  considerable  injury,  and  especially  in  the  district  of  Buchan,  and 
when  the  crops  are  in  bloom. 

The  character  of  the  cattle  varies  with  that  of  the  country.  Towards 
the  interior,  and  on  the  hills,  formerly  occupying  the  whole  of  that  dis- 
trict, and  still  existing  in  considerable  numbers,  is  the  native  unmixed 
Highland  breed.  It  is  suited  to  its  locality :  hardy  but  not  docile ;  living 
and  thriving,  to  a  certain  extent,  on  its  scanty  fare;  and  at  four  years-old, 
and  when  it  was  thought  to  be  prepared  for  the  dealers,  weighing,  probably, 
not  more  than  3^  cwt. ;  but  with  a  disposition  to  grow  to  the  full  extent  of 
which  its  natural  form  is  capable  when  conveyed  to  the  richer  pasture  of 
the  south. 

This  breed,  however,  would  be  out  of  its  place  in  the  milder  climate 
and  more  productive  soil  of  the  lower  district  of  Aberdeen;  another  kind 
of  cattle  was  therefore  gradually  raised,  the  precise  origin  of  which  it  is 
difficult  to  describe. 

»It  was  first  attempted,  as  in  the  districts  that  we  have  already  surveyed, 
by  judicious  selections  from  the  native  breed,  and  some  increase  of  size 
was  obtained,  but  not  sufficient  for  the  pasture.  Some  spirited  individuals 
then  sent  far  south,  and  the  Lancashire  long-horn  was  introduced,  and 
the  short-horned  Durham  was  tried;  but  either  they  did  not  amalga- 
mate with  the  native  breed,  or  a  species  of  cattle  was  produced  too  large 
for  the  soil. 

There  were,  however,  some  splendid  exceptions  to  this,  and  we  are 
glad  that  we  can  present  our  readers  with  a  portrait  of  one  of  them  in 
two  stages  of  his  preparation  for  the  market. — (See  p.  104  and  105.) 

This  beautiful  animal  was  bred  by  Lord  Kintore  from  an  Aberdeenshire 
cow  and  a  Teeswater  bull.  We  are  indebted  to  his  lordship  for  the  chief 
materials  of  our  history  of  him.  He  was  calved  in  April,  1827,  and  from 
the  Michaelmas  of  that  year  he  was  tied  up  in  the  house,  according  to  the 
practice  of  the  country,  with  the  other  calves.  He  got  turnips,  with  clover, 
hay,  and  straw  alternately  twice  a  day.  They  were  the  Norfolk  globe 
turnips,  which  are  not  considered  so  nutritious  as  the  Aberdeen  yellow; 
and  four  or  five  ounces  of  salt  were  given  him  daily. 

In  1828  he  was  at  pasture  from  the  1st  of  May  to  the  20th  of  October, 
and  was  then  put  into  a  straw-yard  with  sheds,  getting  about  five  pounds 
of  oil-cake  daily,  with  plenty  of  water  and  hay  and  straw,  until  the  10th  of 
May,  1829,  when  he  again  was  sent  to  pasture  until  the  middle  of  Oc- 
tober. He  then  got  a  limited  quantity  of  Aberdeen  yellow  turnips  in 
the  house,  as  Lord  Kintore  did  not  then  intend  to  have  him  fed  off.  He 
went  out  almost  daily  for  water  and  exercise  until  the  1st  of  April,  1830, 
when  he  was  again  put  into  the  straw-yard  until  the  middle  of  May,  getting 
about  six  pounds  and  a  half  of  oil-cake  daily,  with  the  usual  quantity  of 
hay  and  straw. 

He  was  afterwards  at  pasture  until  the  8th  of  October,  and  was  treated  in 


104 


CATTLE. 


the  winter  as  before,  with  the  addition  of  oil-cake  for  about  ten  da}^,  previous 
to  his  being  again  turned  out  to  grass,  -which  was  on  the  15th  of  May,  1831. 
From  the  latter  end  of  June  until  the  close  of  August  he  was  taken  into 
the  house  during  the  day,  wliere  he  got  cut  grass,  and  was  turned  out  at 
night;  and  from  that  time  until  the  21st  of  September  he  was  again  tied  up, 
getting  hay  and  turnips  until  the  6th  of  October,  when  he  left  Keith  Hall, 
aad  was  sent  by  the  steamer  to  London.  His  weight  might  have  been  con- 
siderably increased  had  he  been  full  fed  from  the  tirst,  but  he  was  now  a 
very  fine  animal,  as  the  cut,  from  a  portrait  of  him  by  Cooper,  very  kindly 
lent  to  us  by  Mr.  Combe,  will  sufficiently  show.  He  was  now  supposed 
to  weigh  100  stones  imperial  weight,  or  175  stones  Smithfield  weight. 


\^The  Kintore  Ox,  when  he  was  first  sent  to  the  South — a  Cross  between  the  Aber- 
deen and  the  Improved  Short-horn.'] 

He  was  consigned  to  the  care  of  Lord  Kintore's  friend,  Mr.  Harvey 
Combe,  who  was  to  use  his  own  discretion  whether  he  would  exhibit  him 
at  the  next  Smithfield  cattle-show,  and  compete  for  a  prize  among  the 
extra  stock,  or  whether  he  would. keep  him  another  year,  and  try  for  the 
first  prize.  Mr.  Combe  decided,  and  very  judiciously,  to  give  him  ano- 
ther year's  feeding.  He  was  accordingly  taken  down  to  that  gentleman's 
estate  at  Cobham;  and  from  October  to  April  was  fed  upon  Swedish 
turnips  and  hay,  with  about  six  pounds  of  oil-cake  daily,  and  during  the 
spring  and  summer  he  had  cut  grass  and  oatmeal.  He  was  let  out  daily 
for  exercise,  and  his  greatest  pleasure  seemed  to  be  to  go  among  the  cows 
as  they  came  into  the  yard,  and  talk  to  them.  He  was  exceedingly 
docile.  Whoever  approached  him  or  handled  him  he  scarcely  moved, 
except  that  he  would  not  suffer  the  man  who  was  once  compelled  to  bleed 
him  to  come  near  him  for  a  week. 

In  September  he  commenced  oil-cake  and  hay,  eating  about  twelve 
pounds  daily  of  the  former,  until  he  was  sent  to  Smithfield.  During  the 
last  two  months  he  had  a  lump  of  rock  salt  in  his  mang'^r,  of  which  he 
was  particularly  fond.  A  basket  of  earth  also  stood  by  him,  of  which  he 
occasionally  ate  a  considerable  quantity,  and  which  operated  as  a  gentle 
purgative. 


THE  ABERDEENSHIRE  BREED. 


105 


Tlie  following  cut,  taken  from  a  painting  by  the  same  artist,  contains 
an  accurate  portrait  of  him  just  before  he  was  sent  to  the  Show. 


[The  Kiniore  Ox,futud.] 

He  was  supposed  now  to  weigh  more  than  180  stones  imperial  weight, 
and  nearly,  or  quite,  320  stones  Smithfield  weight.  He  was  universally 
admired,  particularly  his  still  beautiful  symmetry,  the  equable  manner 
in  which  the  fat  was  laid  upon  him,  and  his  almost  perfect  levelness  from 
the  shoulder  to  the  tail. 

In  the  mean  time  the  regulations  of  the  Smithfield  Club  with  regard 
to  the  age  of  cattle  had  been  altered,  and  this  noble  animal  was  now  a  year 
too  old,  and  consequently  could  not  compete  for  any  prize.  This  was  a 
serious  mortification  both  to  Lord  Kintore  (from  whom  the  animal  was 
very  properly  called  the  Kintore  Ox)  and  to  Mr.  Combe.  This  gentle- 
man, however,  was  bid  75/.  for  him  ;  but  as  Lord  Kintore  had  another 
beast  at  Keith  Hall  a  year  younger,  and  nearly  as  good,  he  determined  to 
have  him  sent  down  to  Scotland  again,  in  order  that  he  might  exhibit  them 
both  at  the  next  Highland  Society  Catde  show  at  Aberdeen.  Lord 
Kintore  is  a  great  advocate  for  one  cross  of  the  Tees  water  with  the  Aber- 
deen. This  animal  wr,s  a  sufficient  proof  of  what  may  be  effected  by  it; 
but  they  rapidly  degenerate  if  the  cross  is  further  pursued.  The  conve- 
nience of  carriage,  now  afforded  by  the  introduction  of  steam,  will  proba- 
bly tempt  many  of  the  northern  breeders  to  try  this  first  cross. 

In  the  attempt  permanently  to  improve  the  Aberdeen  cattle,  all  the 
southern  counties  of  Scotland  were  occasionally  resorted  to,  but  with 
doubtful  success,  until  at  length  the  breeders  directed  their  attention  nearer 
home.  The  Fife,  or  Falkland  breed,  possessed  enough  of  the  old  cattle  to 
bid  fair  to  mingle  and  be  identified  with  the  natives,  while  the  bones  were 
smaller,  the  limbs  cleaner,  and  yet  short ;  the  carcass  fairly  round,  and 
the  hips  wide,  and  they  were  superior  in  size,  hardy,  and  docile,  and 
excellent  at  work,  and  good  milkers.  These  were  desirable  qualities,  and 
particularly  as  mingling  with  the  Highland  breed.  Accordingly  bulls 
from  Fife  were  introduced  into  Aberdeen,  and  the  progeny  so  fully  an- 
swered tlie  expectation  of  the  breeder  as  to  be  generally  adopted,  and  to 
become  the  foundation  or  origin  of  what  is  now  regarded  as  the  Aberdeen- 
shire native  breed. 


106 


CATTLE. 


The  horns  do  not  taper  so  finely,  nor  stand  so  much  upwards  as  in  the 
West  Highlanders,  and  they  are  also  whiter;  the  hair  is  shorter  and  thin- 
ner; the  ribs  cannot  be  said  to  be  flat,  but  the  chest  is  deeper  in  proportion 
to  the  circumference ;  and  the  buttock  and  thighs  are  likewise  thinner. 
The  colour  is  usually  black,  but  sometimes  brindled:  they  are  heavier  in 
carcass  ;  they  give  a  larger  quantity  ef  milk;  but  they  do  not  attain  matu- 
rity so  early  as  the  West  Higldanders,  nor  is  their  ifesh  quite  so  beauti- 
fully marbled :  yet,  at  a  proper  age,  they  fatten  as  readily  as  the  others, 
not  only  on  good  pasture,  but  on  that  which  is  somewhat  inferior.  Mr. 
James  Rennie,  of  Fantassie,  used  to  prefer  them  as  fatteners  to  any  of 
the  Scotch  cattle.  Mr.  Walker,  of  Wester  Fintray,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Don,  has  some  very  fine  specimens  of  the  pure  Aberdeenshire  breed. 
They  are  perfecdy  docile,  and  sufficiendy  hardy  for  any  climate  to  which 
they  are  likely  to  be  transplanted.  They  are  now  rarely  used  for  husbandry 
work,  or,  if  they  are,  it  is  only  for  one  year.  At  four  years  old  they  are 
usually  sent  to  grass  for  six  months,  afer  which  they  will  weigh  from  5 
to  6  cwt.  In  the  fertile  districts  of  the  low  country,  abounding  with  sum- 
mer pasture  and  winter  food,  they  usually  reach  at  their  full  growth  from 
fifty  to  seventy  stones  Dutch ;  and  have  been  frequendy  known  to  feed  from 
fifteen  to  sixteen  hundred  pounds.  The  breed  has  progressively  improved, 
and  that  by  judicious  selections  from  this  native  stock.  It  has  increased 
in  size,  and  become  nearly  double  its  original  weight,  without  losing  its 
propensity  to  fatten,  and  without  growing  above  its  keep.  The  alteration 
and  improvement  in  agriculture,  and  the  introduction  of  turnip-husbandry, 
have  contributed  to  effect  this.  Mr.  Leith  of  Whitehaugh,  and  Mr.  Camine 
of  Auchery,  very  much  contributed  to  the  improvement  of  the  Aberdeen- 
shire cattle.  The  breed  of  the  former  gentleman  was  remarkable,  not 
only  for  their  increased  size,  and  the  perfection  o'i  some  of  their  points, 
but  for  being  more  than  usually  well  horned  ;  the  cows  of  Mr.  Camine 
yielded  from  six  to  ten  Scots  pints  of  milk,  instead  of  four  pints,  which 
were  considered  to  be  the  average  produce  of  a  tolerable  cow. 


[The  Aberdeenshire  Ux.'\ 

Beside  these  there  is  a  breed  of  polled  cattle,  said  by  some  to  be  diflTerent 
from  the  Galloways,  and  to  have  existed  from  time  immemorial ;  others, 


THE  ABERDEENSHIRE  BREED.  107 

however,  with  greater  reason,  consider  tliem  as  the  Galloways  introduced 
about  thirty  years  ago,  and  somewhat  changed  by  cha-nge  of  climate  and 
soil.  They  are  of  a  larger  size  than  the  horned,  although  not  so  handsome. 
Of  late  they  have  been  much  improved  by  careful  selection  from  the  best 
of  their  own  stock,  and  are  becoming  more  numerous.  In  some  districts 
they  are  equal  to  or  are  superseding  the  horned  breed.  They  usually  equal 
in  weight  the  larger  varieties  of  the  horned  breed,  but  the  quality  of  their 
meat  is  said  to  be  inferior.  As  they  are  in  a  measure  occupying  the  situ- 
ation of  the  larger  horned  cattle,  these,  in  their  turn,  are  intruding  on  the 
cattle  of  the  hill  country;  there  they  rapidly  diminish  in  size:  hence  we 
have  the  small  Aberdeens  of  the  hills,  weighing  from  twenty  to  thirty  stones, 
and  contending  with  and  gradually  displacing  the  Highland  breed. 

The  Buchan  cattle  constitute  a  usehil  variety  of  Aberdeenshire  cattle  with 
some  peculiarities  of  form  and  properties.  Mr.  R.  Gray  thus  describes 
them  in  the  '  Quarterly  Journal  of  Agriculture:' — '  The  cattle  in  Buchan 
are  chiefly  of  the  short  horned  kind,'  (he  means  comparatively  short,  and 
he  thus  speaks  of  them  in  opposition  to  the  long  horns,)  '  not  very  large, 
but  short-legged  and  hardy.  The  best  sort  used  to  be  polled*,  and  some 
of  thein,  that  do  not  begin  to  have  the  Ayrshire  blood  in  them,  are  so  still, 
and  are  of  a  dark  or  brown  colour.  The  breed  of  cattle  in  Buchan  is  pecu- 
liar to  that  part  of  the  country,  and  deservedly  esteemed  for  its  milking 
quality,  and  the  beef  it  produces.  From  the  great  extent  of  grass  lands  in 
Buchan  more  cattle  are  produced  in  it  than  in  most  other  districts.  They 
are  generally  bought  by  dealers  from  the  south  when  two,  three,  and  four 
years  old,  and  at  the  latter  age  they  weigh  from  fifty  to  sixty  stones.  The 
cows  of  Buchan  are  not  large;  but,  on  account  of  the  excellent  quality  of 
the  pasture,  they  yield  a  considerable  quantity  of  milk,  from  the  cream  of 
which  butter  is  made  to  a  greai  extent,  and  of  excellent  quality.' 

Notwithstanding  their  small  size,  they  will  yield  from  three  to  four,  and 
sometimes  seven  gallons  of  milk  per  day.  They  are  fed  principally  with 
oat-straw  in  the  winter,  but  they  sometimes  get  plotted  hay,  or  hay  on 
which  boiling  water  has  been  poured.  It  used  to  be  the  practice  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Peterhead  to  give  them  green  kale  in  April,  which  is 
sown  in  the  preceding  spring,  transplanted  in  June  or  July,  stands  the 
winter  better  than  turnips,  and  vegetates  strongly  in  April.  By  adopting 
this  plan,  the  dreadful  interval  for  the  farmer  between  the  winter  and  sum- 
mer feed  was  in  a  great  measure  filled  up. 

'  In  the  course  of  the  year  there  are  nearly  fifty  markets  held  in  this 
district  for  the  sale  of  cattle,  and  die  amount  of  the  sales  at  Aiky  fair  may 
be  estimated  at  upwards  of  12,000/.  annually.'  If  we  reckon  that  one-fourth 
of  the  Buchan  cattle  are  sold  at  this  fair,  we  shall  have  50,000/.  as  the  an- 
nual value  of  the  beasts  that  are  drafted  from  this  district;  and,  calculating 
this  district  at  not  quite  a  fourth  of  the  superficial  extent  of  the  ^county,  yet 
containing  a  considerable  portion  of  the  richer  soil,  we  may  fairly  con- 
clude that  150,000/.  are  brought  into  the  county  by  the  sale  of  black  cattle 
alone.t 

*  Mr.  M'Pherson  says,  that '  a  variety  of  the  polled  cattle  is  the  principal  breed  in  the 
Buchan  district  of  Aberdeenshire.'  The  native,  or  Buchan  cattle,  were  probably  polled, 
and  the  horned  ones  are  a  mixed  breed,  between  the  natives  and  the  Ayrshire:  ihey  are 
not  so  hardy  as  the  common  Aberdeenshire  cattle,  and  do  not  fatten  so  speedily. 

t  The  value  of  those  slaughtered  for  home  consumption  should  be  added;  and  which 
are  about  10,000,  at  lOZ.  per  head,  yielding  100,000Z.;  so  that  the  total  value  of  Aberdeen- 
shire cattle  annually  sold  or  killed  will  be  250,000Z.  Dr.  Keith,  in  his  '  Survey  of  Aber- 
deenshire,' has  given  a  very  laboured  account  of  the  value  of  the  cattle  stock,  and  which 
may  be  interesting  to  the  reader,  since  some  of  the  principal  markets  for  the  sale  of  cat- 
tle are  in  this  county,  and  it  contains  nearly  double  the  number  of  beasts  that  are  to  be 


108  CATTLE. 

A  fourth  variety  consists  of  all  the  pure  breeds  from  the  north  of  Eng- 
land and  the  south  of  Scotland.  The  Holderness  has  been  once  more 
attempted  to  be  introduced,  but  with  no  marked  success.  The  Ayrshire 
cattle  do  well  wherever  they  go  if  the  soil  is  not  too  barren,  or  the  climate 
too  severe;  but  it  must  require  a  considerable  alteration  in  the  system  of 
husbandry  to  make  Aberdeen,  generally  a  decidedly  dairy  county.  In  the 
estimation  of  the  Aberdeenshire  farmers,  no  breed  answers  so  well  as  the 
native  one  of  the  district;  and  certainly  no  catUe  will  fetch  so  good  a  price 
among  the  drovers  at  Old  Deer  or  Aiky  fairs,  or  be  so  readily  sold  again 
to  the  English  graziers,  who  fatten  them  for  the  Smithfield  market.  The 
present  Duke  of  Gordon,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  many  facilities  in 
acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  Aberdeen  cattle,  has  been  foremost  in  the 
attempt  to  improve  tlie  breed  of  this  district.  His  bulls  and  cows  from 
Galloway,  Argyleshire,  the  Scottish  islands,  and  Durham,  were  the  best 
that  could  be  procured,  while  his  selections  from  the  native  breed  were 
most  judicious;  and  although  the  cattle  retain  much  of  their  original  cha- 
racter, they  have  been  considerably  improved,  while  a  spirit  of  emulation 
has  been  excited  which  cannot  fail  to  be  useful. 

found 

poses  that  there  are 

28,000  cows  at  11.  each  value  ....             £196,000 

22,000  calves  are  reared  at  21.  -             -             -             -             -     44,000 

20,000  year-olds  at  31.  15s. 75,000 

19,000  two-yoar  olds  at  71.  lOs.  .....   142,500 

21,000  three-years  and  upwards,  at  12/.  10s.  -            -             .262,500 


I  any  other  county  except  Perth.     His  calculation  was  made  in  1810.     He  sup. 
it  there  are 


110,000  total  number,  and  in  value                 .  .  -  ^£720,000 
Totliis  lie  adds  from  the  records  of  Aberdeen, 
3680  beasts  slaughtered  in  the  city: 

Ofthatnumber  there  are  .300  at  £30             .  -  -  £9000 

COO  at     25             .  -  .  .     15,000 

800  at     20             .  .  .  -     16,000 

800  at     16             -  .  -  -     12,800 

Of  inferior  cattle     -  800  at     12  10s 10,000 

Of  cows                   .           380  at     10             .  -  -  -       3,800 

Calves         -              -         1621  worth  at  least  .  .  -       3,400 

Total  killed  in  Aberdeen     5301  -  -  .  .   Value  £70,000 

Killed  in  Peterhead,  Tarriff,  and  other  smaller  towns,  about  the  same 
number,  but  chiefly  cows  and  other  inferior  cattle,  and  the  value 

about  6/.  each 30,000 

Sold  to  dealers  12,000  at  121.  10s 150,000 


Value  of  those  which  are  killed  or  sold  -  .  .  250,000 

Value  of  stock  as  above  ......  720,000 


Total  value  of  Aberdeenshire  Cattle       .  -  -  £970,000 

or  nearly  five  times  the  annual  rent,  and  a  fourth  part  of  the  whole  annual  produce  and 
agricultural  property  of  every  kind. 

A  writer  in  the  Farmer's  Magazine  (1807)  gives  a  curious  and  interesting  account 
of  the  prices  of  husbandry  stock  in  this  district  in  the  year  1747.  He  obtained  it  from 
a  venerable  old  farmer  in  the  eighty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  'On  the  death  of  his  father 
he  was  compelled  to  go  to  service,  and  the  iiighest  wages  he  ever  obtained  were  16s. 
Sd.  in  the  half-year.  In  1731  he  agreed  ivith  a  landed  proprietor  to  cut  a  ditch  through 
a  piece  of  mossy  ground,  ten  feet  wide  at  top,  six  at  bottom,  and  six  feet  deep,  for  two. 
thirds  of  a  penny  sterling  per  ell,  and  while  thus  employed  he  paid  13d.  per  week  for 
his  board.  By  persevering  in  a  course  of  honest  industry  and  frugality,  he  found  his 
stock  in  1747,  increased  to  501.  sterling,  with  which  he  purchased  eight  oxen,  all  under 
six  years  of  age,  three  cows,  three  horses,  four  one-year  old  stots  and  queys,  furnished 
his  house,  purchased  ploughs,  harrows,  &c.,  paid  tlie  expense  of  his  mariage,  servants' 
wages,  and  other  incidents,  and  at  Lammas  1748,  when  he  began  to  harvest  his  first  crop, 
he  was  not  due  a  penny  to  the  world.' 


THE  ABERDEENSHIRE  BREED.  109 

Anderson  says  that  Mr.  Farquharson,  of  Invercauld,  has  a  breed  of 
Highland  beasts  once  crossed  with  the  Falkland  or  Fife  (which,  although 
tolerable  cattle,  are  by  no  means  valued  for  their  milk,)  yet  the  descend- 
ants of  these  afford  a  large  quantity  of  milk  in  proportion  to  their  size, 
and  which  is  also  of  a  very  rich  quality.  One  of  these  small  cows  will 
yield  during  the  season  four  gallons  and  a  half  of  milk  in  the  day,  the' 
cream  of  which  being  separated  and  churned  will  afford  1  lb.  10  or  12  oz. 
weight  of  butter. 

Many  cattle  are  grazed  in  Aberdeen  that  are  not  bred  there.  The 
farmer  begins  to  purchase  them  as  soon  as  the  grass  springs  up,  and  they 
are  sold  off  as  the  year  advances.  Some,  however,  are  continued  until 
January,  and  are  fed  in  the  stalls  on  turnips  and  hay,  and  then  driven  to 
Aberdeen,  and  sold. 

There  is  nothing  peculiar  in  the  rearing  of  the  calf,  or  the  system 
of  fattening  the  grown  beast.  The  general  practice  is  to  feed  the  calves 
with  milk  warm  from  the  cow ;  but  they  are  sometimes  allowed  to  suck 
until  they  are  weaned,  and,  in  a  few  instances,  they  are  reared  partly 
on  oil-cakes.  Formerly,  however,  the  calves  were  permitted  to  go  at 
large  through  the  fields  during  summer,  and  pick  up  the  grass  at  the 
roots  of  the  corn.  The  practice  was  occasioned  by  the  want  of  proper 
food  and  enclosures,  and  the  fear  of  the  calves  being  injured  by  being-- 
confined  with  the  large  cattle  in  the  fold;  but  it  was  attended  by  much 
damage  to  the  corn  from  their  lying  upon  it  and  trampling  it  down,  while 
the  calves  acquired  so  restless  a  habit,  that  it  was  afterwards  impossible 
to  confine  them,  except  by  the  strongest  and  almost  impenetrable  fences. 
The  cattle  are  pastured  in  the  fields  in  summer,  and  fed  with  straw 
and  turnips  in  winter,  and  sometimes  with  steamed  potatoes,  and  a  portion 
of  clover  hay.* 

Little  butter  or  cheese  is  sent  out  of  the  country  except  in  the  district- 
of  Buchan ,  the  rest  is  consumed  by  the  farmers  or  the  inhabitants  of 
the  towns.  The  Buchan  cows  have  been  stated  to  be  good  milkers ;  and 
those  along  the  coast  answer  tolerably  for  the  dairy. 

Dr.  Keith  has  formed  a  curious  computation  of  the  value  of  the  milk, 
butter,  and  cheese  yielded  by  them. 
1000  best  cows,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  some  town,  and  prin- 
cipally of  Aberdeen,  yield  butter  and  cheese  to  the 
value  of  20/.  each,  or        .  .  .  ^on  oaa 

2000  at  15/.  each  .  .  *  on  ooa 

5000  at  10/.  each  ••."!".         50^00^ 

10,000  farmers'  cows  at  8/.  each      •  .  !  *         80000 

5000  of  cottagers'  or  villagers'  at  6/.  each  !  *         30,000 

5000  small  Highland  cows  at  41.  each        .  [  *         20000 


28,000  as  already  stated,  and  value  of  their  produce  £230,000i 

*Mr  Gordon,  in  his  answers  to  certain  queries  circulated  by  the  Buard  of  AffricuL 
SS;.  'ont  hr^l  If- rl'"'f  °^,f,^""'^i<y  -^^  early  maturity  in  the  Aberdeen 
Z^J~  ?      i    ,  of  September,  ]80^,  a  calf  of  five  u^onths  old,  of  the  smaM  Aber- 

deenshire breed,  happenmg  to  be  put  mto  an  enclosure  among  other  cattle,  admitted  a 
male  that  was  only  one  year  old.  In  the  month  of  June  follou^ng,  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
Tod  Th'.  T^^^'Kf''^'  =^  -'■y  fi-  -If'  -d  in  the  summer  of']807,  another  ec/ual  J 
Imt  in  T  i'«  '^'^'.'  worlung  m  the  winter,  spring  and  sumn.er  of  ]809.  wl 

fs  0  ZtTr^'  ^^'  "• '^  "^"'^^r"^  ^  ""'  ^  "i''- 1^^^-  ^''^  ^^'^""'1  was  killed  DeclX 
180?'  tlfe1noth.7'?/''  r  '"""^''''  ""f  ^''^^'"^  '•^"^^''^  -^^'t-  •'^"'^  «"  December  30 
Jears'  a  "d  e  ^h  n.on  r  T^  ^T^^'l  "P  '^''''  '''^''''  ^^"^  ^^"^^^  -'  the  age  of  tsvo 
^  tTh.  iTtfil  A  '  ^•''i^'^'g:'^*:^  4cwt.  Iqr.the  four  quarters,  sinking  the  offij. 
in  f  ll  n.Shh  ,  'T  H  '  rTf'  .^^^^-''^'Ve  tj.e  parish  of  Udny,  states  that,  in  1 7.91,  the  cowJB 
m  the  neighbourhood  of  Aberdeen  yielded  from  six  to  ten  Scotch  pints  .^f  milk(lVom  thl^ee 


110  CATTLE. 

The  horse  has  nearly  superseded  the  ox  for  husbandry  labour.  At  a 
litde  more  than  half  a  century  ago  oxen  were  used  almost  exclusively  for 
the  plough.  Ten  or  twelve  were  often  yoked  together;  but  they  were  not 
the  cattle  of  Aberdeen — they  came  from  the  southern  counties  of  Scotland.* 
By  degrees,  part  of  the  catUe  were  reared  in  Aberdeenshire,  and  some  of 
the  improved  breed  and  some  of  the  Lothians  were  yoked  together. 
Horses  then  began  to  occupy  the  place  of  the  southern  oxen,  and  the 
horse  and  the  ox  worked  together ;  the  nobler  quadruped  then  gradually 
displaced  the  cattle  from  the  road-work,  and  left  only  the  rougher  part  of 
the  ploughing  to  the  ox,  and,  at  length,  has  nearly  driven  him  from  the 
plough  also.t 

KINCARDINESHIRE,  OR  THE  MEARNS. 

This  small  county  insinuates  itself  in  the  form  of  a  wedge  between  Aber- 
deenshire and  Forfar,  It  is  only  thirty-two  miles  in  length,  and  twenty- 
four  in  width  at  its  broadest  part,  and  much  diversified  with  hill  and  dale, 
and  therefore,  possessing,  within  a  litde  extent,  a  very  great  difference  of 
climate.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Grampians,  occasionally  covered 
with  snow  even  in  the  summer,  the  climate  is  cold  ;  along  the  coast,  and 
open  to  the  easterly  wind,  it  is  likewise  chilling ;  and  it  is  only  about  the 
banks  of  the  Dee  that  it  is  mild  and  genial.  The  character  of  the  cattle 
varies  with  ihe  climate.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Grampians  we  have 
the  West  Higlilanders ;  but  about  the  Dee,  and  even  on  the  coast,  they  are 
little  inferior  to  those  of  Buchan.  A  great  many  catde  are  bred  in  the 
Mearns,  but  this  is  quite  as  much  a  grazing  as  a  breeding  country  ;  and 
although  it  sends  a  great  many  of  its  own  beasts  southward,  a  considerable 
number  are  bought  at  the  fairs  in  Aberdeenshire,  which  are  fed  on  what  are 
termed  the  grass-parks,  that  are  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  almost  every 
gentleman's  seat:  these,  however,  are  only Jlying  stock. 

The  prevailing  colour  of  the  Mearns  cattle  is  black ;  but  some  are  dark- 
brown,  or  brindled.  They  have  rather  larger  and  more  spreading  horns 
than  those  of  Aberdeenshire ;  they  feed  as  kindly  as  the  Buchans,  and  are 
not  much  inferior  to  them  for  the  dairy. 

to  five  gallons)  daily,  and  that  one  farmer  kept  fourteen  cows,  the  milk  of  which,  after 
the  cream  was  taken,  was  sent  to  Aberdeen,  and  sold  at  Id.  and  l^d.  the  Scotch  pint 
(2  quarts);  while  the  butter  from  these  cows  was  two  stones  per  week,  and  usually  sold 
at  ad.  per  lb.  of  28  oz. 

*  Tiie  Rev.  T.  Shepherd,  in  his  statistical  account  of  Bourtie  confirms  this.  Writing 
in  1793,  he  says,  'About  twenty  years  ago  our  country  did  not  breed  cttle  of  sufficient 
bulk  and  strength  to  labour  tlie  ground.  They  were  mostly  brought  from  the  south, 
particularly  from  Fifeshire.  In  a  few  years,  by  hard  labour,  they  were  worn  out  and 
became  unfit  for  service,  and,  as  the  farmer  had  not  the  means  of  fattening  them,  he 
Very  often  sold  them  for  a  third  part  ot  what  they  cost  him.  The  case  is  now  much 
altered  for  the  better.  The  farmer  brings  up  oxen  able  for  his  work;  sells  them  or 
fattens  them  when  they  begin  to  be  upon  the  decline;  and  in  this  way  is  rather  a  coni- 
siderable  gainer  than  a  loser  upon  his  work  cattle.' 

Tlie  Rev.  A.  Smith,  in  his  account  of  Keig,  in  tlie  same  year,  says  that  the  majority 
of  the  farms  are  small,  and  tlie  horses  and  cattle  of  two  neighbouring  tenants  are  often 
joined  in  one  plough.  He  calculates  the  number  of  ploug-hs  at  47,  drawn  by  tiS  horses, 
87  cows,  aad  153  oxen  and  young  cattle. 

The  Rev.  T.  Birnie,  in  his  account  of  Alford,  in  1795,  says,  'Every  farmer  is  ambi- 
tious of  having  many  pairs  of  oxen  in  his  plough:  some  have  six,  and  few  common  lar- 
mers  have  less  than  four.  Smaller  tenants  yoke  oxen,  horses,  and  even  bulls,  cows,  and 
young  cattle,  to  make  up  what  they  deem  a  sufficient  strength.  Every  farmer  sell§  one 
or  two  pairs  of  oxen  yearly,  and  replaces  them  by  others  of  his  own  rearing.' 

tSir  John  Sinclair,  in  his  'Statistical  Account  of  Scothmd,' and  speaking  of  the 
parishes  of  Keitlihall  and  Kenhall,  says  that  they  contained  '  1038  cattle,  whose  value  is 


THE  KINCARDINESHIRE  BREED.  Ill 

Mr.  G.  Robertson,  in  a  very  interesting  work,  entitled  '  Rural  Recol- 
Ip-ctions,'  ai'.d  now  quite  out  of  print,  says,  that  '  Pre-vious  to  the  year 
1774,  there  had  been  little  done  in  this  county  to  improve  the  breed  of 
cattle;  but  about  that  time  there  were  sundry  individuals  who  distin- 
guished themselves  by  their  attention  to  this  branch  of  rural  economy.  Of 
these  may  be  mentioned  Sir  Alexander  Ramsay,  of  Balmain  ;  Mr,  Leith, 
of  Whiter igs  ;  his  brother,  Dr.  Leith,  at  Johnston;  and  Mr.  Fullarton  of 
Thornton.  These  gentlemen  were  all  at  great  pains  to  select  the  best- 
shaped  of  their  own  cattle  for  breeders  :  and,  what  was  of  as  much  im- 
portance, they  took  care  to  provide  a  full  supply  of  green  food  for  them 
in  winter,  by  a  more  extensive  cultivation  of  turnips.  By  this  means  they 
imparted  animal  vigour  to  their  stock,  while  nature,  thus  aided,  still 
further  improved  the  shape. 

'  At  the  present  time  (1807)  the  Kincardine  cattle  are  the  best  of  the, 
Scottish  breed ;  and,  unless  it  be  from  Buchan,  I  have  nowhere  in  Scot- 
land seen  a  more  stately  ox.* 

A  Mearns  ox  of  a  year  old  will  weigh  about  17  stones,  Imperial  weight; 
one  of  two  years  will  average  28  ;  one  of  three  years  old  40  ;  and  one  of 
four  years  old  52  ;  increasing  in  weight  ten  stones  per  year  after  the  first 
year.  Some,  however,  will  grow  to  90  stones ;  and  Sir  Alexander  Ram- 
say killed  one  that  was  above  156  stones.  A  century  ago  the  largest  ox 
did  not  weigh  more  than  25  or  30  stones.' 

In  the  statistical  report,  it  appeared  that  the  number  of  calde  was 
24,825,  or,  at  the  rate  of  one  beast  for  every  three  acres  in  cultivation. 
Of  this  number  6236  were  milch  cows,  and  5280  calves  under  a  year  old. 

Mr.  Robertson  calculates  their  comparative  value,  and  also  with  respect 
to  the  land  on  which  they  are  fed. 

'  5280  calves,  each  worth  when  reared,  2/.        .         .  £10,560 

5016  year-olds,  each  worth  4/.t        ....  20,064 

5016  two-year  olds,  at  8/ 40,128 

1672  three  year  olds,  at  12/.             ....  20,064 

446  draught  oxen,  at  15/ 6690 

6236  milch  cows,  at  8/ 40,888 

1159  cattle  bought  in  at  10/.            -         .          .          .  11.590 


24,825  beasts,  worth  each  on  the  average  6/.  8s.       .    £158,984 

3733i.,'  and  that  the  number  of  cattle  has  very  much  decreased,  owing  to  the  disuse  of 
oxen  for  tiie  plough.  In  1778  these  parishes  contained  twenty-six  ox-ploughs,  with  ten 
or  twelve  oxen  to  each,  besides  a  greater  number  of  smaller  ploughs;  but  that  iu  1791 
they  had  diminished  to  eight  ploughs.' 

*  The  Statistical  Account  of  Scotland,  describing  the  parish  of  Banchory  Tornan,  in 
tliis  county,  gives  a  satisfactory  illustration  of  the  rapid  progress  of  improvement.  In 
175S  that  parish  contained  only  two  carts,  in  1791  it  could  boast  of  120. 

t  IJy  year-olds  and  two-year  olds,  is  understood  cattle  that  were  of  those  ages  in  the 
preceding  spring;  the  price  is  calculi  ted  on  the  supposition  of  tiie  cattle  selling  at  8s. 
the  stone  wcight,of  16  Amsterdam  pounds,  sinking  the  ofFal ;  and  the  Amsterdam  pound, 
which  used  to  be  the  standard  weight  of  that  part  of  Scotland,  containing  17jOZ.  This 
calculation  supposes  the  cattle  to  sell  at  3s.  Sd.the  Smithfield  stone  of  81bs. 

We  make  another  extract  from  this  work,  which  is  not  now  to  be  purchascd,and  will  not 
be  reprinted.  He  is  speaking  of  the  variation  in  the  price  of  cattle.  'The  price  of  cattle 
varies  here  from  year  to  year,  like  every  tiling  else,  but  on  the  whole,  has  greatly  advanced 
during  the  last  fifty  years.  About  the  year  1740,  the  lirgest  ox  in  the  county,  weighing 
from  25  to  30  stones  (Dutch  weight  43  to  51  stones  Imperial  weight),  could  have  been 
bought  for  20s.,  or,  at  most,  for  2ls.  They  rose  gradually  in  value  till  about  the  year 
1764,  when  cattle  oftliat  size,  and  as  full  fed  as  the  country  could  make  them,  brought 
from  3/.  to  il.,  or  from  2s.  to  2s.  Sd.  the  stone.  From  this  period,  cattle,  being  somewhat 
better  fed,  not  only  became  larger  in  size,  but  were  improved  in  condition:  and,  from 
the  increased  demand  for  butcher-meat,  combined  with  the  gradual  decline  in  the  value 


112  CATTLE. 

This  is  at  the  rate  of  2/.  3s,  9d.  on  each  acre,  or  33]  beasts  on  every  100 
acres ;  but  wiien  the  quantity  of  cultivated  pasture  alone  is  reckoned,  it 
amounts  to  rather  more  than  one  beast  per  acre.  This,  however,  varies 
much  in  the  different  districts.' 

He  also  calculates  to  keep  of  these  cattle :  '  the  calves  at  2/.  each  per 
annum;  the  year-olds  at  2/.  10s.;  the  two-years  at  3/.;  the  three 
years  at  3/.  10s.  ;  the  milch  cows  at  5/.'  He  also  lakes  into  account  the 
average  number  of  sheep  and  horses  oii  the  farm,  and  the  value,  expense, 
and  profit  of  each,  and  all  the  casualities  of  every  kind  ;  and,  on  the 
whole,  he  proves  that  '  the  farmer  does  not  derive  more  than  ten  per  cent, 
on  his  capital,  and  which  will  afford  him  but  a  scanty  subsistence  for 
his  family,  and  little  or  nothing  to  add  to  his  capital.' 

About  one-half  of  the  butter  and  cheese  is  usually  consumed  in  the  far- 
mer's own  family  or  among  his  labourers,  and  the  rest  is  sent  to  the  Aber- 
deen, or  Montrose,  or  Leith  markets.  The  butter  is  usually  excellent, 
but  the  cheese  of  an  inferior  quality.* 

of  money,  by  the  year  1702,  brought  up  the  price  of  half-fed  cattle  to  the  rate  of6s.8(i.  the 
stone  (16  lbs.)  Since  that  time  the  price  has  risen  and  fallen  alternately  ;  in  some  years 
it  has  been  as  high  as  10s.  a  stone,  and  in  the  others  as  low  as  5s.  or  6s. 

'One  remarkable  circumstance  in  the  price  of  cattle  is,  that  they  are  generally  dear  or 
cheap  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  means  of  keeping  them.  Thus,  in  a  year  of  plenty,  con- 
joining a  weighty  crop  of  turnips  with  a  luxuriant  voggngc,the  price  of  cattle  gets  up; 
or  the  farmers,  not  only  can  afford  to  retain  their  cattle,  but  are  compelled  to  do  so,  in 
order  to  consumetheir  crop.  In  a  year  of  scarcity,  again,  particularly  of  winter  food,  the 
price  of  cattle  declines  even  to  the  lowest  pitcli,  the  farmers  being  forced  to  part  with 
them  at  any  price  they  can  get.  In  the  great  penury  of  fodder  in  1807,  some  cattle  were 
sold  as  low  as  at  the  rate  of  Is.  a  stone.'- — p.  440. 

The  account  of  the  introduction  of  turnips  m  Kincardineshire  must  not  be  omitted. 
'  Turnips  were  first  seen  in  this  county  about  the  year  1754,  being  introduced  by  Robert 
Scott,  Esq.,  Dunninanld,  on  the  farm  of  the  Miltown,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Cyrus,  which 
he  then  held  in  lease;  but  he  had  few  to  follow  his  example  for  many  years.  In  1764, 
William  Lyall,  a  farmer  in  Wattieston,  in  the  parish  of  Fordoun,  ventured  to  sow  half  an 
acre  in  turnips,  which  attlie  time,  was  the  greatest  extent  of  them  in  any  farmer's  hand, 
and  tiiey  were  disposed  of  chiefly  in  small  parcels  to  his  neighbours  as  kitchen  vegetables, 
at  a  penny  the  stone.  It  was  not  till  about  tiic  year  1775  that  they  began  to  be  gene- 
rally cultivated.  They  are  now  universal  over  the  whole  county,  insomuch  that  about 
one-seventh  part  of  the  whole  land  in  tillage  is  in  turnips. 

'They  are  cultivated  uniformly  in  drills;  and  this  crop  now  forms  the  very  basis  of  good 
cultivation  in  the  Mearns,  whether  with  respect  to  the  succeeding  crops,  or  to  the  feeding 
of  cattle  to  whicli  it  is  applied,  but  more  for  the  rearing  tlian  for  the  fully  fattening  of 
them,  as  the  thin  population  of  the  county  does  not  require  a  tenth  part  of  the  fat  cattle 
they  could  produce.' — p.  460. 

*  Of  the  keep  of  the  'cotter's'  milch  cow,  and  ofthe  situation  of  the  '  cotter'  himself, 
in  this  part  of  Scotland  (in  1807),  Mr.  Robertson  gives  an  interesting  description.  He 
had  been  speaking  ofthe  cottages  ofthe  mechanics  and  fittle  tradespeople,  wliich  are  built 
of  stone  and  turf,  or  sometimes  stone  and  lime,  and  consisting  of  two  apartments,  divided 
by  the  furniture,  the  walls  seldom  more  than  six  feet  in  height,  and  tiie  roofing  com-posed 
of  thin  turfs,  overlaid  wi1h  a  thinner  coating  of  straw,  tied  down  with  straw  ropes,  like  a 
hay-stick  ;  every  one  with  its  little  garden  or  kale-yard;  and  many  of  them  displaying 
no  little  taste  in  its  cultivation,  and  growing  the  different  kinds  of  colevvorts,  of  which 
a  dark-red  kind  is  most  prevalent,  and  forms  the  basis  o?  •  old  Scotia's  kale-hrose  •'  and 
besides  this,  some  leeks  and  cresses,  and  bushes  of  gooseberries  and  currants,  and  flower- 
ing shrubs,  as  roses  and  honeysuckles — and  fine  smelling  herbs  as  thyme  and  lavender, 
and  southernwood,  and  tansy  'to  kill  the  worms,'  and  a  sprinkling,  too,  of  perennial 
flowers,  as  polyanthus  and  cowslips,  and  yellow  lilies  :  and,  in  some  cases,  an  applc-treo 
trained  upon  the  sunny  side  ofthe  house  wall,  and  house-leeks  on  the  riggin.  He  goes 
on  next  to  speak  ofthe  cottages  ofthe  farm  servants. 

'  The  cottages  attached  to  the  different  farms  are  more  regularly  disposed,  being  gene, 
rally  set  down  by  the  way-sides,  in  the  neighbourhood,  but  not  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
ofthe  farm-stead.  They  are  beginning  to  be  constructed  in  a  similar  style,  built  of 
stone  and  lime,  and  of  an  increased  heigiit  in  the  walls;  but  the  roof  is  still  generally  of 
thatch,  or  in  some  cases  of  gray  slate,  and  in  a  few  instances  of  tile  which  is  the  worst 
roofing  of  any.  The  internal  accommod  ition  is  simply,  as  it  was  wont,  with  two  apart- 
ments divided  by  the  furniture,  but  having  now  a  grate  in  the  tire-place,  and  a  glass  win. 


FORFARSHIRE  OR  ANGUS  BREED.  113 


FORFARSHIRE  OR  ANGUS. 

This  county  derives  its  first  name  from  its  principal  and  central  town ; 
the  second  oftenest  occurs  in  ancient  records,  and  was  probably  the  original 
name.  The  eastern  part  of  it  stretches  along  the  coast  from  Kincardine- 
shire to  Fife,  and  the  soil  and  climate  resemble  those  of  the  coast  districts 
of  Kincardine,  Aberdeen,  and  Banff,  while  the  interior  (nearly  half  of  the 
county)  is  occupied  by  the  Grampian  Hills.  The  catde  (said  in  the  statistical 
account  to  be  45,400*)  may  be  divided  into  the  horned  and  the  polled. 
The  former,  and  of  the  West  Highland  breed,  used  to  prevail  in  the  interior, 
and  are  still  found,  but  of  a  diminutive  size,  and  rarely  exceeding  twenty 
or  twenty-live  stones.  Towards  the  coast,  they  resemble  more  those  of 
Kincardine  and  Aberdeen  ;  but  there  are  some  points  of  difference.  The 
prevailing  colour  is  black,  but  with  more  admixture  of  other  tints :  some 

dow  in  the  v/all.  These  cottages  have  all  a  piece  of  garden  ground  for  raising  potherbs ; 
also  a  bit  of  potato  land,  along  with  the  master's  own  field  ;  a  patch  of  flax  sown  ;  and 
what  is  best  of  all,  a  milch  cow,  that  feeds  in  the  fields  along  with  the  master's  own 
cattle,  and  is  otherwise  not  the  worst  fed  of  the  whole  herd.  These  good  things,  with  a 
weekly  allowance  of  two  pecks  of  oatmeal,  and  an  adequate  nioney-fec,  which  has 
improved  from  31.  to  121.  or  more  in  the  year,  makes  this  class  of  peasantry  the  most 
comfortably  provided  for  of  any.  They  may  not  get  rich,  indeed,  but  they  never  feel 
want.' — Rural  Recollections,  p.  417. 

*  If  this  calculation  of  the  number  of  cattle  in  Forfarshire  be  considered  as  giving 
the  average  number  tolerably  correctly,  and  we  estimate  them  at  11.  per  head,  the  value 
of  this  division  of  live  stock  will  be  317,800/. 

The  Rev.  C.  Peebles,  in  his  statistical  account  of  Mains,  in  Angus,  asserts  that  oxen 
were  not  used  for  husbandry  work  in  Angus  in  1790.  He  draws  a  very  curious  compa- 
rison between  the  farmers  and  their  mode  of  management  in  1760,  when  he  first  began 
to  observe  them,  and  1790,  when  he  wrote.  The  following  are  only  a  few  of  the  points 
on  wJiich  he  touches  : — 

1760.  1790. 

Land  ploughed  with  oxen.  Only  a  few  Oxen  not  employed  in  agriculture.  Far- 
horses  kept  to  draw  the  harrow  in  seed-  mers  have  their  saddle-horses,  worth  from 
time,  and  bring  in  the  comi>.on  harvest.  24/.  to  30/.,  and  work-horses  from  20/.  to 
11.  thought  a  great  price  for  a  horse.  25/.  each. 

Land  rented  at  6s.  per  acre,  and  only  two  I/and  at  30s.  and  all  enclosed  with  dykes 
small  farms  enclosed.  and  thorn  hedges. 

No  English  cloth  worn  but  by  the  mi-  There  arc  few  who  do  not  wear  English 
nister  and  a  quaker.  cloth,  and  several  the  best  superfine. 

Men's  stockings  were  what  were  called  Cotton  and  thread  stockings  are  worn  by 
plaiding  hose,  made  of  woollen  cloth.  The  both  sexes,  masters  and  servants.  Some 
women  wore  coarse  plaids.  Not  a  cloak  have  silk  ones.  The  women  who  wear 
nor  a  bonnet  was  worn  by  any  woman  in  plaids  have  them  fine  and  faced  with  silk, 
the  whole  parish.  Silk  pi j ids,  cloaks,  and  bonnets  are  very- 

numerous. 

Only  two  hats  in  the  parish.  The  men  Few  bonnets  are  worn,  and  the  bonnet- 
wore  cloth  bonnets.  makers'  trade  is  given  up. 

There  was  only  one  eight-day  clock  in  Thirty  clocks,  one  hundred  watches,  and 
the  parish,  six  watches,  and  one  tea-kettle,     above  sixty  teakettles. 

The  people  never  visited  each  other  but  People  visit  each  other  often.  Six  or 
at  Christmas.  The  entertainment  was  seven  dishes  are  set  on  the  table  differently 
broth  and  beef,  and  the  visiters  sent  to  some  dressed.  After  dinner  a  large  bowl  of  rum 
ale-house  for  five  or  six  pints  of  ale,  and  puncher  whiskey  toddy  is  drunk — then  tea, 
were  merry  over  it  without  any  ceremony,    then  another  bowl,  then  supper,  and,  atler 

that,  the  grace  drink. 

Every  person  in  the  parish,  if  in  health.  Much  lukewarmness  prevails  with  regard 
attended  divine  worship  on  Sunday,  which  to  religious  irstruction,  and  a  consequent 
was  regularly  and  religiously  observed.  inattention  and  indifterence  to  woriship  and 

ordinances. 

Few  were  guilty  of  any  breach  of  the  The  third  commandment  seems  to  be 
third  commandment.  almost  forgotten,    and    profane    swearing 


IV 


greatly  abounds. 


114  CATTLE. 

have  white  spots  on  the  foreliead,  and  white  on  the  flanks  and  belly.  There 
are  more  brindled  cattle  than  in  Aberdeen;  some  are  dark  red,  and  others 
of  a  silver  yellow  or  dun.  A  few  are  black  with  white  hairs  intermixed; 
and  occasionally  a  beast  is  seen  that  is  altogether  white,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  black  hairs  about  the  head. 

The  Forfar  horned  calUe  are  shorter  in  the  leg,  thicker  in  the  shoulder, 
rounder  in  the  carcase,  straighter  in  the  back,  and  carry  the  head  better 
than  the  Aberdeens.  The  horns  are  smaller,  better  proportioned,  curved 
upwards  and  forwards,  and  sharper  at  the  points.  They  are  evidently  a 
ci'oss  between  the  Highland  and  the  Low  Country  or  doddied  breed. 

A  writer  in  the  'Farmer's  Magazine'  for  1814,  replying  to  some  queries 
respecting  the  breed  of  Angus,  draws  the  following  comparison  between 
the  horned  cattle  of  this  county  and  those  of  the  neighbouring  districts. 

'The  horns  of  Angus  and  Kincardineshire  cattle  are  much  the  same, 
being  smaller  and  better  proportioned  than  ihose  of  the  Buchan  district 
of  Aberdeenshire,  and  more  like  tliose  of  the  middle  district.  At  three 
years  old  the  horns  of  an  Angusshire  stot  will  be  as  well  raised  and  sharp 
at  the  extremity  as  at  two  years  old,  but  not  so  strong  in  the  horn.  The 
horns  of  the  cattle  in  the  higher  districts  of  Aberdeenshire  are  by  far 
thicker,  rounder,  and  straighter  out  from  the  sides  of  the  head,  than  those 
of  the  cattle  in  the  middle  districts'of  Angus,  while  the  Fifeshire  catde 
have  horns  larger,  more  oval,  and  not  so  sharp  at  the  point,  as  the  gene- 
rality of  the  Angus  cattle. 

'  The  Kincardineshire  cattle  are  rather  smaller  that  the  Angus,  but  the 
shapes  are  much  the  same.  Those  of  Fifeshire  are  stronger,  larger,  and 
rougher-boned  than  the  Angus  catUe. 

'  The  weight  of  the  Angus  horned  cattle  cannot  be  well  ascertained,  as 
few  are  kept  in  the  county  to  the  proper  age,  and  the  difference  in  keeping 
of  these  is  so  great ;  but  being  so  well  proportioned,  they  will  weigh  more 
to  their  appearance  than  the  cattle  of  either  of  the  above  counties.  The 
Angus  cattle  are  preferable  for  feeding,  liaving  all  the  good  qualities  for 
that  purpose.' 

An  account  of  the  Angus  polled  or  doddied  cattle,  and  which  is  now 
become  the  most  numerous  and  valuable  breed  of  that  county,  will  be 
given  hereafter  when  we  treat  of  the  polled  cattle  generally. 

FIFESHIRE. 

The  county  of  Fife  is  a  kind  of  peninsula  included  between  the  river  Tay 
on  the  north,  and  the  Frith  of  Forth  on  the  south,  with  Perth,  Kinross, 
and  Clackmannan  on  the  east.  The  climate  along  the  Frith  of  Forth  is 
temperate ;  it  is  also  mild  along  the  banks  of  the  Eden  ;  but  the  west  and 
north-west  parts,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Lomond  hills,  are  chilly 
and  ungenial.  In  no  county,  however,  is  the  character  of  the  catde  so 
uniform,  and  in  few  parts  do  they  more  decidedly  unite  the  best  qualities 
which  cattle  can  possess.  They  bear  evident  impress  of  their  Highland 
origin,  but  there  has  been  a  cross  which  distinguishes  them  from  all  other 
Scotch  catde.     Dr.  Thompson,*  in  his  not  altogether  scientific  or  satisfac- 

*Tlie  statistical  account  of  Scotland,  under  the  article  Duniclien,  gives  us  no  favourable 
opinion  of  the  Scoltisti  cow-leecJies,  when  he  describes  the  manner  in  which  they  were 
there,  and  prob.ibly  in  the  greater  part  of  Scotland  installed  in  their  office.  '  Formerly 
one  bl  rcksniitii,  who  was  also  a  farrier,  was  alone  allowed  to  exercise  his  business  on  a 
barony  or  estate.  He  had  the  exclusive  privilege  of  dicing  all  the  hL;cksmith  and  farrier's 
work.  For  this  he  paid  a  small  rent  to  tlie  proprietor,  and  every  tenant  paid  hitu  a  cer- 
tain quantity  of  corn.  About  thirty  years  ago  a  persc-n  of  this  description  had  this  sole 
right  on  the  barony  of  Dunichen,  for  which  he  paid  1/.  per  annum  yearly. 


FIFESHiRE.  US 

tory  'Survey  of  Fifeshire,'  thus  describes  them : — '  Though  the  true  Fife 
breed  may  be  found  of  any  colour,  the  prevailing  one  is  black;  nor  are 
they  less  esteemed  though  spotted  or  streaked  with  white  or  of  a  gray 
colour.  The  horns  are  small,  white,  generally  pretty  erect,  or  at  least 
turned  up  at  the  points,  and  bending  rather  forward.'  (The  Fife  ox  would 
be  readily  distinguished  at  a  considerable  distance  by  this  j)eculiarity  in 
the  form  of  the  horn.)  '  The  bone  is  small  in  proportion  to  the  carcase  ; 
the  limbs  clean,  but  short ;  and  the  skin  soft '.  they  are  wide  between  the 
extreme  points  of  the  hock  bones  ;  the  ribs  are  narrow  and  wide  set,  and 
have  a  greater  curvature  than  in  other  kinds,  which  gives  the  body  a  thick, 
round  form.'  (The  thick,  round  form  of  the  Fife  cattle  is  evident  enough  ; 
but  we  confess  we  do  not  understand  this  account  of  the  peculiarities  of 
shape  which  are  to  give  it.)  '  They  fatten  quickly,  and  fill  up  well,  at 
all  the  choice  points.  They  are  hardy,  fleet,  and  travel  well ;  tame  and 
docile,  and  excellent  for  work,  whether  in  the  plough  or  in  the  cart.'  The 
use  of  oxen  in  husbandry,  however,  is  much  diminished  even  in  Fife.  In 
1792,  in  Auchterderran,  of  the  fifty -one  ploughs  which  the  parish  con- 
tained, seventeen  were  worked  by  horses,  and  now  a  smaller  number 
would  be  found  worked  with  oxen.  There  is  a  very  great  difference  in 
the  size  of  the  Fife  oxen,  and  this  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  difl^erence 
in  the  quality  of  the  pasture,  and  the  attention  paid  in  breeding  and 
rearing.  When  fed  for  the  butcher,  they  generally  weigh  from  thirty-five 
to  sixty-five  stones.     They  have  been  slaughtered  at  more  than  100  stones. 

They  are  far  from  unprofitable  for  the  dairy.  A  good  Fife  cow  will 
give  from  five  to  seven  gallons  of  milk  per  day,  or  from  seven  to  nine 
pounds  of  butter,  or  from  ten  to  twelve  pounds  of  cheese  per  week  for 
some  months  after  calving;  while  the  cowls  in  milk  for  ten  or  eleven 
months. 

Writers  have  amused  themselves  with  many  unsatisfactory  disquisitions 
as  to  the  origin  of  the  Fife  breed.  The  Highland  origin  cannot  be 
disputed  ;  but  a  southern  cow  or  bull  was  certainly  one  of  the  progenitors 
of  this  very  useful  variety  of  black  cattle.  Some  say  that  when  James  VI. 
(James  I.  of  England)  received  the  news  of  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  and 
was  compelled  to  set  out  on  his  journey  to  England  without  the  time  or 
the  means  to  make  his  triumphal  procession  sufficiently  splendid,  he 
hastily  borrowed  a  considerable  sum  of  money  from  some  of  his  faithful 
adherents  in  Fife.  The  English  treasury,  however,  was  not  sufficiendy 
rich,  or  his  private  resources  not  such  as  to  enable  him  to  repay  the  debt 
in  specie;  but  as  an  honourable  acknowledgment  of  the  obligation,  and 
one  of  the  greatest  benefits  he  could  confer  on  his  former  subjects,  he  sent 
them  some  valuable  cattle  from  England.  From  what  county  they  came, 
or  to  what  breed  they  belonged,  neither  history  nor  tradition  relates. 

A  more  generally  received  opinion  is,  that  in  addition  to  the  30,000 
angel-nobles,  which  Margeret,  the  daughter  of  Henry  VII.  of  England, 
brought  with  her  when  she  became  the  bride  of  James  IV.  of  Scotland, 
300  English  cows,  a  simple  but  invaluable  wedding  present,  were  added 
by  her  father  to  the  dowry.  The  progeny  of  these  cattle  received  the  name 
of  Falklands,  because  James  and  his  young  consort  resided  principally  at 
Falkland  palace,  and  to  the  park  belonging  to  which  this  present  from  her 
father  was  naturally  conveyed.  Here  again  tradition  is  silent  as  to  the 
district  whence  these  came.  Cambridge  claims  the  honour,  but  probably 
without  pretensions  better  founded  than  those  of  many  other  counties. 
There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  at  a  considerable  remote  p^^riod,  the  Fife 
breed  was  materially  improved  by  intermixture  with  some  southern  variety, 
and  that  the  improvement  commenced  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Falkland. 


116  CATTLE. 

Similar  attempts  have  since  been  made  in  other  parts  of  Scotland,  but 
rarely  with  such  decided  success ;  this,  however,  will  not  surprise  the 
agriculturist  when  it  is  recollected,  that  while  the  Highland  cattle  of 
Scotland  have  remained,  until  very  lately,  nearly  the  same  that  they  were 
centuries  ago,  the  English  cattle  generally  have  strangely  altered  their 
character,  and  doubled  their  size,  since  the  time  of  Henry  VH.,  and  even 
that  of  James  I.  The  comparatively  small  cattle  of  England  might  then 
amalgamate  with  the  Scotch,  but  there  would  be  less  affinity  between  the 
Scotch  and  those  of  the  present  day.* 

However  the  fact  may  be  explained,  Fifeshire  now  contains,  as  decidedly 
as  Devonshire,  or  Herefordshire,  or  Sussex,  a  breed — and  an  excellent  one, 
too — of  her  own.  Made  wise,  and  somewhat  expensively  so  by  experience, 
the  Fifeshire  farmers  are  convinced  that  their  cattle  cannot  be  further 
improved  in  all  their  points,  or  as  a  ichole,  by  any  foreign  cross,  and  they 
conhne  themselves  to  a  judicious  selection  from  their  own.f  The  Fifes, 
however,  have  never  established  themselves  in  the  south,  nor  penetrated 
towards  the  north  beyond  the  counties  immediately  continguous.  'J'he 
prejudice  of  each  district  in  favour  of  its  native  breed  may  partly  account 
for  this,  but  a  more  satisfactory  explanation  results  from  the  fact,  not 
sufficiendy  regarded  by  agriculturists,  and  to  which  we  shall  often  refer, 
that  there  must  be  every  where  a  kind  of  identity  between  the  breed  and 
the  soil,  and  which  is  always  slowly,  and  in  many  cases,  never  acquired. 

There  is  no  great  peculiarity  in  the  management  of  the  Fifeshire  cattle. 
In  some  parts  the  dairy  is  particularly  attended  to,  and  from  the  account 
which  we  have  given  of  the  quantity  of  milk  and  butter  yielded  by  a 
Fifeshire  cow,  it  returns  a  fair  average  profit. 

On  farms  adapted  to  breeding,  the  dairy  is  a  secondary  object.  A. 
sufhcient  number  of  cows  are  kept  to  rear  the  calves,  some  of  which  are 
bought  of  the  cottagers,  or  at  the  neighbouring  markets.  They  are  fed 
from  the  pail,  and  usually  obtain  every  day  2^,  or  three  gallons  of 
milk,  or  hay-tea,  or  gruel,  mixed  with  tlie  milk,  for  ten  or  twelve 
weeks,  when  they  are  weaned.  The  late  calves  are  generally  disposed  of 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  the  milk  converted  to  the  purposes  of  the  dairy. 
The  number  of  milch  cows  are  calculated  at  about  10,000.  Dr.  Thompson 
supposes  that  the  whole  stock  of  cattle,  including  lean  ones,  and  others 

*  They  have,  however,  in  some  cases,  advantageously  amalgamated.  Mr.  Adam 
Ferguson,  in  his  Essay  on  Crossing,  (Quarterly  Journal  of  Agrieullure,  No.  1,)  after 
observing  that '  nothing  can  wear  a  more  inviting  aspect  than  the  idea  of  uniting  the 
early  fattening  propensity,  docile  habits,  and  large  size  of  the  one  breed  with  the  hardiness 
and  many  valuable  qualities  of  the  other,  securing,  as  is  thus  imagined,  a  permanent 
variety  exceeding  in  value  either  of  the  parent  stoeiis,'  and  acknowledging  that  'the  first 
fruits  will,  in  general,  tend  to  confirm  this  hope,'  yet  'cautions  the  breeder  against  over- 
sanguine  hope  from  such  a  system.'  He  relates,  however,  some  instances  in  which  the 
experiment  did  succeed  to  a  very  great  extent.     His  account  is  as  follows: — 

'About  the  same  time  I  had  an  excellent  opportunity  of  observing,  during  three  years, 
an  interesting  experiment,  conducted  upon  an  extensive  scale  by  a  gentleman  of  much 
talent  and  zeal  as  an  agriculturist.  His  object  was  to  obtain  a  mixed  breed  which  should 
permanently  retain  all  the  good  points  of  improved  short-horns,  and  choice  West  High- 
landers or  Ivylocs.  He  bred  from  tlie  short-horn  bull  and  Highland  cow,  and  had  con- 
tinued to  do  so  through  many  gradations  for  ten  or  twelve  years  to  the  period  when  I 
last  inspected  his  stock.  At  this  time  my  impression  was,  that  the  variety  was  fast 
returning  to  the  pure  short-horn.     Many  fine  animals  were  brought  to  market. 

tThe  Rev.  John  Forrester,  however,  asserts,  in  his  'statistical  account'  of  the  parish 
of  Anstruther  Wester,  in  this  county,  that  the  breed  of  cattle  has  been  nmch  improved 
by  crossing  willi  the  Lanark  and  tlie  Holderness,  and  by  wint  r-feeding  on  turnips. 
The  first  result  is,  as  we  have  asserted  in  the  text,  contrary  to  the  experience  of  every 
agriculturist :  but  of  the  truth  of  the  latter  assertion  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for  there  are 
few  more  profitable  applications  of  turnips  in  a  breeding  country  than  to  the  support  of 
the  young  stock. 


THE  PERTHSHIRE  BREED,  117 

brought  from  the  neighbouring  counties,  for  grazing,  is  about  60,000 ;  and 
the  statistical  account  gives  the  same  number.* 

Some,  however,  of  the  Fifeshlre  farmers,  have  suspected  that  their  cattle, 
although  excellent,  might  be  capable  of  improvement,  and  they  have 
crossed  them  with  the  Angus,  the  Ayrshire,  and  the  Teeswaler.  A  breed 
of  polled  cattle  has  also  made  its  appearance  in  Fife,  possessing  all  the 
good  qualities  of  the  horned,  with  even  superior  propensity  to  fatten,  and 
much  greater  quietness  and  docility.  Tlie  pure  Durhams  have  been  esta- 
blished in  some  parts  of  Fife,  but  not  always  without  difRculty.  Those 
that  were  imported  have  been  injured  by,  or  sunk  under  the  greatest  rigour 
of  the  climate;  but  many  of  the  calves  of  the  Durham  breed,  dropped  in 
Fifeshire,  have,  on  good  pasture,  retained  all  the  good  qualities  of  the 
short  horns,  combined  with  the  requisite  degree  ofhardihood.  Lady  Mary 
Lindsay  Crawfurd,  of  Crawfurd  Priory,  was  unsuccessful  at  first  in  her 
attempts  to  keep  the  Durham  breed,  but  she  has  now  many  pure  and 
beautiful  cattle  of  this  kind. 

THE  CENTRAL  DISTRICT. 

This  consists  of  Perthshire,  Stirlingshire,  Clackmannan  and  Kinross,  and 
will  not  long  detain  us,  as  there  is  little  distinctness  of  breed,  and  few  pecu- 
liarities of  management. 

PERTHSHIRE. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  point  out  any  native  breed  of  cattle  in  Perthshire. 
If  it  can  he  found  in  any  district  it  is  in  the  moorland  part  of  the  county, 
where  the  attention  of  the  farmer  used  to  be  chiefly  directed  to  tlie  rearing 
ofcatUe,  for  his  ground  was  good  for  nothing  else  untU  the  sheep 
husbandry  was  introduced.!  If  we  consider  these  as  the  true  Perthshire 
cattle,  they  are    of  an  inferior  kind.     The  highland  origin  is  visible  about 

*  The  following  account  of  the  dimensions  of  a  celebrated  bull  belonging  ttithe  Earl 
of  Devon  may  give  agriculturists  of  other  districts  a  more  satisfactory  notion  ofthe  pro- 
portions  ofthe  best  Fife  cattle  : — 

Length  ofthe  head 

Do.         from  the  root  of  the  horn  to  the  rump 

Do.         from  the  root  of  the  horn  to  the  top  of  the  shoulder 

Do.         ofthe  horn 

Distance  from  point  to  point  of  ditto 

Girth  of  tlie  body  at  the  shoulder 

Do.  do         before  hough  bones  . 

Girth  ofthe  body  fore  leg   smallest  part  between  the  knee 
and  hoof   . 

Do.  do.       hinder  leg  at  ditto 

Do.  do.  fore  leg  at  fore  spald 

Height  at  the  shoulder 

Do.         at  hough  bone 

Do.         from  the  shoulder  to  the  breast  bone 

Do.         of  tiie  knee-joint — fore  leg 

Breadth  of  the  hough  bones  . 
t  Dr.  Roliortson,  in  his  '  Survey  of  Perthshire,'  gives  an  eloquent  and  unanswerable 
defenccof  the  system  of  sheep-husbandry  introduced  here,  as  well  as  in  almost  every 
part  ofScotland,  and  materially  diuiinishing  the  breed  of  cattle.  We  ought  by  no  means 
to  forget  the  improvement  occasioned  by  the  sheep.  They  enrich  (he  quality,  and 
enlarge  the  quantity  of  grr.ss  within  their  walk  more  than  any  other  species  of  animals. 
They  never  deteriorate  thesoil;  they  render  it  more  and  more  productive  ;  and  wherever 
their  numbers  are  increased  upon  a  certain  extent  of  land,  they  help  to  support  that 
increase  of  numbers  by  producing  an  increase  of  food.  The  ground  is  not  only  made 
green,  and  the  heath  extirpated  by  the  enriching  quality  of  their  manure,  but  the  finest 
grass  springs  up  spontaneously  where  it  had  formerly  been  scanty  and  coarse  ;  and  when 
this  powerful  top-dressing    of  our  whole  hills  with  sheep-dung  and  urine  has   been 


Feet. 

Inches. 

.      2 

0 

.      8 

4 

2 

6* 

'.      1 

01 

1 

10 

.      7 

fii 

.      7 

Bh 

.      0 

n 

.      0 

H 

.      2 

0 

.      4 

11 

.      4 

11 

.      3 

6 

1 

0^ 

.      2 

2 

and  ur 

lansvve 

as  in  aj 

Imost   1 

118  CATTLE. 

them,  but  it  has  been  deteriorated  by  some  southern  mixture;  or,  at  lesst, 
the  two  breeds  have  not  mingled  well  together — for  the  beauty  of  form, 
and  propensity  to  fatten  of  the  Arsyle  are  diminished,  and  the  milking 
properties  of  the  southrons    are  not  fully  developed.      - 

In  many  parts  of  Perthshire  the  breeds  of  the  neighbouring  counties  are 
found  unmixed.  In  the  vicinity  of  Perth  and  the  Bridge  of  Earn,  and  in 
the  Carse  of  Govvrie,  the  Fifeshire,  and  Argus  cattle  are  found,  either 
pure  or  mingled  in  various  proportions.  About  Monteath  many  Gal- 
loways are  grazed.  In  other  parts  of  the  south,  and  on  the  borders  of 
Siirling  and  Dumbarton,  the  Ayrshire  cows  prevail,  or  have  superseded  all 
the  rest ;  and  on  the  borders  of  Argyle  the  true  West-Highlanders  are 
seen,  and  degenerated  in  none  of  their  essential  points.  A  few  gentle- 
men have  attempted  to  introduce  the  Devons,  others  the  Guernseys,  some 
the  short-horns,  and  even  the  long-horns  have  found  their  advocates. 
Perthshire,  like  many  of  the  midland  counties  of  England,  presents  a 
mixture  of  every  breed,  varying  according  to  the  soil,  or  the  description  of 
the  farm,  or  the  whim  of  the  occupier. 

Another  system  of  grazing  is  pursued  in  some  parts  of  the  county,  and 
particularly  in  the  grazing  districts.  Highland  stots  are  bought  in  at  the 
end  of  autumn,  and  fed  during  the  winter,  for  the  May  and  June  markets. 
They  are  turned  out  on  \hbfogS!;age,  or  pastures  that  have  been  mown, 
until  the  middle  or  end  of  December,  according  to  the  severity  or  mildness 
of  the  season.  Then  a  Hide  straw  with  bog-hay  is  carried  to  them,  and  in 
the  May  or  June  of  the  following  year,  they  pursue  their  course  south- 
ward, yielding  to  the  farmer  a  profit  of  30s.  or  2/.  per  head. 

In  respect  to  the  number  of  cattle  which  the  county  contains  it  stands 
second;  the  statistical  account  assigns  to  it  moie  than  79,000.  The 
catUe  have,  however,  of  late  materially  improved  although  they  have  not 
assumed  any  distinguishing  character;  and  the  dairy  cattle,  in  the  midland 
parts  of  the  counties,  have  taken  somewhat  the  start  in  the  career  of  improve- 
ment.    A  kw  oxen  are  worked  in  the  plough,  but  none  on  the  road. 

Sheep  husbandry  has  advanced  as  rapidly  in  this  country  as  in  the 
neighbouring  ones,  and  the  bleak  mountains  of  Perth  are  nearly  al)an- 
doned  to  the  sheep :  on  the  other  hand,  the  management  of  cattle,  both 
in  the  grazing  or  dairy  districts,  is  materially  improved.  In  the  Carse 
of  Gowrie,  where  there  is  much  arable  land,  the  usual  stock  of  the  farm 
is  not  always  sufficient  to  consume  the  straw.  Young  cattle  are  therefore 
bought  in  from  the  neighbouring  markets,  which  are  kept  in  the  winter 
on  straw  and  turnips,  and  in  the    following  May  are  sold  to   the  dealers, 

completed,  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  Grampians  will  be  as  verdant  as  the  Ochils; 
while  the  Ochils  had  once  us  forbidding  an  aspect  as  the  Grampians.' 

We  may  compare  with  this,  an  account  given  of  the  management  of  cattle  on  the 
moorlands  twenty. five  years  ago  ('  Farmer's  Magazine,'  1807.)  Formerly  the  cuttle  stock 
in  tliis  quarter  were  very  much  neglected  during  winter,  no  provision  of  succulent  food, 
nor  indeed  oS'any  thing  excepting  straw,  being  made  for  them.  In  the  spring  this  was 
particularly  harid  upon  tlie  cows  in  calf.  They  were  sometimes  so  debilitated  as  to  be 
nnable  to  bring  fortli ;  and  frequently  contracted  diseases  under  which  tiiey  laboured  for 
a  long  time,  and  of  which  they  nt;ver  recovered.  1  well  remember  the  poor  wives  during 
the  nipping  north-east  winds  in  May,  provincially  called  tlie  Cow^uu/ce,  tending  their  cows, 
reduced  to  a  skeleton  and  covered  with  a  blanket,  while  they  picked  up  any  spring  grass 
whicli  had  begun  to  rise  in  the  kail-yard,  or  at  the  bottoms  of  walls  or  banks  ;  and  to  such 
extremities  were  they  reduced  at  times,  tliat  I  have  heard  of  tiieir  taking  the  half-rotten 
thatch  from  tlic  roots  of  the  houses,  and  giving  it  to  the  half-dead  animal,  as  the  means  of 
prolongingtheir  miserable  existence.  On  this  account  the  half  of  them  did  not  take  the 
bull,  and  those  that  did  were  too  late  for  rearing  stout  calves.  The  yeld  cattle  were  so 
emaciated,  that  it  was  alwaysthe  end  of  the  season  before  the  heath,  and  sterile,  hidebound 
leas  on  which  they  were  depastured,  brought  them  into  such  condition  as  would  now  be 
considered  as  but  half-fat. 


THE  STIRLINGSHIRE  BREED.  119 

or  the  farmers  of  the  adjacent  counties,  who  give  them  a  few  months' 
summer  pasturage,  and  dispose  of  them  for  England,  or  the  soutliern 
districts  of  Scotland.  In  the  Carse  of  Govvrie  is  found  some  of  the  most, 
fertile  soil,  and  also  some  of  the  most  intelligent  farmers  in  the  kingdom ; 
but  in  the  Highland  districts,  even  the  sheep-husbandry  needs  much  im- 
provement, and  the  cattle  are  much  neglected.* 

Mr.  Gorrie,  in  his  'Account  of  the  Carse  of  Govvrie,'  published  in 
the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Agriculture  for  June  1832,  says,  '  Although  the 
nature  of  the  district  renders  the  rearing  of  cattle  less  profitahle  than  the 
production  of  grain,  some  specimens  of  the  most  improved  breeds  have 
been  produced,  which  would  have  done  credit  to  the  most  eminent  breeders 
of  the  south.  On  the  Braes  (a  level  tract)  of  the  Carse,  breeding  and 
rearing  of  cattle  might  be  conducted  more  advantageously  and  to  a  greater 
extent  than  at  present,  were  the  higher  part  of  the  ground  inclosed  and 
properly  sheltered  by  slips  of  planting. 

STIRLINGSHIRE. 

This  is  far  more  a  grazing  than  a  breeding  county:  indeed,  the  attention 
of  the  farmers  is  confined  to  grazing,  to  the  exclusion  of  almost  everything 
else,  the  very  plough  being  chiefly  used  with  a  view  to  the  sustenance  of 
their  cattle  during  the  winter.  The  pastures  of  Stirlingshire,  both 
natural  and  artificial,  are  exceedingly  rich  ;  and  from  its  situation  it  forms 
the  first  convenient  halting  place  for  the  Western  Highland  cattle,  while 
it  is  the  great  thoroughfare  for  these  cattle  during  the  whole  of  the  sum- 
mer. Many  of  the  Stirlingshire  farmers  purchase  the  best  of  the  Skye  or 
Argyle  beasts  about  the  beginning  of  summer,  and  turn  them  on  their  fine 
natural  or  artificial  pastures,  on  which  they  are  made  ready  for  the  market 
by  the  end  of  autumn. 

The  carses  extending  from  Stilling  to  Boness  can  boast  a  soil,  perhaps, 
not  exceeded  by  any  in  Britain,  and  they  are  almost  entirely  under  tillage; 
and  to  the  West  of  Falkirk,  large  tracts  of  land  are  farmed  out  for  grazing, 
either  to  residents  in  the  neighbourhood  or  to  speculators,  and  many  of  the 
butchers  from  a  considerable  distance.  The  summer  feeding  never  fails, 
and,  except  in  a  year  of  extreme  scarcity,  the  winter  feeding  for  the  large 
stocks  of  sheep  and  cattle  bought  in  at  the  trysts  is  excellent. 

In  the  statistical  account  of  Fintry,  in  this  county,  honourable  mention 
is  made  of  Mr.  David  Dun,  who  established,  if  he  did  not  introduce,  this 
improved  mode  of  grazing,  and  which  has  been  adopted  in  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  west  and  south  of  Scotland.  His  principles  were,  to  select 
from  the  choicest  cattle  in  order  to  stock  his  farm,  and  to  keep  his  grass 
lighter  than  farmers  had  been  accustomed  to  do,  i.  e.  to  put  fewer  cattle 
upon  his  land  than  had  been  usual;  and  the  consequence  was,  that  his 

*  In  the  statistical  account  of  Longforgan,  in  the  county  of  Perth,  a  singular  account  is 
given  of  the  manner  of  fattening  calves.  'They  are  led  in  a  box,  which  is  made  of 
very  coarse  boards,  4^  or  5  leet  long,  and  4  or  4^  high,  and  about  2  feet  wide, 
in  proportion  to  the  breed  to  be  fed.  Tlie  boards  of  which  the  box  is  made  are  to  be  put 
8>i  close  to  one  another,  as  to  let  in  sufficient  air,  but  no  more,  as  the  exclusion  of  light  is 
one  essential  part  of  the  process.  It  stands  upon  lour  feet,  and  is  pLced  a  little 
slanting  to  drain  off  all  wetness,  and  the  bottom  should  be  covered  with  straw  or  hay,  and 
which  should  be  changed  twice  a  week.  Tiie  call  is  put  into  his  box  when  newly  dropped, 
or  as  soon  afterwards  as  possible,  and  for  the  first  week,  milk  is  given  to  it  cautiously, 
after  wiiich  tlie  milk  is  given  more  freely,  and  when  about  ten  days  old  it  is  bled.  It 
then  gets  as  much  sweet  milk  fresh  from  the  cow  as  it  can  take  three  times  a  day,  and 
a  large  piece  of  chalk  is  hung  in  the  box,  which  it  occasionally  licks.  The  bleeding  is 
repeated  once  a  week,  and  it  becomes  fine  veal  in  ten  weeks.  If  it  is  a  bull  call,  it  is  cut 
at  about  a  week  old,  otherwise  the  veal  will  neither  be  so  good,  nor  so  white. 


120  CATTLE. 

beasts  throve  with  a  rapidity  before  unexampled.  He  is  said  to  have  sold 
one  Highland  stot,  which  yielded  fifty-two  stones  (tron)  of  beef.*  At  another 
time  he  disposed  of  twenty-five  Highland  stots  for  12/.  each,  the  lightest 
of  which  weighed  thirty  stones  (tron).  He  died  in  1794.  He  was  leading 
a  sheep  across  a  wooden  bridge,  when  the  rail  of  the  bridge  giving  way, 
he  was  thrown  into  the  river,  and,  falling  upon  a  stone,  he  was  killed  on 
the  spot.  He  was  with  great  propriety,  called  the  Scotch  Bakewell ;  and 
there  was  no  man  to  whom  the  central  districts  of  Scotland  were  more 
indebted. 

I'he  breeding  of  catUe  is  mostly  confined  to  the  dairy  districts,  such  as 
Kilsyth,  Campsie,t  Strathblane,  St.  Ninians,  and  the  muir  lands  to  the 
south  of  Falkirk;  and  here  it  is  pursued  with  greater  ardour  than  formerly, 
although  seldom  to  much  greater  extent  than  to  keep  up  the  stock;  but  this 
stock  is,  since  the  introduction  of  Agricultural  Societies  and  the  offering  of 
premiums,  very  materially  improved. 

The  dairy  cattle  have  been,  since  the  year  1817,  chiefly  of  the  Ayrshire 
breed,  and  that  mostly  pure ,  for  a  cross  between  the  Ayrshire  and  the 
native  cattle  has  not  generally  succeeded.  On  the  ground  of  some  cottager, 
however,  a  cow  of  the  mixed  breed  will  occasionally  be  found  yielding 
abundance  of  milk  and  tolerably  good  in  quality,  and  afterwards  fattening 
with  a  rapidity  scarcely  inferior  to  the  true  Highlander.  The  cattle  that 
are  designed  for  summer  fattening  are  out  day  and  night;  but  the  milch 
cows  are  sometimes  housed  during  the  night,  while  by  other  farmers  they 
are  housed  and  fed  by  soiling  during  the  heat  of  the  day,  and  turned  out 
at  night. 

Oxen  were  formerly  much  used  in  Stirlingshire  ;  but,  very  few  teams  are 
now  kept  in  any  part  of  the  country.  The  average  number  of  cattle  in 
Stirlingshire,  including  the  flying  stock,  is  rather  more  than  19,000. 

The  osntral  situation  of  Stirlingshire  with  regard  to  the  breeders  of  cattle 
in  the  northern  and  western  counties,  and  the  buyers  or  dealers  from  the 
southern  and  eastern  parts  of  Great  Britain,  cause  it  to  be  selected  for  the 

*  The  weight  is  commonly  calculated  in  these  districts  by  the  stone,  tron,  which  con- 
sists of  16  lbs.,  at  22  oz.  each,  and,  consequently,  the  weight  of  the  beast  was  equivalent 
to  nearly  82  stones  of  Imperial  weight,  or  14  lbs.  each,  or  exactly  143  stones  Smithfield 
weight  of  8  lbs.  each. 

t  The  Rev.  Mr.  Lapslie,  in  his  statistical  account  of  Campsie,  gives  the  following 
account  of  the  cattle  in  that  parish  in  17!)3: — 'Milk  cows  74!),  which,  within  the  last 
thirty  years  have  increased  coni^iderubly  in  bulk,  hence  they  have  a  tendency  to  be  in 
flesli  more  than  to  give  milk ;  they,  however,  give  on  the  average  from  seven  to  eleven 
Scots  pints  daily.  Below  seven  they  are  not  thought  worth  keeping  for  the  dairy ; 
above  eleven  they  are  considcrd  remarkable.  From  eiglit  Scots  pints  nearly  one  pound 
of  butter  is  produced,  and  the  cheese  is  equal  to  that  of  Dunlop.  Besides  these  there  are 
cows  and  queys,  503  ;  fat  cows,  and  young  beasts  for  the  Falkirk  market  and  the  butcher, 
917 ;  and  winterers,  whicli  are  mostly  grazed  next  summer  for  tiie  butcher,  345.  Tiie  win- 
terers graze  in  the  open  fields  during  the  whole  winter  season,  and  are  fed  once  or  twice  a 
day  with  coarse  hay,  gathered  in  autumn  among  the  cows'  feet  in  their  pastures.  The 
graziers  commonly  begin  to  fodder,  as  they  term  it,  about  Christmas,  (it  is  considered  to 
be  a  severe  winter  when  they  are  f  jrced  to  begin  before  Christmas,)  and  continue  till  the 
beginning  of  April,  when  the  cattle  refuse  it.  There  arc  kv;  cattle  grazed  but  High- 
landers, and  those  from  Argyleshire  are  preferred.  North  country  cattle  are  rejected, 
being  considered  by  the  graziers  sour,  and  difficult  to  feed.' 

Mr.  Lap>lie  gives  a  calculation  of  the  consumption  of  animal  food  in  this  parish,  'In 
1714,  only  three  cows  were  killed  for  winter-beef  in  the  whole  parish,  the  gentry  excepted. 
In  1744,  the  better  farmers  joined,  and  got  a  cow  for  a  winter-mart,  the  price  then  being 
only  35s.  or  40s.  for  a  fat  cow.  In  1759,  very  decent  fanners  thought  it  necessary  to 
have  some  part  of  a  fat  cow,  or  a  few  sheep,  suited  up  for  winter  store;  and  in  1794,  three 
hundred  fat  cows  were  killed  annunlly  about  Martinmas  time,  for  winter  provision, 
beside  the  mutton,  beef,  and  lamb,  killed  through  the  season  ;  and  few  of  the  tradesmen 
eit  down  to  dinner  without  fresh  meat  on  the  table,  and  malt  liquor  to  drink.' 


THE  KINROSS-SHIRE  BREED.  121 

holding  of  the  principal  fairs  or  cattle-markets  of  Scotland,  The  Falkirk 
trysts  are  the  most  frequented ;  they  are  held  on  the  second  Tuesday  in 
August,  September,  and  October.  All  the  catde  from  every  part  of  Scot- 
land, south  as  well  as  north,  which  are  intended  for  sale,  whether  in  good 
store  condition,  or  almost  ready  for  the  butcher,  or  lean,  and  intended  for 
wintering  in  richer  pasture  in  the  south,  are  driven  to  Falkirk.* 

KINROSS-SHIRE    AND    CLACKMANNANSHIRE. 

There  is  little  difference  in  the  character  and  general  treatment  of 
catde  in  thsse  diminutive  counties;  they  approach  to  the  Perthshire  or 
Fifeshire  breeds,  in  proportion  as  they  border  on  either  district.  A  great 
number  of  catde  used  to  be  fattened  in  the  distilleries  of  Clackmannan,  and 
particularly  in  that  of  Kilbogie ;  seven  thousand  have  sometimes  been  fed 
at  this  disuUery  in  one  year.  The  ordinary  stock  of  Kinross  is  5400,  and 
that  of  Clackmannan  nearly  1400,  exclusive  of  those  in  the  distillery.  The 
catde  husbandry  of  Kinross  has  been  materially  improved  within  the  last 
fifty  years.  The  soil  of  Clackmannan  is  more  fertile,  and  the  lew  cattle  of 
a  superior  description. 

THE  SOUTH-WEST  LOWLANDS. 

This  district  consists  of  Dumbartonshire,  Renfrewshire,  Ayrshire,  and 
Lanarkshire.  It  is  a  manufacturing  district,  and  very  thickly  peopled. 
Although  occupying  only  one-thirteenth  part  of  the  extent  of  Scodand,  it 
contains  full  one-fourth  of  the  inhabitants  ;  many  catde  are,  therefore, 
wanted  for  die  butcher  and  the  dairy.  The  soil  and  the  climate  are 
admirably  adapted  to  the  rearing  and  fattening  of  live-stock,  and  a  more 
valuable  breed,  and  particularly  of  dairy  cows,  is  not  to  be  found  in  the 
whole  kingdom. 

*  The  tryst  used  to  be  lield  on  a  large  common  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Falliirk, 
but  which  is  now  enclosed,  and  a  field  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Stenhousmuir  has  sinco 
been  selected.  It  is  about  three  miles  from  Falkirk,  on  the  otlier  side  of  the  Carron  and 
the  Glasgow  canal,  and  is  the  property  of  Sir  Michael  Bruce.  The  road  from  Falkirk  to 
it  is  not  uninteresting;  it  is  close  to  the  celebrated  Carron  ibundry,  and  that  being  past,  ti-Ks 
sheet  of  water  above  the  works,  and  the  woody  winding  way  between  it  and  the  village, 
are  very  pleasing,  while  the  traveller  is  but  a  little  way  from  two  spots  connected  with 
early  and  later  Scottish  history — the  peace  concluded  between  the  Romans  and  the 
Scots,  and  the  concealment  and  escape  of  the  hero  Wallace. 

The  field,  or  the  toll  at  its  entrance,  is  let  to  a  taxman  at  120^  yearly,  and  he  de- 
mands 8(/.  for  every  score  of  black  cattle,  3rf.  for  every  score  of  slieep,  and  \d.  for  every 
horse.  There  are,  beside,  several  tents  erected  on  the  field  at  which  refreshments  may 
be  procured,  or  where  business  is  transacted,  and  money  paid  and  received ;  for  the  use 
of  eacli  of  these  the  taxman  receives  i3s. 

At  the  last  October  tryst  (1832)  there  were,  on  the  lowest  computation,  more  than 
50,000  black  cattle,  30,000  slieep,  and  3000  horses.  It  is  worth  going  many  a  mile  to 
witness  such  a  collection  of  beasts,  and  including  every  variety  of  every  breed  of  Scotland. 
It  is  a  school  for  the  agriculturist,  from  which  he  will  not  fliil  to  derive  the  most  useful 
lessons ;  and  then,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  day,  when  the  tryst  is  over,  to  see  every  spot, 
not  only  of  the  flat  muir,  but  of  the  beautifully  undulating  ground  above,  covered  with 
cattle  and  sheep,  and  the  lierdsinen  in  their  characteristic  Scottish  dresses, either  stretched 
on  their  plaids  and  resting  for  a  whilj  their  wearied  limbs — but  still  watchful;  or  gather- 
ing into  groups  and  relating  the  occurrences  and  bargains  of  the  day;  tiiis  is  a  scene 
which  the  agriculturist  will  not  soon  forget,  and  to  which  no  one  can  be  insensible. 

The  October  is  tlic  largest  tryst,  for  all  the  cattle  which  the  farmer  wishes  to  dispose 
of  before  the  winter  are  then  brought  forward.  In  the  three  trysts  there  cannot  be  less 
than  80,000  cattle,  50,000  sheep,  and  5000  horses,  and,  averaging  the  price  of  the  cattle 
at  11.  each,  and  of  the  sheep  at  18s.,  and  of  the  harses  at  lOZ.,  their  gross  value  is  nearly 
650,000Z. 

12 


122  CATTLE. 

DUMBARTONSHIRE . 

In  a  great  part  of  Dumbartonshire  the  introduction  of  sheep-husbandry 
has  materially  lessened  the  number  of  cattle:  of  this  the  author  of  the 
statistical  account  of  Anoquhar  gives  a  convincing  proof,  when  he  says 
that  in  the  whole  of  that  parish  there  were  (in  1791)  only  480  black 
cattle,  although  10,000  sheep  were  kept.  The  cattle,  however,  are 
materially  improved,  and  the  formerly  desolate  appearance  of  the  country 
is  essentially  changed. 

The  neat  stock  of  Dumbartonshire  may  be  divided  into  three  classes : 
those  that  are  wintered  in  the  county,  those  that  are  fattened  there,  and 
the  dairy  cattle ;  for  few  are  bred  there  beyond  the  annual  consumption. 

The  portion  of  land  appropriated  to  the  wintering  of  cattle  is  the  natural 
pasture,  or  uncultivated  ground,  of  which  there  is  a  great  deal.  The  grass 
is  long  and  coarse,  but  it  will  be  eaten  by  catde  that  have  not  been  accus- 
tomed to  any  thing  better ;  and  it  is  generally  contrived  that  some  part  of  it 
shall  be  a  little  sheltered  from  the  blast.  Many  West-Highlanders,  and 
principally  from  Argyle,  are  purchased  in  October  or  November,  and  chiefly 
at  Falkirk  market,  and  they  are  turned  in  the  wintering  grounds*  without 
any  other  provender,  until  the  winter  thoroughly  sets  in,  and  the  ground 
is  covered  with  snow;  they  are  then  fed  on  coarse  hay  or  straw  given 
in  the  field,  on  some  sheltered  spot.  It  is  thrown  carelessly  down,  and 
the  strongest  beast  gets  the  better  share,  and  part  of  it  is  trodden  under 
foot  and  spoiled. 

There  is  often  barely  sufiicient  of  this  coarse  hay  and  straw  to  last 
through  a  winter  of  moderate  length,  and,  therefore,  after  one  of  unusual 
severity,  the  cattle,  although  not  so  reduced  as  we  have  described  them  to 
be  in  some  parts  of  the  Highlands,  are  brought  to  market  in  poor  con- 
dition, and  sold  at  a  very  inferior  price. 

A  few  cattle  are  wintered  in  the  straw-yard,  but  they  fare  not  much 
better,  for  they  rarely  get  turnips,  they  have  straw  only,  or  this  coarse 
bog-hay,  and  they  do  not  thrive  so  well  upon  it  as  if  they  were  turned  on 
the  pasture,  scanty  as  it  is. 

In  April  or  May  they  are  usually  sold  to  the  dealers,  who  drive  them 
farther  south.  They  are  generally  two-year-olds  which  go  through  this 
process,  and  the  owner  of  the  coarse  pasture  is  fairly  repaid  by  the  growth 
of  the  cattle,  and  the  greater  price  which  beasts  even  of  the  same  size 
obtain  in  May,  above  that  which  would  be  given  for  them  in  November. 

Thus  commences  the  succession  of  journeys  and  stages  of  improvement 
which  a  great  proportion  of  the  Highland  cattle  pass  through.  Messrs. 
Whyte  and  Macfarlane  thus  speak  of  it  in  their  '  Survey  of  Dumbarton- 
shire;'— 'The  reader  will  perceive  here  some  traces  of  that  extensive 
distribution  of  labour,  in  the  management  of  stock  and  the  application  of 
grass  ground,  which  is  at  once  most  profitable  to  individuals,  and  econo- 
mical to  the  public.  The  cattle  bred  in  the  West  Highlands  are,  at  the 
age  of  two  years,  or  two  years  and  a  half,  removed  into  Dumbartonshire 
and  the  neighbouring  counties.  At  three  years  old  they  are  carried  to 
the  northern  counties  of  England,  and  so  by  degrees  southward,  enjoying 

*  These  wintering  grounds  are  usually  bog-meadows,  which  are  formed  by  the  filling 
up  of  lakes  and  deposits  of  water,  in  consequence  of  the  gradual  accumulation  of  vegetable 
matter,  and  whicli,  at  length,  attain  a  sufficient  degree  of  solidity  to  bear  the  cattle.  The 
herbage  is  at  first  of  the  coarsest  nature,  but  it  gradually  improves,  and,  although  sheep 
■will  not  eat  it,  becomes  a  valuable  part  of  the  farm,  and  tiic  chief  support  of  the  cattle  both 
in  summer  and  winter.  On  the  edges  of  most  of  the  high  sheep-pastures,  there  are  slips 
and  tracts  of  land  on  which  the  sheep  will  not  feed,  but  on  which  cattle  readily  thrive. 


THE  DUMBARTONSHIRE  BREED.  123 

at  each  remove  a  milder  climate  and  a  richer  pasture  than  before,  till  they 
attain  their  full  size,  and  reach  the  butcher  in  prime  condition.  By  this 
arrangement  the  power,  so  to  speak,  which  each  district  of  land  possesses 
in  breeding,  rearing,  or  fattening,  is  fully  called  into  action ;  the  catde  are 
exposed  to  no  sudden  or  violent  change,  but  their  situation  is  from  time 
to  time  altered  in  a  moderate  degree  for  the  better;  their  rapid  growth 
and  continued  improvement  afford  a  reasonable  profit  to  each  grazier 
through  whose  hands  they  pass,  and,  after  all,  they  are  brought  to  market 
much  cheaper  than  if  every  beast  had  remained  until  it  was  fit  for  being 
killed  on  the  soil  where  it  was  originally  bred.' 

The  profit  derived  from  the  cattle  thus  wintered  must  vary  with  a  great 
many  circumstances,  and  especially  with  the  length  and  severity  of  the 
winter  and  the  change  of  price  in  the  market,  but  the  Dumbartonshire 
grazier  is  supposed  to  get  about  25s.  by  each  beast. 

Some  cattle  are  fattened  altogether  in  Dumbartonshire,  and,  perhaps, 
originally  bred  there.  These  also  are  West  Highlanders.  If  the  pasturage, 
although  coarse,  is  abundant  and  nutritive  (for  these  moory  grounds 
often  yield  much  good  produce,)  the  cattle  remain  on  the  same  enclosure, 
or  they  are  removed  to  other  fields  that  are  not  so  closely  eaten  down, 
and  when  the  flush  of  grass  comes,  they  grow  and  fatten  at  a  most  rapid 
rate. 

Some  of  the  farms  do  better  for  summer  than  for  winter  fattening,  and 
then  the  Highlanders,  or  some  old  oxen  or  cows,  are  bought  from  their 
neighbours,  or  at  the  surrounding  markets,  and  turned  on  this  natural 
grass,  which  is  changed,  in  due  time,  for  the  aftermath  of  the  clover,  or, 
in  a  few  instances,  they  are  turned  at  once  into  the  best  pasture,  when  a 
portion  of  it  can  be  spared  from  the  cows.  In  November  they  are  fit  for 
the  butcher,  and  average  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  stones.  The  profit  on 
this  summer  grazing  varies  in  different  seasons,  but  cannot  be  computed  at 
less  than  50s.  per  head. 

In  a  few  parts  of  the  country  the  North  Highlanders  have  been  tried,  as 
being  cheaper  than  the  others,  but  they  have  not  fattened  so  kindly,  nor 
so  well  repaid  the  prime  cost,  and  expense  of  keeping. 

Stall-feeding  has  been  introduced,  and  has  answered  well,  particularly 
as  consuming  the  better  kind  of  grass  to  much  greater  advantage  than  if 
it  were  eaten  down ;  and  likewise  converting  the  turnip  crop  to  the  most 
profitable  use.  On  rich  ground,  and  with  much  artificial  food,  it  is  a 
method  of  feeding  which  will  gradually  supersede  the  pasturing  in  the 
field ;  but,  in  a  district  like  this,  the  coarse  grass  and  the  fog-hay  would 
not  be  in  any  other  way  consumed  than  by  the  old  method  of  summer  and 
more  particularly  of  winter  feeding. 

The  Highlanders  never  answered  for  the  dairy,  and  therefore  would  not 
be  kept  for  this  purpose  in  so  populous  a  county  as  Dumbartonshire,  and 
more  especially  the  small  and  inferior  variety  which  passes  under  the 
name  of  the  native  cow.  Some  attempts  have  been  made  to  cross  her 
with  the  Fife,  and  afterwards  with  the  Ayrshire  cattle,  but  they  did  not 
perfecdy  succeed ;  and  the  true  Ayrshires  have  gradually  established 
themselves  in  the  greater  part  of  the  dairies.  They  used  to  be  purchased 
from  the  neighbouring  counties  of  Renfrew  and  Ayr,  but  the  greater  part 
of  them  are  now  bred  in  Dumbartonshire,  and  are  in  no  way  inferior  to 
the  original  stock ;  or  rather,  when  properly  managed,  they  are  more  valu- 
able to  the  dairyman,  for  it  is  not  often  that  a  cow  will  thrive  anywhere  so 
well,  or  yield  so  much  milk  as  in  the  country,  and  even  on  the  farm  in 
which  she  was  bred:  and,  most  certainly,  in  cases  of  disease  the  stranger 
cow  is  lost  much  oftener  than  the  one  that  is  breathing  her  native  air. 


124  CATTLE. 

In  winter  the  milch  cows  are  fed  on  straw  with  turnips  or  potatoes,  and 
are  let  out  once  in  the  day  for  water  and  exercise;  but  as  soon  as  they 
become  dry  the  turnips  and  potatoes  are  too  often  withdrawn,  and  the 
poor  animals  are  fed  on  straw  alone.  This  is  done  from  the  absurd  idea 
that  the  succulent  food  is  relaxing,  and  apt  to  make  them  calve  before 
their  time;  whereas  they  are  improperly  weakened  at  the  time,  when,  if  it 
is  dangerous  for  them  to  be  in  full  condition,  they  should  at  least  be  in 
good  plight;  in  addition  to  this,  the  continuance  of  dry  food  will  prevent 
the  natural  flush  of  milk  at  the  time  of  calving. 

During  the  summer  months  the  milch  cow  is  in  the  field  during  the 
night,  but  sheltered  from  the  flies,  and  supplied  with  green  meat  in  the 
cowhouse  during  the  day ;  and  when  the  flies  cease  to  torment,  and  the 
nights  become  cold,  they  are  housed  during  the  night,  and  graze  at  liberty 
in  the  day. 

This  county,  and  the  whole  of  the  district  including  part  of  Stirling- 
shire and  Perth,  is  much  indebted  to  the  patriotic  exertions  of  the  Duke  of 
Montrose.  His  Grace's  factor,  Mr.  Geekie,  informs  us,  that  as  late  as  the 
year  1817,  the  dairy  catde  was  of  a  very  inferior  kind — small,  coarse, 
unshapely,  and  possessing  few  of  the  qualifications  requisite  in  a  dairy 
stock.  The  Duke  of  Montrose  and  the  principal  landed  proprietors  of  the 
district,  then  formed  themselves  into  a  society,  for  the  express  purpose  of 
the  improvement  of  cattle,  and  the  introduction  of  the  Ayrshire  breed. 
High  premiums  were  oflered  for  the  best  bulls  and  cows  which  had  been 
bred  out  of  this  district.  Liberal  donations  were  added  by  the  Highland 
Society  of  Scotland.  Great  emulation  was  thus  excited  among  the  tenantry, 
and  the  desired  eflect  was  produced  of  introducing  many  excellent  animals 
from  Ayrshire  and  Lanarkshire ;  their  progeny  became  naturalized  here, 
and,  for  the  reasons  just  stated,  they  are  even  more  valuable  than  the  ori- 
ginal breed. 

The  produce  of  a  good  Ayrshire  cow,  bred  in  Dumbarton,  is  fully  equal 
to  that  yielded  by  any  of  its  progenitors.     Mr.  Geekie  thus  averages  it: — 
For  the  first  three  months  after  calving,   10  Scots  pints  daUy. 
For  the  second         .  .  .8  „ 

For  the  third      ...  3  „ 

For  the  next  six  weeks         .  .         Ijl  :    she    is    then    dried  ; 

having  given,  all  the  year  round,  more  than  5i  Scots  pints,  or  nearly  3 
gallons  daily. 

'I'he  calves  for  the  dairy  are  generally  taken  from  their  dams  as  soon  as 
dropped,  and  fed  with  milk  from  the  hand  for  about  two  months,  the  quan- 
tity of  milk  being  gradually  decreased  when  they  begin  to  take  other  food. 
Linseed-tea  is  given  in  small  quantities  in  order  to  keep  ihe  bowels  in  a 
proper  state  while  under  milk.  Where  there  is  other  demand  for  the  milk, 
bean  or  pease  flour  is  gradually  mixed  with  it  or  substituted  for  it.  After 
the  calves  are  weaned  they  are  turned  on  good  pasture,  and  during  the  first 
winter  arc  housed,  and  fed  on  oat-straw  or  meadow-hay,  Avith,  at  least  once 
in  every  day,  some  turnips  cut  and  mixed  with  the  dry  food. 

During  the  second  summer  they  should  have  better  pasture  than  they 
usually  get,  or  they  will  not  be  raised  suflScienfly  in  size;  and  in  the 
second  winter  they  are  generally,  and  always  should  be,  housed:  a  (e\v 
agriculturists,  who  study  their  own  interests,  as  well  as  the  comfort  of 
their  cattle,  allow  ihem  some  turnips  in  addition  to  their  straw  and  hay. 
On  the  third  summer  inferior  pasture  is  sufficient,  or  they  will  get  too  fat, 
but  in  the  third  winter  they  should  be  well  kept,  and  particularly  in  the 
spring  and  until  they  have  calved. 

Heifers  at  three  years  old  will  weigh  from  twenty-eight  to  forty-five 


THE  RENFREWSHIRE  BREED.  125 

fetches  imperial  weight;  the  ox  will  average,  at  that  age,  from  forty- five 
to  fifty-five  stones,  but  some  have  weighed  130  stones. 

Oxen  have  gradually  given  way  to  horses  on  the  road  and  for  husbandry 
work,  and  there  is  now  scarcely  a  team  employed  in  the  whole  county. 

The  statistical  account  assigns  9120  as  the  number  of  cattle  in  Dum- 
bartonshire, being  not  more  than  one  to  every  sixteen  acres.  If  these  are 
averaged  at  6/.  per  head,  the  value  of  the  cattle  will  be  54,720/. 

RENFREWSHIRE. 

Renfrewshire  is  on  the  Firth  of  Clycfe,  and  south  of  Dumbartonshire. 
Its  greatest  length  is  only  thirty-one  miles,  and  its  breadth  thirteen  miles, 
and  it  is  decidedly  a  manufacturing  county,  three-fourths  of  the  inhabitants 
living  in  the  small  towns.  It  contains  10,000  cattle,  or  about  one  to  every 
fifteen  acres;  so  that  a  sufficient  number  only  are  kept  for  the  purposes  of 
the  dairy,  and  scarcely  enough  for  the  consumption  of  beef. 

The  Highland  cow  is  rarely  met  with  ;  she  has  been  properly  superseded 
by  the  dairy  cow  of  Scotland,  the  Ayrshire.*  The  Alderney  was  tried,  as 
promising  to  be  valuable  in  a  dairy  county,  from  both  the  quantity  and 
quality  of  her  milk,  but  she  was  not  found  to  answer.  She  was  crossed, 
but  with  no  success,  by  the  native  bull.  The  Durham  was  afterwards 
attempted,  and  the  Alderney  crossed  with  it ;  but,  except  on  a  fe;v  estates, 
all  have  given  way  to  the  Ayrshire.  The  Ayrshire  breed  has  been 
materially  improved  in  Renfrewshire  within  the  last  twenty  years,  not  so 
much,  perhaps,  in  size  as  in  fineness  of  bone  and  beauty  of  form.  There 
was  long  a  very  great  error  in  the  Renfrew  system  of  management;  four- 
fifths  of  the  calves  were  sold  almost  as  soon  as  they  were  dropped,  and  the 
stock  was  kept  up  by  purchasing  from  Ayrshire.  It  is  true  the  whole 
milk  of  the  cow  was  thus  preserved,  and  that  was  an  object  of  great  im- 
portance in  a  dairy  country  ;  b\it  the  breed  of  cows  in  Renfrew  suffered  to  a 
certain  degree.  The  farmer  did  not  systematically  rear  the  calves  of  those 
cows  which  from  experience  he  knew  to  be  the  best,  and  thus  secure  the 
improvement  of  his  stock,  but  he  trusted  to  the  chance  of  purchase,  which 
was  a  perfect  uncertainty,  whatever  judge  of  cattle  he  might  be;  and  sup- 
posing him  to  be  always  so  fortunate  as  to  select  a  good  milker,  he  had 
moved  her  from  her  native  place,  and,  Avith  tlie  exception,  perhaps,  of  the 
Ayrshire  cow,  oftener  than  any  other,  he  had,  to  a  mucli  greater  degree 
than  some  imagine,  lessened  her  value.  To  a  considerable  extent,  this 
practice  has  been  rectified ,  but  there  are  still  yet  too  many  dairymen  who 
look  more  to  present  convenience  and  profit  than  to  distant  although  not 
uncertain  advantage. 

A  great  deal  of  the  milk  supplies  the  dense  population  of  Paisley  and 
Greenock,  and  also  of  Glasgow,  which  is  close  on  the  borders  of  the 
county.  The  remainder  is  manufactured  into  butter,  with  which  these 
and  the  other  towns  are  supplied,  and  which  is  often  made  from  the  milk, 
instead  of  waiting  for  the  separation  of  the  cream.  The  remainder  goes 
to  the  making  of  cheese,  than  which  Scotland  cannot  produce  any  better. 
It  is  known  under  the  name  of  the  Dunlop  cheese,  but  no  great  quantity 
of  it  has  for  some  years  past  been  made.     The  greater  part  of  it  is  manu- 

*  The  Rev.  Mr,  Maxwell,  in  his  Statistical  Account  of  Kilbarchan  (1799,)  in  tkis 
county,  unknowingly  proves  that  the  Ayrshire  cow  was  early  introduced  here  when  he 
says,  '  The  cows  most  esteemed  here  are  those  of  a  small  mouth,  head  and  neck  long 
and  small.  With  respect  to  colour,  those  spotted  brown  and  white  are  preferred.'  The 
Rev.  Mr.  M'Latchie,  in  his  account  of  Mearns,  in  1796,  says,  '  Most  of  the  cows  here 
are  of  a  middle  size,  and  of  a  brown  and  white  colour.  They  give  from  ten  to  fifteen 
Scots  pints  of  milk  per  day. 

12* 


126  CATTLE. 

factured  in  Ayrshire,  as  will  be  presently  described.  The  population  is 
far  too  dense  for  a  cheese  dairy,  and  the  fanner  can  find  a  readier  and  more 
profitable  sale  for  his  milk. 

Sir  Michael  Stewart,  to  whom  we  owe  some  useful  information,  is  of 
opinion  that  the  Ayrshire  cow  has  not  been  deteriorated  by  her  removal  to 
Renfrew ;  that  during  eight  months  in  the  year  she  will,  on  the  average, 
yield  four  gallons  of  milk  per  day,  and  will  produce  nearly  one  pound  of 
butler  daily,  and  that,  although  used  almost  exclusively  for  the  dairy, 
she  is  only  inferior  to  the  West  Highlanders  for  grazing, 

Mr.  "Wilson,  who  compiled  the  survey  of  this  county,  says,  'The  dairy 
seems  at  all  times  to  have  been  an  important  object  in  Renfrewshire.' 
Crawford,  who  wrote  his  histoiy  a  century  ago,  says,  '  The  higher  parts  of 
the  county  abound  with  grass,  and  choice  pasturage,  where  there  is  made 
excellent  butter  and  cheese ;  and  besides  what  is  made  use  of  in  the  county, 
there  are  considerable  quantities  carried  to  the  neighbouring  shires ;  and 
the  rents  of  the  extensive  property  in  Lockwinnoch  parish,  which  belong 
to  the  abbey  of  Paisley,  were  paid  in  stichs  and  cheese.'' 

The  Renfrew  dairymen  manage  their  cattle  better  at  calving  time  than 
those  of  Dumbartonshire,  for  while  they  are  allowed  potatoes  with  their 
straw  during  winter,  the  quantity  of  succulent  food  is  increased  as  the 
time  of  calving  approaches,  in  order  to  prepare  for  an  increased  flow  of 
milk,  whicli,  if  not  wanted  for  the  calf,  is  profitable  to  the  dairyman. 

The  calves  usually  get  three  gallons  of  new  milk  daily  for  about  two 
months :  they  are  then  put  on  young  grass  for  six  months,  and  upon 
inferior  pasture  for  the  next  eighteen  months;  after  which,  when  supposed 
to  be  in  calf,  they  are  fed  along  with  the  dairy  cows.  The  summer  feeding 
for  grazing  cattle  consists  chiefly  of  grass  in  the  field,  with  vetches  or 
clover  in  the  house.  The  winter  feeding  consists  of. turnips  and  potatoes 
boiled  or  steamed  with  chaff  or  cut  hay,  or  the  turnips  and  potatoes 
given  raw,  with  straw  and  meadow  hay.  In  spring,  bean-meal  is  fre- 
quently mingled  with  these.  Near  distilleries  a  great  deal  of  draff  and 
dreg  is  used  at  all  seasons. 

The  Renfrewshire  Agricultural  Society,  which  holds  its  annual  meeting 
at  Paisley;  has  contributed  very  materially  to  the  improvement  of  the 
catfle  in  this  district.* 

AYRSHIRE. 

This  county  extends  along  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Firth  of  Clyde,  and 
the  North  Channel  from  Renfrew  to  Wigtownshire,  by  the  former  of  which 
it  is  bordered  on  the  north,  and  by  the  latter  on  the  south,  while  it  has 
Kircudbright,  Dumfries,  and  Lanark  on  the  east.  It  is  necessary  to 
mention  this,  in  order  that  the  reader  may  better  comprehend  the  rapid 
distribution  of  the  Ayrshire  cattle  over  all  these  districts.  The  climate  is 
moist  but  mild ;  and  the  soil,  with  its  produce,  is  calculated  to  render  it 
the  finest  dairy  country  in  Scodand,  and  equal  perhaps  to  any  in  Great 

*  A  district  society,  consisting  of  the  parishes  of  Kilmalcolm,  Port  Glasgow,  Greenock, 
and  Inneskip,  in  Renfrewshire,  and  Largs,  in  Ayrshire,  has  since  started  in  honourable 
rivalry,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Highland  Society.  The  show  is  held  at  Greenock  in 
the  first  week  in  August.  In  1830,  one  hundred  guineas  were  distributed  in  prizes  for 
the  best  cattle,  horses,  sheep,  and  swine  :  89  Ayrshire  cattle,  12  West  Highlanders,  28 
sheep,  and  17  horses  were  exhibited — making  a  total  of  166;  and  the  number  of  com- 
petitors was  57.  In  1831,  115  Ayrshire  cattle,  18  West  Highlanders,  86  sheep,  and  40 
horses  were  exhibited  : — total  259 ;  and  62  competitors.  In  1832, 110  Ayrshire  cattle  were 
shown,  14  West  Higlilanders,  160  sheep,  and  33  horses : — total  317 ;  and  63  competitors. 
For  information  respecting  this  branch  society,  we  are  indebted  to  Claud  Marshall,  Esq., 
of  Greenock,  a  very  active  member  ©f  the  parent  one. 


THE  AYRSHIRE  BREED.  127 

Britain.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  permanent  pasture  on  the  sides  and  tops 
of  the  hills,  which  is  covered  by  sheep  ;  but  the  greater  part  of  the  arable 
land  is  pasture  and  crop  alternately.  The  pasture-ground  is  occupied  by 
the  beautiful  dairy-stock,  a  very  small  portion  of  it  being  reserved  for  the 
fattening  of  cows  too  old  to  milk.* 

Ayrshire  is  divided  into  three  districts  ; — that  lying  on  the  south  side  of 
ihe  river  Doon  is  called  the  Bailiary  Carrick — the  country  between  the 
Doon  and  the  Irvine  is  the  Bailiary  of  Kyle,  and  the  district  on  the  north 
of  the  Irvine  is  Cunningham.  It  is  this  last  division  which  lays  princi- 
pal claim  to  be  the  native  country  of  the  Ayrshire  catde,  and,  indeed,  they 
■went  by  the  name  of  the  Cunningham  cattle  before  these  three  Bailieries 
were  united  into  one  county  under  the  name  of  Ayr. 

Mr.  Alton,  in  his  'Treatise  on  the  Dairy  Breed  of  Cows,'  (the  most 
valuable  work  on  the  Dairy  husbandry  of  the  north,  and  on  Dairy  hus- 
bandry generally,  that  has  yet  been  published,)  thus  describes  the  Ayr- 
shire cattle  (p.  26) — '  The  shapes  most  approved  of  in  the  dairy  breed  are 
as  follows: — 

'  Head  small,  but  rather  long  and  narrow  at  the  muzzle  ;  the  eye  small, 
but  smart  and  lively  ;  the  horns  small,  clear,  crooked,  and  their  roots  at 
considerable  distance  from  each  other ;  neck  long  and  slender,  tapering 
towards  the  head,  withno  loose  skin  below;  shoulders  x\\\x\;  fore-quarters 
light;  hind-quarters  large;  back  straight,  broad  behind,  the  joints  rather 
loose  and  open ;  carcass  deep,  and  joe/iu's  capacious,  and  wide  over  the 
hips,  with  round  fleshy  buttocks^  Tail  long  and  small ;  legs  small  and 
short,  with  firm  joints ;  udder  capacious,  broad  and  square,  stretching 
forward,  and  neither  fleshy,  low  hung,  nor  loose ;  the  milk  veins  large 
and  prominent;  teats  short,  all  pointing  outwards,  and  at  considerable  dis- 
tance from  each  other;  skin  thin  and  loose;  hair  soft  and  woolly.  The 
head,  bones,  horns,  and  all  parts  of  least  value,  small;  and  the  general 
figure  compact  and  well  proportioned.' 

Mr.  Alton  also  informs  us,  that  '  the  Ayrshire  farmers  prefer  their 
dairy-bulls,  according  to  the  feminine  aspect  of  their  heads  and  necks  ;  and 

*  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  contrast  the  present  improved  state  of  agriculture  and 
agriculturists  with  what  it  was  eighty  or  ninety  years  ago.  Colonel  Fullerton,  in  his 
'Survey  of  Ayrshire,'  thus  describes  it: — 'There  was  scarcely  a  practicable  road  in  the 
county ; — the  farm-houses  were  mere  hovels  moated  with  clay,  having  the  open  hearth 
or  fire-place  in  the  middle,  the  dunghill  at  the  door,  the  cattle  starving,  and  the  people 
wretched.  The  land  was  overrun  witli  weeds  and  rushes,  and  gathered  into  high  broad 
serpentine  ridges — the  soil  collected  on  the  top  of  the  ridge,  and  the  furrow  drowned 
with  water — no  fallows — no  green  crop — no  sown  grasses — hardly  a  potatoe,  or  any  other 
esculent  root — no  garden  vegetables,  unless  a  few  Scotch  kail;  little  straw;  no  hay, 
except  a  scanty  portion  of  the  coarsest  quality  collected  from  the  bogs — little  or  no 
available  dung — no  carts  or  waggons  to  convey  it  to  tlie  land,  but  the  ground  scourged 
with  oats  after  oats  as  long  as  it  would  pay  for  seed  and  labour,  and  afford  a  small 
surplus  of  oatmeal  for  the  family,  and  then  was  left  in  a  state  of  absolute  sterility,  or 
overrfin  with  thistles,  until  rest  again  enabled  it  to  produce  a  scanty  crop.  No  dung 
was  ever  spread  on  the  out-field ;  the  starved  cattle  were  suffered  to  poach  the  fields 
from  the  end  of  harvest  until  the  ensuing  seed-time — thus  the  natural  grass  was  cut  up, 
or  drowned  with  water  standing  in  the  cattle's  footsteps.  As  there  were  few  or  no 
enclosures,  the  horses  were  either  tethered  during  the  summer  months,  or  loose  as  well 
as  the  cattle,  but  under  the  tendency  of  a  boy  and  a  cur-dog,  and  the  poor  animals  were 
kept  in  constant  agitation,  and  impelled  by  starvation  to  fly  from  their  bare  legs.  Thus 
the  poor  cattle,  starved  during  the  winter  in  the  houses,  and  perpetually  harassed  dur- 
ing summer  in  the  fields,  were  never  in  a  fit  condition  for  the  market ;  the  finest  lands 
were  let  for  two  or  three  shillings  per  acre  ;  and  there  was  neither  skill,  capital,  indus- 
try, nor  credit  to  do  away  all  this  wretchedness.' 

t  Mr.  Rankine  very  properly  remarks,  that,  '  compared  with  other  improved  breeds, 
the  thighs,  or  what  is  called  the  twist  of  tlie  Ayrshire  cow,  are  thin.  Siie  is,  charac- 
teristically, not  Bi  fleshy  animal.' 


138 


CATTLE. 


wish  them  not  round  behind,  but  broad  at  the  hook-bones  and  hips,  and 
full  in  the  flanks.'  (p.  27.)  Experience,  and  that  rather  dearly  bought  by 
the  dairyman,  led  to  this,  for  the  consequence  of  the  crossing  of  the  small 
native  breeds,  with  the  heavy  cattle  imported  from  the  south,  was  the 
production  of  a  bony,  ill-shaped  animal,  not  much  improved  as  a  milker, 
and  its  disposition  to  carry  fat  lamentably  decreased ;  it  may,  however, 
demand  consideration  whether  the  round  and  compact  form  of  the  West 
Highlander  and  the  Galloway  have  not  been  rather  too  much  sacrificed, 
and  even  the  defects  of  the  short-horn  needlessly  perpetuated. 

Mr.  Alton  adds,  in  his  '  Survey ' — '  The  qualities  of  a  cow  are  of  great 
importance.  Tameness  and  docility  of  temper  greatly  enhance  the  value 
of  a  milch-cow.  Some  degree  of  hardiness,  a  sound  constitution,  and  a 
moderate  degree  of  life  and  spirits  are  qualities  to  be  wished  for  in  a 
dairy-cow,  and  what  those  of  Ayrshire  generally  possess.  The  most 
valuable  quality  which  a  dairy-cow  can  possess  is,  that  she  yields  much 
milk,  and  that  ef  an  oily  or  butyraceous,  or  caseous  nature,  and  that  after 
she  has  yielded  very  large  quantities  of  milk  for  several  years,  she  shall 
be  as  valuable  for  beef  as  any  other  breed  of  cows  known;  her  fat  shall 
be  much  more  mixed  through  the  whole  flesh,  and  she  shall  fatten  faster 
than  any  other.'  This  is  high  praise,  and  if  it  can  be  truly  afllirmed 
of  the  Ayrshire  cattle,  we  are  naturally  anxious  to  know  the  origin, 
the  progressive  history,  and  the  general  management  of  this  valuable 
animal. 


[The  Ayrshire  Cow. 

The  origin  of  the  Ayrshire  cow  is  even  at  the  present  day  a  matter  of 
dispute  ;  all  that  is  certainly  known  about  her  is,  that  a  century  ago  there 
was  no  such  breed  in  Cunningham,  or  Ayrshire,  or  Scotland.  Did  the 
Ayrshire  cattle  arise  entirely  from  a  careful  selection  of  the  best  of  the 
native  breed? — if  they  did,  it  is  a  circumstance  unparalled  in  the  history 
of  agriculture.  The  native  breed  may  be  ameliorated  by  careful  selection, 
its  value  may  be  incalculably  increased — some  good  qualities — some  of 
its  best  qualities — may  be  for  the  first  time  developed ;  but  yet  there  will 
be  some  resemblance  to  the  original  stock,  and  the  more  we  examine  the 
animal,  the  more  clearly  we  can  trace  out  the  characteristic  points  of  the 
ancestor,  although  every  one  of  them  improved. 


THE  AYRSHIRE  BREED. 


129 


Mr.  Alton  gives  the  following  description  of  the  Ayrshire  cattle  fifty 
years  ago: — '  The  cows  kept  in  the  districts  of  Kyle  and  Cunningham 
were  of  a  diminutive  size,  ill-fed,  ill-shaped,  and  they  yielded  but  a  scanty 
return  in  milk;  they  were  mosdy  of  a  black  colour,  with  large  stripes  of 
white  along  the  chine  or  ridge  of  their  backs,  about  their  flanks,  and  on 
their  faces.  Their  horns  were  high  and  crooked,  having  deep  ringlets  at 
the  root,  the  plainest  proof  that  the  catde  were  but  scantily  fed;  the 
chine  of  their  backs  stood  up  high  and  narrow:  their  sides  were  lank, 
short  and  thin;  their  hides  thick,  and  adhering  to  the  bones;  their  pile 
was  coarse  and  open;  and  few  of  them  yielded  more  than  three  or  four 
Scotcli  pints  of  milk  per  day,  when  in  their  best  plight;  or  weighed, 
when  fat,  more  than  from  twelve  or  sixteen  to  twenty  stones  avoirdupois, 
sinking  oflal.' — p.  19. 

He  very  naturally  adds — '  It  was  impossible  that  these  catde,  fed  as 
they  then  were,  could  be  of  great  weight,  well  shaped,  or  yield  much 
milk.  Their  only  food  in  winter  and  spring  was  oat-str«w,  and  what  they 
could  pick  up  in  the  fields  to  which  they  were  turned  out  almost  every 
day,  with  a  mash  of  a  litde  corn  with  chaff  daily  for  a  few  weeks  after 
calving,  and  their  pasture  in  summer  was  of  the  very  worst  quality;  and 
that  coarse  pasture  was  so  overstocked,  and  eaten  so  bare  that  the  cattle 
■were  half-starved.' 


[The  Jli/rs/iire  Bull.] 
If  Mr.  Alton's  description  of  the  present  improved  Ayrshire  is  correct* 
the  breed  is  very  mucli  changed,  and  yet  there  is  so  much  indistinct 
resemblance,  that  a  great  deal  of  it  must  have  been  done  by  careful  selec- 
tion, from  among  the  native  catde,  and  belter  feeding  and  treatment;  but 
when  we  look  closer  into  the  matter,  the  shortness,  or  rather  diminu- 
tiveness  of  the  horns,  their  width  of  base,  and  awkward  setting  on — the 
peculiar  tapering  towards  the  muzzle;  the  narrowing  at  the  girth;  the 
bellying;  and  the  prominences  of  all  the  bones — these  are  features  which 
it  would  seem  impossible  for  any  selection  from  the  native  breed  to  give. 
While  therefore  the  judge  of  catde  will  trace  the  features  of  the  old 
breed,  he  will  suspect,  what  general  tradition  confirms,  that  it  was 
a  fortunate  cross,   or  a  succession  of  crosses  with  some  foreign  stock. 


130  CATTLE. 

and  that,  probably,  it  was  the  Holderness  that  helped  to  produce  the  im- 
proved Cunningham  cattle. 

In  many  a  district  the  attempt  to  introduce  the  Teeswater  breed,  or  to 
establish  a  cross  from  it,  had  palpably  failed,  for  the  soil  and  the  climate 
suited  only  the  hardihood  of  the  Highlander;  but  here  was  a  mild 
climate — a  dairy  country;  the  Highlander  was  in  a  manner  out  of  his 
place;  he  had  degenerated,  and  the  milking  properties  of  the  Holderness, 
and  her  capability  of  ultimately  fattening,  allliough  slowly,  and  at  con- 
siderable expense,  happily  amalgamated  with  his  hardihood,  and  dispo- 
sition to  fatten,  and  there  resulted  a  breed,  bearing  about  it  the  stamp  of 
its  progenitors,  and,  to  a  very  considerable  degree,  the  good  qualities  of 
both. 

Mr.  Robertson,  in  his  '  Rural  Recollections,'  says — '  Who  introduced 
the  present  breed  is  not  very  precisely  ascertained,  but  the  late  Colonel 
FuUarton,  whose  account  of"  The  Husbandry  of  Jiyrshire,''''  which  was 
published  in  1793,- and  whose  authority  is  of  considerable  weight  in  every- 
thing relating  to  it,  states,  that  a  gentleman  of  long  experience,  Mr,  Bruce 
Campbell,  asserts  that  this  breed  was  introduced  by  the  late  Earl  of 
March mont.'  The  Earl  of  Marchmont  alluded  to  must  have  been  that 
Alexander  Hume  Campbell,  who  manied  Margaret  Campbell,  heiress  of 
Assnoch,  in  the  same  parish,  and  who  became  Earl  of  Marchmont  in  1724, 
and  died  in  1740.  The  introduction,  then,  of  this  dairy-stock  must  have 
happened  between  these  two  dates,  and  so  far  corresponds  with  the  tradi- 
tionary account. 

Mr.  Robertson  goes  on  to  say,  '  from  what  particular  part  of  the 
country  they  came  there  appears  no  evidence.  My  own  conjecture  is, 
that  they  are  either  of  the  Holderness  breed,  or  derived  from  it;  judging 
from  the  varied  colour,  or,  from  somewhat  belter  evidence,  the  small  head 
and  slender  neck,  in  which  they  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  them.'* 

These  cattle,  from  which,  by  crosses  with  the  native  breed,  the  present 
improved  Ayrshire  arose,  were  first  introduced  on  Lord  Marchmont's 
estates  in  Berwickshire.  They  were  soon  afterwards  carried  to  the  farms 
belonging  to  the  same  nobleman  at  Sornbergh  in  Kyle.  ,  A  bull  of  the  new 
stock  was  sold  to  Mr.  Hamilton  of  Sundrum;  then  Mr.  Dunlop  in 
Cunningham  imported  some  of  the  Dutch  cattle,  and  their  progeny  was 
long  aftervv'ards  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  Dunlop  cows.  These 
were  the  first  of  the  improved,  or  stranger  breed  that  reached  the  bailliery 
of  Cunningham.  Mr.  Orr,  about  the  year  1767,  brought  to  his  estate  of 
Grongar,  near  Kilmarnock,  some  fine  mdch  cows  of  a  larger  size  than 
any  which  had  been  on  the  farm.  It  was  not,  however,  until  about  1780 
that  this  improved  breed  might  be  said  to  be  duly  estimated,  or  generally 

*  Some  breeders,  however,  have  maintained  that  they  were  produced  from  the  native 
cow,  crossed  by  the  Alderney  bull.  It  requires  but  one  moment's  inspection  of  the  ani- 
mals, to  convince  us  that  tliis  supposition  is  altogether  erroneous. 

In  Rawlin's  '  Complete  Cow-doctor,' published  at  Glasgow,  in  1794,  the  following 
account  is  given  of  the  Ayrshire  cattle  at  that  time — '  They  have  another  breed  called 
the  Dunlop  cows,  which  are  allowed  to  be  the  best  race  for  yielding  milk  in  Great 
Britain  or  Ireland,  not  only  for  large  quantities,  but  also  for  richness  in  quality.  It  is 
said  to  be  a  mixture,  by  bulls  brought  from  the  Island  of  Alderney,  with  their  own  cows. 
These  are  of  a  smairlize,  not  weighing  more,  upon  an  average,  than  from  24  to  30 
stones.  These  are  allowed  to  yield  more  milk  daily  than  any  other  kind  of  cattle,  when  a 
just  comparison  is  made  of  their  size  and  pasture.  Tlicy  arc  much  leaner  and  thinner 
than  any  other  of  the  Scotch  or  English  breeds,  when  in  the  best  grass.  They  are  not 
deemed  a  race  of  handsome  cattle,  but  rather  the  contrary,  being  shaped  more  like  the 
Dutch  breed  than  any  of  the  natives  of  Scotland.  Their  horns  are  small,  and  stand 
remarkably  awkward;  their  colour  is  generally  pied  or  of  a  sandy  red,  varying  in  this 
from  all  other  races.' — P.  66. 


THE  AYRSHIRE  BREED.  ISl 

established  in  that  that  part  of  Ayrshire;  although  they  had  begun  to  extend 
beyond  the  Irvine  into  Kyle.  About  1790,  according  to  Mr.  Alton,  Mr. 
Fulton  from  BHih  carried  them  first  into  Carrick,  and  Mr.  Wilson  of 
Kilpatrick  was  the  first  who  took  them  to  the  southern  parts  of  that  dis- 
trict. So  late  as  1804  they  were  introduced  on  the  estate  of  Penmore, 
on  the  Stonchar,  and  they  are  now  the  established  cattle  of  Ayrshire:  they 
are  increasing  in  the  neighbouring  counties,  and  have  found  their  way  to 
most  parts  of  Britain. 

The  breed  has  much  improved  since  Mr.  Alton  described  it,  and  is 
short  in  the  leg,  the  neck  a  little  thicker  at  the  shoulder,  but  finely  shaped 
towards  the  head;  the  horns  smaller  than  those  of  the  Highlanders,  but 
clear  and  smooth,  pointing  forwards,  and  turning  upwards,  and  tapering 
to  a  point.  They  are  deep  in  the  carcass,  but  not  round  and  ample,  and 
especially  not  so  in  the  loins  and  haunches.  Some,  however,  have  sus- 
pected, and  not  without  reason,  that  an  attention  to  the  shape  and  beauty, 
and  an  attempt  to  produce  fat  and  sleeky  catde,  which  may  be  admired  at 
the  show,  has  a  tendency  to  improve  what  is  only  their  second  point — 
their  quality  as  grazing  cattle — and  that  at  the  hazard  or  the  certainty  of 
diminishing  their  value  as  milkers.  The  statistical  account  assigns  61,000 
catde  to  Ayrshire,  of  which  more  than  half  are  dairy-cows.  The  average 
will  be  one  beast  to  every  fifteen  acres.* 

We  agree  with  Mr.  Alton,  that  the  excellency  of  a  dairy  cow  is  esti- 
mated by  the  quantity  and  the  quality  of  her  milk.  The  quantity  yielded 
by  the  Ayrshire  cow  is,  considering  her  size,  very  great.  Five  gallons 
daily,  for  two  or  three  months  after  calving,  may  be  considered  as  not 
more  than  an  average  quantity.  Three  gallons  daily  will  be  given  for  the 
next  three  months,  and  one  gallon  and  a  half  during  the  succeeding  four 
months.  This  would  amount  to  more  than  850  gallons;  but,  allowing  for 
some  unproductive  cows,  600  gallons  per  year  may  be  considered  as  the 
average  quantity  obtained  annually  from  each  cow.  We  shall  enter  more 
into  this  presendy. 

The  disposal  of  the  milk  varies  according  to  the  situation  of  the  farm 
and  the  character  of  the  neighbourhood.  If  it  is  sold  as  new  milk,  at  8c?. 
per  gallon  at  the  first  liand,  the  produce  of  the  cow  will  be  20/.  per  annum. 
Some  imagine  that  the  profit  will  be  greater  if  employed  in  the  fattening 
of  calves.  Others  at  a  distance  from  any  considerable  town,  convert  it 
into  butter  or  cheese. 

The  quality  of  the  milk  is  estimated  by  the  quantity  of  butter  or  cheese 
that  it  will  yield.  Three  gallons  and  a  half  of  this  milk  will  yield  about  a 
pound  of  butter,  country  weight,  or  a  pound  and  a  half  avoirdupois;  and 
when  one  gallon  of  water  is  added  to  four  of  milk,  the  butter-milk  is 
worth  to  the  farmer,  or  will  sell  at,  2d.  per  gallon.  An  Ayrshire  cow, 
therefore,  may  be  reckoned  to   yield  257  English  pounds  of  butter  per 

*  Mr.  Robertson,  who,  in  1819,  Rxamined  all  the  farms  in  Cunningham,  found  the 
number  of  milch  cows  to  be  12,563,  and  that  of  yell  cattle  (those  not  in  milk)  of  all 
ages  to  be  8991,  making  a  total  of  21,554.  'I  should  conceive.'  he  says — ('Rural 
Recollections,  p.  573,') — 'that  not  more  than  the  odd  1554  would  be  Highland  stots,  or 
other  yell  cattle,  bought  in  at  Dumbarton,  or  otlier  Highland  fairs  for  grazing  in  gen- 
tlemen's parks,  or  in  cattle-dealers'  pastures  for  feeding  or  for  sale;  and  that  the  rest 
would  be  of  the  native  breed  of  Cunningham,  and  consisting  of  about  437  bulls,  12,563 
dairy-cows,  and  7000  young  cattle  of  all  descriptions  under  the  third  year  for  keeping  up 
the  stock.  Of  these  a  very  considerable  proportion  are  annually  sold,  and  particularly 
of  the  etterlivs,  or  quays  in  calf  in  their  third  year,  and  also  of  milch  cows  of  all  ages. 
From  1200  to  1500  cows  are  sold  annually  out  of  the  county  in  Cunningham  alone. 
They  bring  a  very  considerable  price,  and  this  probably,  combined  with  the  yearly  pro- 
duce of  the  dairy,  is,  perhaps,  little  less  than  the  amount  of  all  the  land-rents.' 


132  CATTLE. 

annum,  or  about  five  pounds  per  week  all  the  year  round,  beside  the  Value 
of  the  butter-milk  and  her  calf. 

When  the  calculation  is  formed,  according  to  the  quantity  of  cheese  that 
is  usually  produced,  the  following  will  be  the  result: — twenty-eight  gallons 
of  milk,  with  the  cream,  will  yield  a  stone  (24lbs.)  of  sweet-milk  cheese, 
or  514  lbs.  avoirdupois  per  annum,  beside  the  whey  and  the  calf.* 

This  is  certainly  an  extraordinary  quantity  of  butter  and  cheese,,  and 
fully  establishes  the  reputation  of  the  Ayrshire  cow,  so  far  as  the  dairy  is 
concerned. t 

It  is  the  practice  in  many  parts  of  Ayrshire  to  let  the  cows  to  a  professed 
milkman  at  so  much  per  cow  per  annum.  This  is  provincially  called  a 
boiving,  or  boyening,  from  boyen,  a  milk-pail.  The  farmer  provides  the 
cows  and  requisite  dairy-vessels,  the  whole  summer  pasture  and  winter 
foddering,  and  houses  and  litter  for  the  cows,  and  a  habitation  for  the 
milkman;  while  the  boyener  takes  the  whole  charge  of  the  milking,  and 
the  manaifement  and  disposal  of  the  butter,  or  milk,  or  cheese,  or  whey,  as 
he  chooses.  The  price  varies  from  8/.  to  15/.  In  the  neighbourhood  of 
large  towns  it  may  be  averaged  at  15/.;  and  if  to  this  be  added  the  wages 
of  a  milkman  or  milkmaid  for  every  eight  cows,  the  whole  expense  of  the 
cow  will  be  18/.;  and  the  money  received,  at  10(/.  per  gallon,  for  600  gal- 
lons, being  but  26/.,  there  will  result  only  7/.  per  annum  profit  on  each 
cow;  but  this  supposes  that  the  milk  of  the  cow  is  fairly  disposed  of  without 
adulteration  or  trickery. +     Mr.  Aiton  rates  the  profit  of  the  Ayrshire  cow 

*  A  Scotch  pint  is  nearly  two  English  quarts.  An  Ayrshire  pound  consists  of  24 
ounces,  and  sixteen  of  these  pounds,  or  24  lbs.  avoirdupois,  make  a  stone.  Mr.  FuUar- 
ton,  in  liis  'Statistical  Account  of  Dairy,'  in  this  county,  states  that  in  17i)4,  before 
tlie  establishment  of  tiiis  improved  Ayrsiiire  cow,  each  cow  would  yield,  on  the  average, 
in  the  course  of  the  season,  18  stones,  or  288  ibs.  of  sweet-milk  cheese. 

t  In  some  experiments  conducted  at  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield's  dairy  at  Bradley-Hall 
farm,  it  appeared  that,  in  the  heiglit  of  the  season,  the  Holderness  would  yield  7  gallons 
and  a  quart;  the  long  horn  and  the  Aldcrnc}',  4  gallons  3  quarts;  and  the  Devon,  4  gal- 
lons 1  pint  per  day:  and  when  this  was  made  into  butter,  the  result  was,  from  the  Hol- 
derness, 38^  ounces;  from  the  Devon,  28  ounces;  and  from  the  Alderney,  25  ounces. 
The  Ayrshire  yields  5  gallons  per  day,  and  from  that  is  produced  34  ounces  of  butter. 
t  Mr.  Robertson  gives  a  curious  extract  from  the  farm-book  of  Mr.  David  Blair,  *f 
Giffordland,  in  tliis  county,  dated  1743:— 

'  Mind  that  P.  Lawson  farmed  7  cows  at  8  pounds  each  (13s.  id.  the  Scots  pound  being 
equivalent  to  ls.8d.)  She  entered  to  the  milk  on  the  21st  of  May,  to  the  end  of  harvest. 
'  She  made  of  sweet-milk  cheese  9|  stone,  at  2/.  Os.  lOJ.  -         jE19   10     0 

6|stone.of  butter,  at2/.  13s.  4d.  18     0     0 

II5  stone,  of  common  cheese,  at  \l.  6s.  Sd.      .         -         -         -         15     6     8 
Milk  and  cream  to  the  house  ......  600 


Scots  jess  16     8 

'She  also  sent  ^  stone  sweet-milk  cheese  to  Glasgow,  in  a  compliment. — Rur.  Recol. 
lee,  p.  62. 

The  woman  gained  21.  16s.  8d.  Scots,  or  4s.  8d.  by  her  bargain,  and  the  system  of 
bowing  or  boyening  was  not  again  attempted  during  the  period  of  thirty-six  years,  which 
this  book  embraces. 

This  extract  is  interesting,  as  showing  the  improvement  of  the  Ayrshire  cow  since  that 
period.  These  cows  were  taken  at  the  very  height  of  the  se;isoa;  and  yet,  reckoning 
9  Scotch  pints  for  a  pound  of  butter,  or  4^  pints  for  a  pound  of  cheese,  and  that  the 
season  lasted  twenty  weeks,  they  scarcely  yielded  3  pints  (1^  gallon)  each  per  day.  It 
is  a  bad  Ayrshire  cow  that  does  not  now  yield  three  times  that  quantity. 

The  same  book,  extending  from  1729  to  1765,  also  records  the  amount  of  wages: — 
"1729—1742.     1743—1759.  1760—1765. 

A  ploughman,  yearly      -     -     £2  13     4    ..    £3     6     8    ..    £3  10     0     to     iJS     0     0 
A  maid  servant     „     -     -     -         16     8..       1   10     0    ..       1    10     0     to        200 

In  more  modern  times,  in  that  part  of  the  country,  the  wages  were  as  follows: — 
1796.  1828. 

A  ploughman,  yearly  -     -  .£12     0     0     to  £16     0     0         :ei4     0     0     to  jCIS     0     0 
A  maid  servant    „--       500    to       600  600    to       900 


THE  AYRSHIRE  BREED.  133 

at  a  higher  value.  He  says,  •  To  sum  up  all  in  one  sentence,  I  now  repeat 
that  hundreds  and  thousands  of  the  best  Scotch  dairy  cows,  when  they  are 
in  their  best  condition  and  well  fed,  yield  at  the  rate  of  2000  Scotch  pints  of 
milk  (1000  gallons)  in  one  year;  that,  in  general,  fiom  7}  to  8  pints  (34  to 
4  gallons)  of  their  milk  will  yield  a  pound  of  butter,  county  Aveight  (1|^  lb. 
avoirdupois) ;  that  55  pints  (27}  gallons)  of  their  milk  will  produce  one 
stone  and  a  half  imperial  weight  of  full  milk-cheese ;  that  at  the  proper 
season,  and  when  a  healthy  calf  is  fed,  and  the  prices  of  veal  as  high  aa 
they  have  frequently  been  Avilhin  the  last  fifteen  years,  milk  will  yield 
a  profit  in  veal  equal  to  3}fZ  or  4(1.  per  pint  (]-  gallon) ;  and  where  the 
buttermilk  can  be  sold  that  will  yield  a  similar  profit. 

Mr.  Rankine,  the  author  of  an  excellent  report  of  a  Kyle  farm  (in  the 
Reports  of  Select  Farms,  No.  2,  Farmer's  Series,  No.  12,)  and  some  of 
whose  observations,  with  which  we  have  been  privately  favoured,  we  have 
embodied  in  our  account  of  the  Ayrshire  cattle,  very  justly,  we  thinkj 
maintains  that  Mr.  Alton's  statement  is  far  too  high,  and  his  calculations 
not  well  founded.  'He  deduces  his  statement,'  says  Mr.  Rankine,  'from 
the  circumstance  of  some  farmers  letting  the  milk  of  their  cows  for  a  year 
at  15/.  and  17/.,  which,  taking  60  pints  (half-gallons)  to  produce  an  Ayr- 
shire stone  (24  lbs.)  of  cheese,  and  the  price  being  lOs.,  would  require 
2160  pints  for  each  cow.  But  he  is  not  warranted  in  inferring  that  the 
milk  from  which  these  rents  were  paid  was  all  converted  into  cheese.  I 
am  convinced  that  no  such  rents  were  ever  paid  for  cows  where  a  consi- 
derable portion  of  the  milk  was  made  into  cheese.  In  the  vicinity  of  a 
town  where  the  whole  of  the  milk  could  be  sold  for4f/.  a  pint  (half  gallon)^ 
900  pints  would  bring  15/.  Where  the  whole  of  the  milk  could  have  been 
turned  to  such  an  account,  such  rents  might  have  been  paid  ;  but  it  is  en'O- 
neous  to  calculate  the  quantity  of  milk  given  from  the  quantity  of  cheese 
required  to  enable  a  rent  of  15/.  to  be  paid.  His  first  statement  (page 
110  of  this  work)  that  1200  Scots  pints  (600  gallons)  are  yielded,  though 
far  above  the  average  of  all  the  cows  in  the  county,  may  be  too  low  when 
applied  to  the  best-selected  stocks  and  on  good  land,  but  I  have  reason  to 
believe  that  no  stock  of  20  cows  ever  averaged  1800  or  1700  pints  (900  or 
850  gallons)  each  in  the  year.  I  have  seen  eighteen  pints  of  milk  drawn 
from  a  cow  in  one  day.  I  had  a  three-year-old  quey  that  once,  for  six 
weeks  after  calving,  gave  14  pints  a  day.  The  dairymaid  predicted  that 
there  "had  been  o'ermuckle  talk  about  her,  for  ony  luck  to  come  of  her,** 
and  she  soon  afterwards  received  an  injury  in  her  udder,  which  caused 
one  of  her  quarters  to  become  dry  of  milk.  These,  however,  are  rai^ 
instances.' 

'  I  quote  with  confidence,'  Mr.  Rankine  proceeds,  '  the  answers  to 
queries  which  I  sent  to  two  individuals.  The  first  is  a  man  of  superior 
intelligence  and  accuracy,  and  who  has  devoted  himself  very  much  to 
dairy  husbandry.  He  keeps  between  twenty  and  thirty  cows,  and  his 
stock  has  for  many  years  been  the  handsomest  I  ever  saw,  and  his  faritt 
being  close  to  a  small  town,  he  had  every  inducement  to  keep  them  in  the 
highest  condition  that  is  requisite  for  giving  the  largest  produce  in  milk. 
He  states  that,  at  the  best  of  the  season.  t]\e  average  milk  from  each  is  9 
Scots  pints  (4i  gallons,)  and  in  a  year  1300  Scots  pints  (650  gallons)^ 
that  in  the  summer  season  64  pints  (32  gallons)  of  entire  milk  will  malte 
an  Ayrshire  stone  (24  lbs.)  of  cheese ;  and  96  pints  (48  gallons)  of 
skimmed  milk  will  produce  the  same  quantity :  and  that  180  pints  (90 
gallons)  will  make  24  lbs.  of  butter.. 

Another  farmer,  in  a  different  district  of  this  county,  and  who  keeps  a 
stock  of  between  30  and  40  very  superior  cows,  and  always  in  condition, 
13 


134  CATTLE. 

states  that  the  average  produce  of  each  is  1375  pints  (687|  gallons). 
My  belief,  on  the  whale,  is,  that  although  there  may  be  Ayrshire  cows 
capable  of  giving  1800  pints  in  the  year,  it  would  be  difficult  to  bring  half 
a  score  of  them  together ;  and  that  in  stocks  of  the  greater  number  most 
carefully  selected,  and  liberally  fed,  from  1300  to  l400  pints  is  the  very 
highest  produce  of  each  in  the  year.' 

Mr.  Rankine  concludes  with  giving  his  experience  on  his  own  farm, 
the  soil  of  which  is  of  an  inferior  nature,  and  on  which  his  cows  produced 
about  1100  pints  (550  gallons),  and  the  receipts  from  which  amounted  to 
only  7/.  I3s.  6cl.  per  cow. 

We  have  entered  at  considerable  length  into  this,  because  it  is  of  some 
importance  to  ascertain  the  real  value  and  produce  of  this  celebrated 
Scottish  breed  of  cattle,  and  also  to  correct  an  error  in  an  agricultural 
work,  deservedly  a  standard  one  in  Scotland,  and  which  may  otherwise  be 
implicitly  relied  on. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  improvement  which  a  cross  with  the  Ayrshire 
has  effected  in  some  of  the  Welsh  cattle ;  but  the  Ayrshire  cattle  are  not 
yet  sufficiently  known,  and  cannot  be  procured  cheap  enough,  or  in  ade- 
quate numbers,  to  undergo  a  fair  trial  in  the  south.  Some  of  them  have 
been  tried  in  the  London  dairies.  As  mere  milkers,  they  could  not  compete 
with  the  long-established  metropolitan  dairy  cow,  the  short-horn.  They 
yielded  as  much  milk,  in  proportion  to  their  size  and  their  food,  but  not  in 
proportion  to  the  room  they  occupied,  and  the  increased  trouble  which 
they  gave  from  being  more  numerous  in  order  to  supply  the  requisite 
quantity  of  milk.  They  produced  an  unusual  quantity  of  rich  cream  ;  but 
there  was  so  much  difficulty  in  procuring  them,  so  as  to  keep  up  the 
stock,  and  the  price  asked  for  them  was  often  so  great,  that  they  were  com- 
paratively abandoned. 

The  fattening  properties  of  the  Ayrshire  cattle  we  believe  to  be  a  little 
exaggerated.  They  will  feed  kindly  and  profitably,  and  their  meat  will  be 
good.  They  will  fatten  on  farms  and  in  districts  where  others  could  not 
be  made  to  thrive  at  all,  except  pardy  or  principally  supported  by  artificial 
food.  They  unite,  perhaps,  to  a  greater  degree  than  any  other  breed  the 
supposed  incompatible  properties  of  yielding  a  great  deal  of  milk  and  beef. 
It  is,  however,  as  Mr.  Rankine  well  observes,  on  the  inferior  soil  and  the 
moist  climate  of  Ayrshire  and  the  west  of  Scotland  that  their  superiority  as 
milkers  is  most  remarkable.  On  their  natural  food  of  poor  quality  they 
give  milk  abundantly  and  long,  and  often  until  within  a  few  days  of 
calving ;  but  when  they  are  moved  to  richer  pasture,  their  constitution 
changes,  and  they  convert  their  food  more  into  beef.  In  their  own  country, 
a  cow  of  a  fleshy  make,  and  which  seldom  proves  a  good  milker,  may  be 
easily  raised  to  40  or  50  stones,  and  bullocks  of  three  years  old  are  brought 
to  weigh  from  50  to  60  stones.  There  is  a  lurking  tendency  to  fatten  about 
them  which  good  pasture  will  bring  to  light ;  so  that  when  the  Ayrshire 
cow  is  sent  to  England  she  loses  her  superiority  as  a  milker,  and  begins 
to  accumulate  flesh.  On  this  account  it  is  that  the  English  dealers  who 
purchase  the  Ayrshire  cows  generally  select  the  coarsest  animals  they  can 
find,  in  order  to  avoid  the  consequence  of  the  change  of  climate  and  food. 
It  is  useless  to  exaggerate  the  qualities  of  any  cattle,  and  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  even  in  this  tendency  to  fatten  when  their  milk  begins  to  fail,  or  which 
often  causes  it  to  fail,  the  Ayrshires  must  yield  to  their  forefathers  the 
Highlanders,  and  also  to  their  neighbours  the  Galloways,  when  put  on  a 
poor  soil ;  and  they  will  be  left  considerably  behind  their  short-horn  sires 
when  transplanted  to  luxuriant  pasture.  It  will  he  long,  perhaps,  before 
they  will  be  favourites  with  the  butchers,  for  the  fifth  quarter  will  not 


THE  AYRSHIRE  BREED.  135 

usually  weigh  well  in  them.  Their  fat  is  mingled  with  the  flesh  rather 
than  separated  in  the  form  of  tallow  ;  yet  this  would  give  a  more  beau- 
tiful appearance  to  the  meat,  and  should  enhance  its  price  to  the  consumer. 

Two  circumstances,  however,  may  partially  account  for  their  not  being 
thought  to  succeed  so  well  when  grazed  :  they  are  not  able  to  travel  so  far 
on  the  same  keeping  as  the  Highland  cattle  can  do  ;  and,  from  their  great 
value  as  milkers,  they  are  often  kept  until  they  are  too  old  to  fatten  to 
advantage,  or  for  their  beef  to  become  of  the  best  quality. 

Mr.  Alton  gives  an  account  of  the  treatment  of  the  Ayrshire  cow  in 
large  farms  generally  when  he  describes  the  management  of  that  of  his  friend 
Mr.  Ralston  of  Kirkum,  in  the  county  of  Wigton. 

'  He  keeps  sixty  milch  cows  at  Kirkum,  and  nearly  the  same  number  at 
another  farm  a  few  miles  distant :  besides,  he  rears  on  one  or  two  other 
farms  tliirty  or  forty  young  cows  to  keep  up  the  slock  and  for  sale.  His 
cows  are  of  the  Ayrshire  breed  in  its  greatest  perfection,  and  so  well 
managed,  that  every  milch  cow  on  his  farm  yields  him  her  own  weight  of 
the  best  cheese  to  be  met  with  in  Scodand,  and  for  which  he  draws  the 
value  of  the  cow  annually. 

'  Mr.  Ralston  keeps  his  cows  constantly  in  the  byre  till  the  grass  has  risen 
so  as  to  afford  them  a  full  bite.  Many  put  them  out  every  good  day  through 
the  winter  and  spring,  but  they  poach  the  ground  with  their  feet,  and  nip 
up  the  young  grass  as  it  begins  to  spring,  which,  as  they  have  not  a  full 
meal,  injures  the  cattle.  Whenever  the  weather  becomes  dry  and  hot,  he 
feeds  his  cows  on  cut  grass  in  the  byre  from  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  to 
six  at  night,  and  turns  them  out  to  pasture  the  other  twelve  hours.  When 
rain  comes,  the  house-feeding  is  discontinued.  Whenever  the  pasture-grass 
begins  to  fail  in  harvest,  the  cows  receive  a  supply  of  the  second  growth 
of  clover,  and  afterwards  of  turnips  strewed  over  the  pasture-ground. 
When  the  weather  becomes  stormy  in  the  months  of  October  or  Novem- 
ber, the  cows  are  kept  in  the  byre  during  the  night,  and,  in  a  short  time 
after,  during  both  night  and  day ;  they  are  then  fed  on  oat-straw  and  tur- 
nips, and  continue  to  yield  a  considerable  quantity  of  milk  for  some  time. 
Part  of  the  turnip  crop  is  eaten  up  in  the  end  of  harvest  and  beginning  of 
winter  to  protract  the  milk,  and  part  of  them  are  stored  up  for  green  food 
during  the  winter.  After  they  are  exhausted  the  Swedish  turnip  and  pota- 
toes are  used  along  with  dry  fodder  till  the  grass  can  support  the  cows. 
Chaff,  oats,  and  potatoes  are  boiled  for  the  cows  after  calving,  and  they 
are  generally  fed  on  rye-grass  during  the  latter  part  of  the  spring.'  (Sur- 
vey, p.  439.) 

Mr.  Rankine,  in  his  account  of  his  own  farm  of  poorer  ground,  and 
deficient  in  winter  food,  (Farmer's  Series,  No.  12,  p.  45,)  enters  more 
into  particulars.  '  In  the  end  of  autumn,  when  the  nights  become  cold, 
they  are  kept  in  the  house,  after  sunset,  and  get  a  little  fodder  ;  and  from 
the  middle  of  November  until  the  pasture  is  again  ready  for  them,  they 
are  fed  entirely  in  the  house,  and  let  out  only  in  tine  weather  to  get  water. 
They  are  regularly  curried  and  kept  as  clean  as  possible.  As  there  is  not 
a  sufficient  quantity  of  green  crop  to  supply  them  with  succulent  food,  the 
milk  is  put  off  them  as  quickly  after  they  are  taken  from  the  grass  as  it 
can  with  safety.  Those  that  are  to  calve  late  in  spring,  and  that  are 
continuing  to  give  a  co-nsiderable  quantity  of  milk,  get  a  little  extra  feeding; 
the  rest  have  straw  alone.  When  the  calving  time  approaches,  they  get 
chaff  or  cut-hay,  boiled  in  a  good  deal  of  water,  and  enriched  with  a  few 
potatoes  or  a  little  pea-meal,  with  hay  to  eat,  in  this  way  they  go  to  the 
grass,  which  happens  in  general  about  the  middle  of  May,  in  as  good 
condition  as  when  they  left  it.     No  food   is   found  to  produce   so  much 


136  CATTLE. 

effect  as  pea-meal,  and  will  be  profitably  bestowed  at  the  ordinary  price  of 
the  grain,  and  though  given  in  very  moderate  quantity.*  Till  the  beginning 
of  June  they  are  seldom  allowed  lo  lie  in  the  field  during  the  night;  but 
tliough  tliey  are  protected  as  much  as  possible  from  cold,  their  houses  are 
at  all  seasons  kept  well  aired  and  cool.' 

The  advantage  of  feeding  well  in  winter,  and  sending  a  cow  lo  grass  in 
good  condition,  is  now  generally  understood  ;  but  the  defect  in  practice  is, 
that  what  can  be  alTorded  to  the  cows  in  this  way  is  given  only  while  they 
are  in  milk,  or  when  they  calve.  The  return  is,  indeed,  rendered  more 
immediate,  but  it  would  be  still  more  advantageous  if  a  fair  ponion  of 
the  proper  winter's  food  were  given  to  the  dairy  cows  after  they  were  dry 
of  milk. 

Among  smaller  and  poorer  farmers,  however,  the  Ayrshire  cow  under- 
goes more  hardships  than  she  should  be  exposed  lo.  It  is  in  the  winter 
food  that  these  people  are  most  deficient,  and  the  cows  frequently  have 
nothing  besides  oat-straw  and  bog-hay,  or  a  very  small  quantity  of  turnips 
in  the  winter,  and  potatoes  in  the  spring ;  so,  that,  when  they  are  turned 
out  to  grass  in  May,  they  are  very  poor,  and  it  is  long  before  they  give 
tlieir  proper  quantity  of  milk,  or  the  milk  is  good  for  any  thing.  It  is  well 
for  them  if  there  are  any  turnips  left  at  winter,  for  in  many  cases  these  are 
all  given  in  the  autumn  in  order  to  preserve  the  milk  a  little  longer.  If  the 
oat  crop  should  fail,  the  cows  of  the  small  farmer  fare  hardly  indeed. 
Mr.  Alton  says  that  in  'in  1800  more  than  a  third  part  of  the  cows  and 
horses  were  killed  for  want  of  fodder.  Nothing  could  be  done  but  to  kill 
part  of  the  slock  that  the  rest  might  be  saved.' 

Mr.  Alton  ('Dairy  Husbandry,'  p.  31)  gives  a  satisfactory  account  of 
the  rearing  of  dairy  stock.  They  are  selected  from  parents  of  the  best 
quality,  and  few  are  brought  up  that  are  not  of  the  fashionable  colour. 
Those  are  preferred  that  are  dropped  about  the  end  of  March  or  the 
beginning  of  April,  as  they  are  ready  for  the  early  grass,  and  attain 
some  size  before  winter. 

Calves  reared  for  dairy  stock  are  not  allowed  to  suck  their  dams,  but  are 
always  fed  by  the  hand  from  a  dish.  They  are  generally  fed  on  milk, 
only  for  the  first  four,  five  or  six  weeks,  and  are  then  allowed  from 
four  lo  five  quarts  of  new  milk,  twice  in  the  twenty-four  hours  (  Mr. 
Rankine  says  'from  10  to  12  quarts',)  Some  never  give  them  any  other 
food  when  young,  except  milk;  and  lessen  the  quantity  when  the  calves 
begin  to  eat  grass  or  other  food,  which  they  will  generally  do  at  about  five 
weeks  old:  the  milk  is  totally  withdrawn  about  the  seventh  or  eighth 
week  of  the  calfs  age.  If,  however,  the  calf  is  reared  in  the  winter,  or 
early  in  the  spring  before  the  grass  rises,  it  must  be  longer  supplied  with 
milk,  for  it  will  not  so  soon  learn  to  eat  hay  or  straw.  Some  mix 
meal  with  the  milk  after  the  third  or  fourth  week;  others  add  new  whey 
to  the  milk,  which  has  been  first  mixed  with  meal;  and  when  the  calf 
gels  two  months  old  they  withdraw  the  milk,  and  feed  it  on  whey  and 
porridge.  Hay-tea,  broths,  of  peas  or  beans,  or  of  pea  or  bean  straw, 
linseed  beaten  into  powder,  treacle,  &c.  have  all  been  sometimes  used  to 

•  Take  a  bushel  of  chaff,  and  eight  or  ten  sound  yellow  or  Swedish  turnips,  bavins  the 
tops  nnd  tails  carefully  taken  off:  add  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water,  and  boil  them  tr  jrethcr 
four  or  five  hours.  Add  as  much  water  ;is  will  &llo\v  the  liand  to  move  easily  through  the 
mass.  Sijucezc  down  the  turnips,  and  add  three  pounds  of  pca-nieal.  Give  this  to  a  cow 
in  the  morning,  and  the  same  in  the  evening,  and  as  much  sweet  hay  as  she  will  e;;t  up 
dean,  five  times  a  day;  then,  without  much  expense,  her  butter  will  be  as  rich,  and  of  as 
fine  a  flavour  as  can  be  produced  in  winter.  Should  the  peculiar  flavour  of  the  turnip  be 
detected,  which  is  not  likely,  a  small  quantity  of  saltpetre  put  to  the  crcaui  will  take 
a  off. 


THE  AYRSHIRE  BREED.  137 

advantage  in  feeding  calves  ;  but  milk,  when  it  can  be  spared,  is  the  most 
natural  food. 

The  dairy  calves  are  generally  fed  on  the  best  pasture  during  the  first 
summer,  and  have  some  preference  over  the  other  slock  in  food  during  the 
next  winter,  or  they  are  allowed  to  run  loose  in  a  yard  with  a  shed,  and 
are  supplied  with  green  food  in  cribs.  When  the  green  food  is  eaten, 
they  get  with  straw  as  many  turnips  as  can  be  afforded  them,  and  that  is 
generally  a  very  small  quantity.  Mr.  Rankine  says  that  '  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  this  mode  of  feeding  during  the  first  season  is  prefer- 
able to  pasturing.  Besides  the  excellent  dung  produced,  the  animals 
arrive,  under  this  treatment,  at  a  much  greater  size.'  From  that  time,  until 
they  drop  their  first  calf,  they  are  generally  turned  on  inferior  pasture,  and 
are  no  better  fed  in  winter  than  any  other  species  of  stock.  They  are 
allowed  what  oat-straw  they  can  eat  during  the  night  and  morning,  and, 
except  in  time  of  snow,  are  turned  out  to  the  fields  during  the  daytime. 
The  greatest  part  of  the  young  dairy  stock  are  kept  in  byres  or  in  sheds 
during  winter,  but  some  are  laid  out,  and  supported  with  straw  in  the 
fields. 

There  is  nothing  peculiar  in  the  mode  of  manufacturing  the  Ayrshire 
butter,  nor  even  the  sweet  milk  or  Dzmlop  cheese,  so  called  from  the  dis- 
trict in  Cunningham  in  which  it    was  either  first  or  best   made.     It  is 
difficult  to  tell  when  it  was  first  made,  for  a  well-known  rhyme  says  that, 
in  the  olden  time,  it  was  customary  to  look  to 
'  Kyle  for  a  man, 
And  Carrick  for  a  cow, 
Cunningham  for  butter  and  cheese. 
And  Galloway  for  woo  '.' 

Some  have  traced  the  secret  to  an  old  woman  who  returned  from  Ireland 
after  the  revolution  of  1688:  but  the  whole  mystery  consists  in  the  rich- 
ness of  the  milk;  in  the  cheese  being  honestly  made  of  the  milk,  cream 
and  all,  although  strange  stories  are  sometimes  told  of  the  pilferings  of 
the  cream,  and  the  extent  to  which  it  may  be  carried  without  detection  ; 
in  the  milk  being,  as  its  name  imports,  perfectly  sweet ;  in  particular 
attention  being  paid  to  the  temperature  of  the  milk  when  the  rennet  is 
added  (75  degrees,  and  that  most  accurately  ascertained  by  the  dairy- 
maid's thermometer,  the  tip  of  her  finger),  and  in  the  cheese  being  dried 
in  a  cool  place,  without  any  painting  or  sweating,  or  rubbing  with  grease 
or  oil.* 

The  Dunlop  sweet-milk  cheese  has  a  pecidiar  mild  and  rich  taste,  and 
also  a  frequent  want  of  firmness  ;  thus  being  readily  distinguished  from  the 
harder,  rougher,  dryer  Cheshire,  and  the  mild  and  fatty  but  somewhat 
sticky  Gloucester  cheese. 

The  skim-milk  or  common  cheese,  is  made  in  Ayrshire,  as  every  where 
else,  of  the  milk  from  which  the  cream  has  been  separated.! 

In  Carrick  chiefly,  but  not  exclusively,  many  black  cattle  are  grazed 
and  fattened  for  the  Scotch  and  English  markets.  They  are  mostly  a 
peculiar  breed,  the  history  of   which    cannot  be    perfectly  ascertained. 

*  Mr.  Alton  says, '  I  had  access  to  know  that  John  Reid,  tenant  in  Silverwood,  in  the 
parish  of  Kilmarnock,  made  full-milk  cheese  on  that  farm  as  early  as  the  year  1750.  It 
was  made  by  John  Love  in  Monkland  in  that  neighbourhood,  about  the  same  period ; 
but  it  was  not  until  the  year  1770,  that  any  considerable  number  of  the  farmers  in  that 
or  neighbouring  parishes  began  to  make  full-milk  cheese.  ('  Dairy  Husbandry.') 

+  For  a  very  interesting  comparison,  and  one  rich  in  practical  information,  between 
the  manufacture  of  the  Cheshire  and  Dunlop  cheese,  we  refer  to  Mr.  Alton's  invaluable 
•Treatise  on  Dairy  Husbandry,'  and  also  to  the  'British  Husbandry'  of  the  'Farmer's 
Series.' 

13* 


138  CATTLE. 

They  are  polled,  yet  they  differ  from  the  Gallowaj-s,  and  they  differ  as 
essentially  from  the  Kyloes.  An  intelligent  writer  in  the  'Farmer's 
Magazine'  (1807)  describes  them  as  'black,  with  long  thick  hair — their 
shape  round  and  square,  straight  on  the  back,  well  limbed,  and  when 
standing  upright,  the  more  they  liave  of  the  four-footed  stool,  they  are 
esteemed  the  more  perfect.  Their  general  look  and  figure  indicate 
strength  and  hardiness,  and  the  finer  and  more  perfect  that  figure  is, 
tlie  easier  they  are  fed.  They  consist  of  stots  and  spayed  queys,  and 
of  cows.' 

The  stots  and  spayed  queys  are  purchased  from  the  breeder  at  a  year 
and  a-half  or  two  years  old,  and  kept  until  they  are  three  or  four,  when 
they  are  driven  to  England  along  with  the  Galloway  droves.  They  are 
never  in  the  house  from  the  time  they  come  from  the  breeder,  but  are 
fed  in  the  fields  on  grass  and  hay  until  they  are  driven  away. 

The  transfer  ot  these  cattle  is  carried  on  by  the  drovers  and  country- 
dealers  (a  kind  of  middle  men  between  the  Scotch  and  English  dealers.) 
Some  of  them  have  a  little  capital  to  begin  with,  but  others,  at  their 
outset,  have  only  the  credit  of  a  fair  character.  Their  common  practice 
was  to  deal  upon  credit,  by  giving  their  bill  for  what  they  purchase,  payable 
at  three  months :  the  grazier  took  this  bill  to  a  bank,  endorsed  it'as  a 
cautioner,  and  got  the  money.  If  the  drover  met  with  a  ready  market  in 
England,  he  took  up  the  bill  when  it  became  due — if  not,  the  cautioner 
had  the  debt  to  pay. 

In  consequence  of  this  mode  of  doing  business,  there  was  a  great  deal 
of  speculation  and  risk;  and  when  a  great  drover  happened  to  fail,  a 
whole  country-side  was  almost  laid  waste.  This  mode  of  dealing  yet 
continues  to  some  extent,  but  the  farmer,  grown  wise  by  experience,  is 
now  far  more  anxious  to  deal  for  ready  money. 

Some  of  the  farmers  in  Carrick  carry  on  an  extensive  business  in 
grazing  cows.  They  buy  up  those  that  are  old,  or  which  I'ail  at  the 
pail,  or  are  not  good  breeders,  and  lay  them  on  the  pasture  about 
Hallow-day,  where  they  remain  a  year,  when  they  are  bought  up  by 
dealers  or  butchers  for  supplying  the  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  markets. 
They  require  grass  of  a  better  quality  than  the  stots;  they  are  fed  in  the 
open  fields  during  the  whole  season;  they  seldom  get  turnips  or  other 
green  food  during  the  winter,  but  when  the  pastures  begin  to  fail,  hay 
and  straw  are  given  to  them  twice  in  the  day  until  about  the  beginning 
of  May. 

On  the  heath  covered  mountains  of  the  south  and  south-east  extremities 
of  Ayrshire  a  considerable  number  of  black  cattle  are  reared,  'i'hey  are 
of  the  same  kind  as  those  which  we  have  just  described;  but  even  in 
the  present  improved  state  of  husbandry,  many  more  stock  are  kept  on 
the  ground  than  can  possibly  thrive,  and  there  is  a  sad  deficiency  of  whole- 
some, nourishing  food  during  the  winter. 

In  the  beautiful  village  of  Colmonell,  on  the  banks  of  the  Struchian, 
there  are  usually  at  least  three  thousand  black  cattle;  the  breeding  of 
them  is  a  great  object  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  their  value  has 
rapidly  increased.* 

*  A  singular  practice  used  to  prevail  in  some  parts  of  Ayrshire,  and  particularly  in  the 
nciglibourhood  oI'Largs. — The  husbandry  liorscs  were  hired  during  the  wintcrandspring 
from  tlie  nclgliboariiig  districts, and  after  the  ploughing  and  sowing  were  over,  they  were 
returned  iiome,  oilen  in  a  poor  st.ite,  to  do  the  work  of  tlieir  ill-judging  musters.  The 
saving  of  fodder,  and  the  earning  of  a  little  money,  were  the  alleged  excuses, 

Mr.  Lockarf ,in  his statislicil accountof the p.rish  ot'Lanark ,gives an interestingaccount 
of  the  commencement  of  tlie  inclosure  and  pl.nting  of  Lanark-moor,  which  consisted  of 
1500  acres  of  land  abandoned  to  heath  and  bent  grass,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  populous 


THE  LANARKSHIRE  BREED.  133 

A  few  of  the  native  wild  cattle  are  found  in  Androssan  park  belonging 
to  the  Earl  of  Eglintown,  and  in  Aiichencruive  park,  the  seat  of  Mr,  Os- 
wald. They  are,  however,  suspected  not  to  be  in  a  state  of  perfect  puri- 
ty; they  ate  of  a  cream  colour,  with  black  muzzles,  and  black  or  brown, 
or  red  ears. 

Oxen  are  not  worked,  nor  is  there  any  creditable  account  of  llieir  ever 
having  been  worked,  in  Ayrsliire;  and  the  system  of  straw-yard  feeding  is 
seldom  practised. 

LANARKSHIRE,  OR  CLYDESDALE. 

The  latter  name  is  derived  from  the  river  Clyde,  which  rises  in  the 
south-west  on  the  borders  of  Peebles,  and  pursues  its  winding  course  for 
sixty  miles  through  the  heart  of  the  county.  'I'he  climate  is  mild,  and 
severe  frosts  or  snow  are  seldom  of  long  continuance; — there  is  a  great 
deal  of  natural  pasture  and  meadow-land,  fitting  it  to  become  an  ex- 
cellent dairy-country,  and  which  has  been  its  character  for  nearly  a  cen- 
tury. 

Lanark  is  supposed  to  contain  30,000  cattle,  all  of  which  are  connected 
with  the  dairy,  except  a  very  few  that  are  bought  in  to  feed  on  the  summer 
pastures.  The  breed,  as  in  the  majority  of  dairy  counties,  is  strangely 
various,  according  to  the  caprice,  or  skill,  or  ignorance  of  the  occupier  of 
the  ground.  They  may,  however,  be  divided  into  two  classes — the  High- 
landers, with  all  their  varieties  and  crosses,  and  the  Ayrshires,  which  are 
gradually  superseding  everything  else. 

The  dairy  breed,  on  the  borders  of  the  Clyde,  although  of  the  Ayrshire 
stock,  are  somewhat  altered  by  the  difference  and  superiority  of  soil. 
They  are  longer  and  rounder  in  the  chest,  heavier  in  the  fore-quarters,  and 
less  capacious  behind;  they  appear  to  have  materially  improved  in  their 
grazing  qualities,  and  yet,  contrary  to  their  usual  character,  they  have  not 
suffered  much  deterioration  as  milkers. 

Mr.  Alton  ('  Dairy  Husbandry,'  p.  27,)  says  that  'Lord  Belhaven  kept 
at  Wlshaw-house  lor  several  years  a  bull  of  the  dairy  breed,  of  uncommon 
beauty;  he  was,  however,  a  native  of  Beith,  in  the  county  of  Ayr.  He 
was  longer  and  rounder  in  the  ch.est,  deeper  in  the  ribs  nearer  to  the 
shoulder,  and  his  fore-quarters  stronger  and  heavier  than  the  bulls  most 
approved  of  in  the  county  of  Ayr.'  From  him  descended  a  great  part  of 
the  Lanarkshire  cattle.  The  fact  was,  that  the  richer  soil  of  Lanark 
would  maintain  a  heavier  beast  than  that  of  Ayrshire:  Lanark  was  not 
60  decidedly  and  proverbially  a  dairy  county;  therefore  this  bull  became 

and  manufacturing  town.  Mr.  Honeyman,  advocate  of  Grcrmsay,  was  the  first  who  ven- 
tured to  ten,  or  tal?c  on  lease  any  great  quantity  of  tiiis  common  land.  Ileobtainrd  a  grant 
from  tlic  magistrates  of  nearly  3o0  acres.  Purt  of  it.  he  inclosed  for  pasturage,  and  the  rest 
he  planted  with  Scots  pine  and  lurch,  and  beech  and  asli;  but  lie  was  violently  opposed 
b}'  some  of  t)ic  burgesses,  who  claimed  an  immemorial  right  of  servitude  upon  this  moor 
for  the  pusturagc  of  a  certain  number  of  cattle,  and  for  fuel,  seal  and  divot;  and  it  was 
long  before  they  could  be  induced  to  accept  a  more  than  equivalent  for  this  right. 

He  also  states,  that  until  i.flerthe  middle  of  the  last  century,  '  tiie  lands  of  tlic  out-pa- 
rish were  generally  let  in  sm^ll  farms  for  nineteen  years,  the  rents  paid  in  victuals,  and 
the  labour  per.brmcd  by  the  tenant  and  his  own  faii.ily.  A  few  acres  adjoining  to  the 
house  were  kept  in  constant  lill::gi;  upon  which  ail  the  dung  of  tlie  farm  was  Lid,  and 
tlie  out  fields  were  kept  alternately  for  three  years  in  oats  and  three  years  in  pasture.' 
Tliis  is  tlie  wretched  system  of  infield  and  outfield,  to  which  we  have  before  referred; 
but  lie  adds,  when  the  victual  rents  were  abolished,  a  sjnrit  of  industry  and  improve- 
ment began  to  diffuse  itself  over  the  parish.  A  regular  system  of  inclosing  commenced, 
and  all  the  advantages  connected  with  it. 


140  CATTLE. 

deservedly  a  favourite,  on  account  of  his  superior  weight  before,  and  hig 
being  deep  and  level  at  the  heart-place,  which  are  points  of  essential  im- 
portance for  grazing. 

The  object  of  the  dairy  is  chiefly  pursued  on  the  banks  of  the  Clyde, 
and  much  butter  and  cheese  are  manufactured  which  find  a  ready  sale  at 
Paisley,  Glasgow,  and  Edinburgh.  Even  the  higher  parts  of  this  district, 
which  elsewhere  would  be  devoted  to  sheep-feeding,  and  which  ought  to 
be  so  devoted  here,  are  converted  into  dairy  grounds;  and  the  butter, 
although  not  so  oily,  is  equally  well  flavoured,  and  scarcely  ever  becomes 
rancid.  The  milch  cows  are  fed  on  the  best  pastures  during  summer,  and 
a  few  turnips  are  given  in  the  autumn  to  protract  the  milk;  but  not  in  suf- 
ficient quantity  to  produce  the  unpleasant  taste  of  the  butter  which  usually 
accompanies  full  turnip-feeding. 

Lanarkshire  is  principally  noted  for  its  feeding  of  calves,  which  is 
chiefly  carried  on  in  the  district  of  Strathaven,  on  the  borders  of  Ayrshire. 
The  Lanark  or  Strathaven  veal  is  supposed  to  possess  a  peculiarly  delicate 
flavour,  and  is  much  esteemed  in  the  markets  of  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow. 
The  calves  which  are  dropped  in  Ayrshire  and  Lanarkshire  in  the  winter 
and  the  spring  are  sold  to  tliose  who  attend  to  this  branch  of  dairy  hus- 
bandry in  Ayrshire  and  Strathaven.  Mr.  Alton  ('Survey  of  Ayrshire,'  p. 
442)  gives  the  following  account  of  the  management  of  this  department 
of  dairy  husbandry: — '  They  are  fed  on  milk,  which  they  are  taught  to 
drink  from  a  dish;  it  is  given  to  them  by  some  feeders  sparingly  at  first, 
to  render  their  appetite  more  keen,  and  to  prevent  them  from  loathing 
their  food,  and  as  they  grow  up,  the  quantity  of  milk  is  gradually  in- 
creased to  as  much  as  the  calves  can  be  made  to  drink;  but  others,  with 
better  success,  give  them  a  good  supply  from  first  to  last.'  For  the  first 
week  or  two  they  will  not  be  able  to  consume  more  than  one-half  of  a 
good  cow's  milk;  but  when  they  are  coaxed  to  eat  in  order  to  make  fat 
veal,  a  calf  at  a  month  old  will  consume  a  cow's  milk,  and,  before  it  is 
two  months  old,  it  will  take  the  greater  part  of  the  milk  of  two  cows. 
The  calves  that  are  reared  for  stock  have  usually  the  first  drawn  milk,  and 
those  that  are  feeding  for  veal,  that  which  is  last  drawn  from  two  or  three 
cows;  or,  if  all  are  fattening  for  veal,  the  first  milk,  provincially  named 
forebroads,  is  given  to  the  younger  ones,  and  that  which  is  last  drawn,  the 
afterings,  to  the  older  ones.  Mr.  Aiton  reprobates  the  practice  of  mixing 
eggs  and  meal  with  the  milk,  from  the  erroneous  notion  of  their  darkening 
the  flesh  and  web  and  lights  of  these  animals: — certainly  they  cannot  be 
needed  if  plenty  of  milk  is  allowed,  but  of  this  crime  of  darkening  the 
carcase  they  are  perfectly  innocent. 

He  very  properly  adds,  that  it  contains  the  whole  mystery  of  calf-feed- 
ing:— '  The  only  art  now  used  in  feeding  calves  in  the  vicinity  of  Stratha- 
ven is  to  give  them,  after  the  first  two  or  three  weeks,  abundance  of  milk, 
to  keep  plenty  of  dry  litter  under  them,  in  a  place  that  is  ivell  aired, 
neither  too  hot  nor  too  cold,  and  to  exclude  the  light,  as  they  are  apt  to 
become  too  sportive  when  they  enjoy  much  light.' 

When  the  calves  become  costive,  a  litde  bacon  or  mutton-broth  will 
open  the  bowels,  and  if  they  begin  to  purge,  a  small  quantity  of  rennet 
put  into  their  milk  will  cure  the  disease.  A  Inmp  of  chalk  is  usually 
placed  within  their  reach,  and  with  decided  advantage. 

The  practice  of  bleeding  to  expedite  their  fattening  is  not  approved  of; 
neither  are  infusions  of  hay,  or  oil-cake,  or  linseed,  or  any  other  food 
beside  milk.  They  are  occasionally  reared  to  a  most  extraordinary  size; 
they  have  weighed  nearly  twenty-six  stones,  exclusive  of  the  ofial.  An 
account  is  on  record  of  one  that  weighed  more  than  forty  stones.     After 


THE  LANARKSHIRE  BREED.  141 

the  animal  is  eight  or  ten  years  old,  and  perhaps  is  worth  from  four  to 
six  pounds,  the  continued  feeding  will  seldom  be  profitable,  and  the  milk, 
may  be  put  to  a  belter  use.*  Two  or  three  days  before  the  calf  is  des- 
tined to  be  killed,  he  is  somelimes  fed  on  water  gruel,  in  order  to  dilute, 
as  it  is  supposed,  his  blood,  and  to  give  more  whiteness  to  the  flesh. 

In  this  manner  rich  veal  is  fattened  and  sent  to  Glasgow,  but  princi- 
pally to  Edinburgh,  from  Christmas  to  the  end  of  summer,  and  it  some- 
times obtains  a  most  exorbitant  price. 

This  is  a  simple  but  somewhat  expensive  method  of  feeding,  and  we 
record  it  among  the  peculiarities  of  certain  districts  as  they  pass  in  review 
before  us.  The  profit  from  it  is  very  great.  A  thriving  calf  can  be  pur- 
chased, newly  dropped,  at  from  6s.  to  Ss.,  and  raised  on  the  milk  of  one 
cow  to  the  price  of  50s.  or  60.s.  by  the  time  it  is  f)ur  or  five  weeks  old, 
and  to  4/.,  or  more,  when  it  is  seven  weeks  old.  If  it  is  kept  much  longer, 
the  milk  of  more  than  one  cow  must  be  given  to  it,  and  then,  at  ten  weeks 
old,  and  in  proper  season,  it  will  be  worth  6'.  or  7f.  The  Strathaven 
farmer,  therefore,  realises  a  profit  of  more  than  10s.  per  week  from  a  thriv- 
ing calf,  and  some  have  gained  as  much  as  12,^.  or  16v.  per  week.  There 
is  one  practice  of  too  frequent  recurrence  in  Slraihaven,  which  demands 
unmingled  reprehension.  We  relate  it  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Alton  (p.  99): 
— '  Butchers  and  others  who  purchase  young  calves  in  the  country  to  carry 
them  to  town  to  be  slaughtered,  do  not  in  Scotland  transport  them  stand- 
ing on  their  feet,  as  is  (sometimes)  done  in  England,  but  they  hang  such 
of  them  as  cannot  travel,  in  pairs  by  the  feet  over  a  horse's  back,  with 
their  backs  and  heads  hanging  downwards;  three  or  four  pairs  of  them 
on  one  horse,  while  the  butclier  sits  upon  the  top  of  the  group,  deaf  to 
their  agonizing  cries.  Others  heap  as  many  living  calves  into  a  cart, 
above  each  other,  all  tied  by  the  feet,  as  a  horse  can  draw.  It  would 
be  worthy  of  the  magistr.ites  of  the  district  to  extend  their  commiseration 
to  these  animals,  so  cruelly  and  so  unnecessarily  tortured,  and  to  compel 
the  butchers,  or  others  who  deal  in  that  species  of  stock,  to  treat  them 
with  a  proper  degree  of  humanity.  A  merciful  man  is  merciful  even  to 
brutes,  and  those  who  practise  cruelty  towards  animals  will  not  long  act 
mercifully  towards  the  human  race.f 

*  Mr.  Alton  illustrates  this  in  his  •  Dairy  Husbandry,'  p.  90.  'Tliomas  Hamilton  of 
Great  Hill,  near  Strath.^vcn,  fed,  about  the  year  176;>,  a  cult"  to  such  a  degree,  that  he 
sold  it  at  the  price  of  5Z.  The  price  of  veal  was  not  liigher  at  that  time  tlian  2^/.  per  lb., 
which  would  make  the  elf  more  th;.n  34  stones  imperii.1  weight.'  '  In  181.5,  Mr.  Strang 
of  Shawton,  near  Strathaven,  fed  a  c.lf  to  the  weight  of  35  stones,  and  he  was  offered 
nearly  16/.  for  it;  he  refused  to  sell  it  at  that  price,  and  it  soon  atterwards  sickened  and 
died.'  In  1819,  Mr.  William  Granger  of  Dykehead  fatted  one  to  more  than  38  stones  im- 
perial weight.  Mr.  Alton  properly  remarks,  that  'feeding  to  those  weights  proceeds,  per- 
haps, more  from  ostentation  than  prudence.  A  calf  will  fed  until  it  is  from  four  to  six 
weeks  old,  will  (in  the  neighbourhood  of  Strathaven)  if  it  is  ordinarily  thriving,  and 
when  the  market  is  not  very  low,  sell  at  from  4/.  to  6/.;  but  when  a  calf  is  brought  to 
that  pitch,  the  milk  may  be  turned  to  better  account  by  feeding  a  young  one,  tiian  by 
forcing  one  already  sufficiently  fed  to  a  size  and  weight  above  nature.' 

+  We  extract  from  the  same  author  (p.  G.5)  an  account  of  the  dairy  established  by  Mr. 
Harley,  at  WiIlowbr.-nk,  in  the  neiglibourhood  of  Glasgow,  and  from  which  tiiat  city 
is  principally  supplied  with  milk.  He  |)reviously  tells  us  that  'the  number  of  cows  in 
Glasgow  and  its  neighbourhood  whose  milk  is  sold  sweet  to  the  citizens,  may  probably 
amount  to  two  tiiousand ;  and  as  these  cows  arc  the  very  best  of  the  dairy-breed  col- 
lected from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  are  higiily  fed,  both  to  procure  milk  and  to  render 
them  fat;  and  as  they  are  always  sold  to  the  butcher  whenever  they  are  fatted,  and  are 
replaced  by  other  cows  that  are  lean  and  newly  called,  it  nuy  be  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  each  cow  will  yit-ld,  on  the  average,  twelve  Scotch  pints  (six  gallons)  of  milk  every 
day.'  This  seems  to  be  an  enormous  quantity,  and,  allowing  for  occasional  deficieiicy, 
amounting  to  about  2.K)0  g  lions  yearly  from  each  cow.  Then,  afler  telling  us  that  '  the 
feeding  is  similar  to  that  practised  in  other  towns  in  Scotland,  consisting  of  grains  and 


143  CATTLE. 

Butter-milk  is  used  to  a  great  extent  by  the  labouring  classes  in  all  parts 
of  Scotland,  and  particularly  in  the  town  of  Glasgow.  The  milk  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  cows  that  are  kept  more  than  two  miles,  and  less 
than  twelve,  from  Glasgow,  is  manufactured  into  sour  milk,  and  used  by 

draff  from  the  breweries,  burnt  ale,  or  other  refuse  froin  the  distilleries,  the  refuse  of 
flour  usually  termed  hen's  meal,  oats  and  beans ;  that  they  have  green  clover  and  rye- 
grass in  summer,  willi  tlie  offal  of  gardens;  and  turnips  and  potatoes  in  the  winter, 
both  raw  and  boiled,  with  grain,  ehaff,  infusions  of  hay,  &c.,  but  no  oil-cake ;'  he  pro- 
ceeds to  describe  the  extensive  dairy  of  Mr.  Hurley: — 

'  liike  many  other  useful  establishments,  Mr.  Harley's  dairy  proceeded  more  from 
accident  th;m  original  design.  It  was  begun  at  first  on  a  very  limited  scale,  and  has 
been  gradually  extended  and  improved  to  its  present  refinement.  Mr.  Harley,  who  had 
been  long  engaged  in  manufacturing  cotton  goods,  and  who  still  carries  on  tiiut  branch 
on  an  extensive  scale,  happened  to  discover  in  a  field,  which  he  had  purchased  near 
Glasgow,  a  copious  spring  of  excellent  water.  He  not  only  converted  that  spring  to 
public  use  by  supplying  the  city  better  than  it  had  been  before,  but  he  erected  cold  and 
hot  baths,  the  first  and  still  the  only  thing  of  the  kind  provided  for  public  use  in  or  near 
that  city.  Some  of  the  people,  who  took  the  benefit  of  these  baths,  having  expressed  a 
wish  to  be  provided  with  warm  milk  after  bathing,  Mr.  Harley  procured  a  cow  for  that 
purpose ;  and  as  the  baths  soon  became  a  place  of  general  resort,  he  not  only  increased 
the  number  of  the  cows,  so  as  to  answer  the  demand,  but  perceiving  that  the  city  of 
Glasgow  was  ill  supplied  with  that  valuable  article  of  food,  and  that  much  of  tliat 
which  was  sold  there  was  of  bad  quality,  he  began  at  first  to  supply  his  friends,  and 
afterwards  tlie  city,  with  milk  entire  as  it  was  drawn  from  tJie  cow,  and  in  a  state  of 
cleanliness  ibrmerly  unknown  in  that  department  of  agricultural  produce.  His  byre  is 
formed  to  hold  ninety-six  cows,  but  he  has  for  some  time  past  had  about  twenty  more 
in  out-houses,  and  purposes  to  add  to  the  cow-houses. 

'  TJie  byre  having  been  enlarged  at  different  periods,  its  external  figure  is  not  so  com- 
plete  as  it  might  otherwise  have  been,  but  in  its  internal  construction,  it  is  the  most 
perfect  of  any  byre  in  the  kingdom.  The  cattle  are  placed  in  double  rows  across  the 
building,  two  rows  facing  each  other,  with  a  road  or  passage  between  them,  from  which 
both  rows  arc  fed,  each  cow  having  a  grip  or  groove  behind,  into  which  they  drop  their 
dung  or  urine,  with  a  road  between  it  and  that  of  the  next  row.  Stalls  for  two  cows  are 
divided  from  each  other  by  pillars  of  cast  iron,  having  grooves,  into  which  the  division 
boards,  called  trevises,  are  fixed.  Each  cow  is  bound  to  an  upright  stake,  with  an  iron 
chain  connected  by  a  turn  swivel  to  a  ring  round  the  stake,  and  wliich  slides  up  and  down 
as  the  cow  raises  or  lowers  her  head ;  and  when  the  cows  are  to  be  fed  with  potatoes,  a 
pin,  suspended  from  the  trevis  by  a  small  cliain,  is  put  through  a  hole  in  the  stake, 
which,  by  keeping  down  the  ring,  prevents  the  cow  from  raising  her  head,  and  thereby 
choaking  herself  with  the  potatoes.  A  trough,  or  crib,  is  placed  before  each  cow,  and,  to 
prevent  them  from  scattering  their  fodder,  a  grating  of  strong  wire,  suspended  on 
pulleys  like  tlie  sash  of  a  window,  is  placed  in  front  of  each  pair  of  cows.  It  is  thrown 
up  when  food  is  to  be  set  in,  and  put  down  to  prevent  the  straw,  &c.,  being  tlirown  out 
of  the  stall  to  the  passage.  The  grating,  while  it  keeps  the  fodder  from  being  thrown 
out  of  the  crib,  permits  tire  cow's  breath  to  escape,  and  does  not  confine  it  within  the 
stall,  where  it  would  render  the  food  unpalatable,  and  oblige  the  cows  to  breathe  in  a 
polluted  atmosphere. 

'  The  byre  is  lighted  chiefly  from  the  ceiling,  and  the  windows  are  constructed  so  that 
they  can  be  raised  in  order  to  give  vent  to  the  bad  air,  and  by  opening  the  doors  or 
windows  on  the  sides  of  the  byre,  more  or  less,  according  to  the  state  of  the  weather, 
the  ventilation  of  the  house  is  so  completely  commanded,  that  it  can  be  rendered  at  all 
times  as  cool  as  the  surrounding  atmosphere. 

'Tlie  byre  is  kept  as  near  as  possible  at  sixty-two  degrees  on  Fahrenheit's  scale;  and 
to  enable  the  keeper  to  do  so,  a  thermometer  is  placed  within  the  house. 

'  Besides  the  roads  between  the  heads  of  every  two  rows  of  cows,  and  one  between 
the  two  grips,  another  runs  down  the  centre  of  the  house,  from  the  one  end  of  it  to  the 
other,  and  all  these  roads  are  lain  with  hewn  pavement,  and  are,  with  the  gratings, 
division  boards,  &.C.,  carefully  was.hed  every  day,  and  kept  as  clean  as  the  lobby  of  a 
dwelling-house.  The  whole  of  the  cows  arc  curried  and  brushed  daily,  and  kept  as 
clean  as  cavalry  horses. 

'  The  bottom  of  the  grips  declines  a  little  towards  the  centre,  to  lead  the  water  into  the 
common  drain,  and  also  towards  the  cows,  so  that  the  urine  may  run  off  when  the 
dung  is  drawn  back.  The  whole  urine  and  washings  of  the  byre,  with  the  juices  of  the 
dunghill,  that  of  a  public  washing-house,  connected  with  the  baths  »Stc.,  are  collected 
into  a  proper  reservoir,  and  used  as  manure.  The  cribs  incline  towards  the  centre,  where 
a  stone  trough  is  placed,  so  that  by  pouring  a  small  quantity  of  water  at  the  other  end, 


THE  LANARKSHIRE  BREED.  143 

the  inhabitants  of  that  city.  Mr.  Aiton  speaks  of  this  with  much 
national  feeling,  (Dairy  Husbandry,  p.  111.)  'The  butter-milk  is,  on 
the  authority  of  the  Secretary  to  the  Board  of  Agriculture  (Arthur 
Young),  adjudged  to  the  pigs;  but  it  is  in  the  western  counties  of  Scot- 
land, as  well  as  in  Ireland,  used  to  a  vast  extent  as  human  food.  It  is 
used  as  drink,  and  is  certainly  far  superior  to  the  miserable  table  beer 
generally  drunk  in  England.  It  serves  as  kitchen  to  pottage,  bread, 
potatoes,  &c.;  and  when  a  hnen  bag,  like  a  pillow  slip,  is  filled  with  it, 
and  hung  up  till  the  serum  drops  out,  and  a  small  quantity  of  sweet  cream 
is  mixed  \\  ilh  what  remains  in  the  bag,  and  a  litde  sugar,  where  the  milk 
is  too  sour,  it  forms  a  dish  that  might  be  placed  on  the  table  of  a  peer  of 
the  realm.' 

The  coarse  upland  on  the  eastern  part  of  the  county  is  devoted  to 
grazing.  The  rough  pastures  there  are  allowed  to  grow  from  the  end  of 
May  to  that  of  August.  The  herbage  on  the  better  spots  is  then  mown, 
and  the  hay  stored  up  for  winter  food,  and  the  pasture  is  stocked  with 
young  Highland  cattle,  who  live  on  the  grass  while  the  weather  continues 
tine,  and  to  whom  some  of  this  bog-hay  is  given  when  the  storms  of  win- 
ter come  on,  or  the  snow  is  on  the  ground.  If  there  is  no  sheltered  spot 
for  this  purpose,  a  rude  kind  of  shed  is  erected,  to  which  they  immedi- 
ately betake  themselves.  These  cattle  are  sold  off  in  May,  and  are  sup- 
posed to  have  increased  25s.  or  30s.  in  value.  On  some  farms  of  this 
description,  many  neat  cattle  are  bred:  the  females  are  retained  to  keep  up 
the  milking  stock,  or  to  sell  at  two  years  old;  the  calves  are  almost  imme- 
diately disposed  of. 

THE  SOUTHEAST  LOWLANDS. 

This  district  contains  the  three  Lothians,  with  Roxburgh  and  Berwick. 
It  is  an  arable  district,  and  in  no  part  of  Scotland  has  agriculture  in  all  its 
branches  been  carried  to  a  greater  degree  of  perfection. 

LINLITHGOWSHIRE,  OR  WEST  LOTHIAN. 

This  county  is  beautifully  situated  on  the  Firth  of  Forth;  its  rich  land  is 
occupied  in  pasture,  or  devoted  to  the  raising  of  grain.     The  dairy  occu- 

the  grain  sand  refuse  of  food  is  washed  into  the  trough,  and  is  from  thence  carried  to 
the  piggery. 

'  The  milk  is  clean,  and  free  from  every  impurity;  it  is  poured  immediately  from  the 
milking  pails  tlirough  a  hair-sieve  into  the  milk  vessel  in  which  it  is  carried  to  town. 

'  The  pails  into  which  the  cows  are  milked,  and  other  vessels  used,  being  graduated, 
and  each  cow  having  a  running  number,  the  quantity  of  milk  drawn  from  each,  and 
aggregate  of  the  whole,  is  ascertained,  and  regularl)'  entered  in  a  book  by  the  overseer, 
every  time  the  cows  are  milked.  Part  of  the  milk  is  sold  at  the  dairy-house  near  the 
byres,  and  part  of  it  is  carried  through  the  streets  of  Glasgow,  in  large  cans  fixed  on 
carts,  each  drawn  by  a  pony. 

'A  given  quantity  is  put  under  the  charge  of  the  driver,  for  which  he  is  accountable; 
and  so  tenacious  is  Mr.  Harley  of  supplying  the  citizens  with  milk  pure  and  unadulte- 
rated, that  he  puts  it  out  of  the  power  of  those  who  retail  it  on  the  streets  to  introduce 
water,  or  any  other  impurity.  When  the  milk  is  placed  in  the  cans,  they  are  locked  up 
so  close  that  no  air  is  admitted,  except  as  much  as  will  make  the  milk  run  at  the  cock 
below;  and  the  air  hole  is  so  constructed,  that  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  driver  to  in- 
troduce water,  or  any  other  liquid,  by  it.  The  milk-puils,  and  the  whole  of  the  vessels, 
are  well  washed  and  scalded  in  boiling  water  every  time  they  are  used.  The  cocks  for 
running  off  the  milk  are  so  constructed,  tliat  they  can  be  opened  and  cleaned  in  the  in- 
side at  pleasure. 

'  Mr.  Harley  has  erected  within  the  byres  a  very  handsome  steam-engine,  which  he 
uses  to  raise  water  to  supply  the  byres,  drive  a  straw-cuttor,  and  a  machine  for  slicing 
potatoes  and  turnips,  on  the  principle  of  that  used  in  cutting  logwood.  The  steam  from 
the  boiler  is  used  in  steaming  potatoes  and  other  food  for  the  cows,  in  a  large  vat  which 
the  work  people  term  "  the  cows'  tea-pot."  ' 


lU  CATTLE. 

pies  some  share  of  the  attention  of  the  farmer;  for  the  proximity  of  this 
little  district  to  the  northern  metropolis  affords  him  an  excellent  market  for 
the  sale  of  the  produce. 

The  breeds  of  milch  cattle  are  as  various  as  can  be  imagined — some 
Fifes  are  kept — wiih  many  more  of  the  Ayrshire  cattle;  but  with  the  small 
farmer,  the  native  l)reed,  still  bearing  about  it  much  of  the  Highlander,  is 
either  preserved  entire,  or  crossed  in  every^  possible  way;  and  crossed 
with  most  advantage  by  the  short-horn. 

Mr.  Dawson,  of  Bonnylear,  informs  ns  that  '  the  cow,'  (i.  e.  the  pre- 
vailing breed)  '  in  Linlithgow,  is  something  like  the  Ayrshire  breed.'  (It 
is  almost  identical  with  the  Roxburgh  breed,  of  which  we  shall  have  fre- 
quently to  speak,  when  describing  these  districts.)  '  She  is  small  in  the 
head,  small  and  long  in  the  neck,  wnth  horns  bent  round  to  the  centre  of 
the  forehead,  with  a  long  tail,  short  small  legs,  and  a  straight  back;  the 
colour  generally  black,  brown,  or  a  mixture  of  brown,  or  a  black  and 
white,  but  the  black  prevails.  The  cow  will  feed  to  from  28  to  35  stones 
Dutch.  She  will  give  about  six  imperial  gallons  of  milk  per  day,  and 
about  six  or  seven  pounds  of  butter  per  week,  for  the  first  two  months 
after  calving;  after  which,  tlie  milk  will  gradually  decline,  until  three 
months  before  her  calving,  when  she  will  become  dry.' 

We  are  also  indebted  to  Mr.  Dawson,  for  the  following  valuable  account 
of  the  management  of  cattle  in  Linlithgow.  '  The  farmer  occasionally 
preserves  a  quey-calf  of  a  favourite  cow;  but  in  general,  the  calves,  both 
bulls  and  queys  are  sent  to  the  butcher.*  The  calves  that  are  preserved, 
are  fed  on  their  mother's  milk  newly  drawn  for  one  month,  and  consum- 
ing two-thirds  of  the  milk.  The  cow  generally  calves  in  May,  and  the 
calf  is  put  out  to  good  grass  in  June.  In  the  succeeding  winter  the  calf 
is  put  into  a  covered  place,  and  fed  on  straw-chafF  and  the  refuse  of  grain 
and  a  few  turnips,  and  turned  out  to  graze  in  the  ensuing  spring  on  the 
best  grass.  The  bull-calf  is  castrated  when  two  or  three  days  old,  when 
intended  to  be  reared;  and  after  being  grazed  and  fed  in  the  cart-yard  for 
four  seasons,  he  is  disposed  of  to  the  butcher,  and  will  weigh  from  45  to 
55  stones  Dutch — he  will  give  from  four  to  six  stones  of  tallow,  and  his 
hide  will  weigh  from  four  to  four  and  a  half  stones.  The  Lothian  ox  is 
a  fine  animal,  compared  with  the  cow  of  that  district.  The  difference  in 
the  horn  is  very  striking.  It  is  a  full-sized  middle  horn,  the  head  and  neck 
are  still  small,  but  the  ribs  are  deep  and  the  legs  are  short. 

'  The  grazing  cattle  are  chiefly  of  the  West  Highland  breed,  purchased 
at  the  great  trysts  in  Falkirk.  They  are  put  into  a  strawyard  that  is 
walled  round,  with  a  shed  or  coves-ed  place  to  afTord  them  shelter;  and 
they  are  supported  during  the  winter  on  straw  and  watei,  with  the  refuse 
of  the  grain.  This  is  what  is  called  watering,  and  it  aflbrds  a  good  sup- 
ply of  dung  for  the  farm.  In  the  spring  they  are  turned  out  to  graze,  and 
if  they  get  into  sufTicient  condition,  are  sold  in  the  autumn  to  the  butcher, 
but  in  many  instances  they  are  finished  ofT  with  turnips. 

'  Cattle  that  have  been  previously  well  grazed,  are  likewise  bought  at 
these  trysts,  to  consume  the  belter  sort  of  turnips.  They  are  stall-fed  from 
October  to  February,  and  are  then  usually  ready  for  market.  They  weigh 
from  about  35  to  50  lbs.  Dutch,  and  an  .acre  of  turnips  will  feed  two  oxen 
for  four  months.' 

*  Mr.  Robertson  confirms  this;  he  says,  'The  farmers  now  do  not  even  rear  their 
own  milch  cows,  but  purchase  tliem  from  lime  to  time  as  required;  in  some  cases  every 
season,  so  that  their  dairy  is  always  in  full  milk,  the  new  cows  being  purchased  newly- 
calved,  and  those  of  tiic  former  year  put  to  fatten  as  soon  as  they  become  yell,  or  dried 
up  in  milk,  the  ample  store  of  succulent  food  enabling  the  husbandman  so  to  do.' 


THE  EDINBURGHSHIRE  BREED,  145 

The  chief  attenlion  of  the  farmer  is  devoted  to  grazing,  for  which  the 
proximity  of  Linlithgow  to  Falkirk,  the  great  cattle  tryst  of  the  south, 
and  the  facilities  afforded  by  the  passage-boats  at  Queen's  ferry,  for  the 
procuring  of  lean  or  store  cattle;  and  also  the  neighbourhood  to  the 
best  markets  for  fiit  beasts,  and,  more  than  all,  the  excellence  of  the  pas- 
ture, are  well  adapted.  The  true  Highlanders  are  usually  selected,  or 
sometimes  the  Fifes;  but  the  former  fatten  most  speedily,  and  the  beef 
is  usually  preferred.  The  old  inclosed  pastures,  and  the  artificial  grasses 
afford  abundant  provender  in  the  summer,  and  in  the  winter  too,  when 
the  ground  is  not  covered  with  snow;  and  there  is  plenty  of  straw,  hay, 
and  turnips.  There  are  supposed  to  be  about  8500  cattle  in  the  county  of 
all  kin  s,  or  about  one  to  every  nine  acres.  Horses  have  now  quite  super- 
seded oxen  in  husbandry  work.* 


EDINBURGHSHIRE,    OR   MID    LOTHIAX. 

This  county,  although  not  of  great  extent,  has  more  variety  of  climate,  soil, 
and  produce,  than  any  other  in  Scotland.  The  northern  part  of  it,  along 
the  Firth  of  Forth,  is  rich  and  highly  cultivated.  On  the  south  side  of  the 
metropolis,  and  to  the  very  feet  of  the  Pendand  and  Moorland  hills,  and 
even  up  the  sides  of  them,  there  is  much  ground  tolerably  productive,  at 
least  in  good  seasons ;  but  on  the  tops  of  the  hills,  and  in  a  great  part  of  the 
upland  district,  there  are  tracts  of  land  which  bid  defiance  to  cultivation. 

Not  more  than  <  ne-fifth  of  the  arable  land  of  the  county  is  fairly  de- 
voted to  pasture,  and  the  greater  part  of  that  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Edin- 
burgh butchers,  whose  stock  is  continually  changing,  and  cannot  be  said 
to  have  any  specific  character,  and  which  is  only  halted  and  preserved 
upon  it  rather  than  fed.  Much  of  the  pasture  in  the  occupation  of  the 
farmer  is  devoted  to  the  same  purpose,  and  his  profit  principally  derived 
from  the  sums  he  receives  from  the  occasional,  or  regular  turning  out 
of  horses  and  cattle.  The  permanent  slock,  and  especially  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Edinburgh,  consists  of  dairy  cattle;  and  that,  as  every  where 
else,  comprising  all  kinds  of  breeds. 

The  original  Lothian  breed,  about  1765,  according  to  Mr.  Robertson, 
was  generally  of  a  black  colour,  or  having  a  great  proportion  of  black  in 
its  composition;  though  intermixed  with  white  in  various  proportions  and 
on  various  parts,  as  on  the  flanks,  the  belly,  the  shoulders,  or  not  un- 
frequently  in  a  stripe  along  the  back,  Tiiey  were  generally  from  22  to  27 
stones  in  weight,  when  they  were  fed  to  a  marketable  condition;  and  in 
order  to  which,  in  those  days,  they  were  not  required  to  be  very  fat.f 

*  Mr.  Gray,  in  his  statistical  account  of  Livingstone,  gives  a  curious  description  of 
the  old  Linlithgow  plough.  He  writes  in  1798,  '  Not  much  more  than  25  years  ago,  it 
was  not  uncommon  to  sec  four  horses  and  four  oxen,  dragging  and  staggering  before  a 
large  heavy  plough,  with  a  very  small  furrow,  at  the  rate  of  about  a  mile  in  an  hour, 
whilst  the  gadman  or  driver,  the  only  active  being  of  the  cavalcade,  was  obliged  to  tra- 
verse at  least  three  miles  to  their  one,  to  prevent  them  from  falling  asleep.  Now  we  sec 
no  plough  drawn  by  more  than  two  horses,  carrying  with  them  a  furrow  of  twice  the 
weight,  and  going  with  apparent  ease  and  three  times  faster;  while  the  horses  are  of  a 
better  breed,  in  better  order,  and  maintained  at  a  less  expense.  This  and  several  other 
improvements  in  agriculture  were  introduced  by  Sir  William  Cunningham. 

t  Mr.  Robertson  (Rural  Recollections,  p.  165)  gives  an  amusing  account  of  the  ma- 
nagement of  these  cattle: — '  This  species  of  stock  was  rather  belter  cjred  for  than  that  of 
the  horses.  They  were  peculiarly  under  the  gudewife's  management,  who  with  her 
maid  took  care  that  the  milch  cows  should  not  be  neglected  in  their  sodden  meat,  which 
consisted  in  a  hotch-potch  of  small  potatoes,  weak  corn,  with  cabbage  and  greens,  all 
boiled  up  in  a  mass  among  bean-chaff,,  in  a  large  cauldron  for  the  purpose  in  an  out- 
house; as  also,  in  separate  masses  the  havings  or  rakings  from  the  barn-floor,  and  the 
14 


146  CATTLE. 

The  Ayrshire,  however,  wliich  was  scarcely  introduced  in  1820,  has 
giadiially  prevailed;  but  the  English  short-horn  is  kept  by  many  who 
naturally  look  for  profit  in  the  quantity,  and  not  the  quality  of  the  milk 
in  a  metropolitan  dairy;  and*  of  late,  the  Roxl)urgli  cow  has  been  much 
ui-ed  in  dairy  establishments,  on  account  both  of  the  quantity  and  the  qua- 
lily  of  its  milk.  It  is  a  cross  between  the  short-horned  bull,  and  the 
Kyloe  cows,  and  comprising  the  good  qualities  of  both. 

Mr.  Brown,  however,  the  present  intelligent  manager  of  the  Caledonian 
dairy  at  Meadow-bank,  in  the  suburbs  of  Edinbuigh,  prefers  the  Ayrshire. 
In  a  communication  with  which  he  has  kindly  favoured  us,  he  draws  the 
following  comparison  between  the  Ayrshire  and  the  Teeswater  cow.  '  I 
■would  prefer  the  Ayrshire:  take  them  in  general,  they  give  as  much  milk 
as  the  Teeswaters,  and  can  be  purchased  at  a  much  less  price.  A  Tees- 
water  cow  will,  at  tlie  present  time,  cost  from  12/.  to  16/.,  whereas  an 
Ayrshire  cow  will  cost  from  9/.  to  12/.  The  Teeswater  cow,  after  standing 
long  in  the  dairy,  will  occasionally  fail  in  her  feet,  and  she  will  then  cease 
to  leed,  and  become  a  total  wreck,  especially  if  she  is  old.  The  Ayrshire 
being  smaller,  is  not  so  heavy  on  her  ft-et,  and  although  only  half  fat,  may 
be  sold  to  better  advantage  and  with  less  loss,  if  she  too  should  begin  to 
feed  badly,  from  tenderness  in  her  feet,  or  any  other  cause.'* 

shortest  or  best  of  the  straw,  togetlicr  with  the  bladings  of  the  greens  in  their  raw  state 
fmrn  the  kail-yard,  and  tlien  (as  alleged)  rips  of  corn  drawn  liiddJing-wise  from  the 
Blacks  in  the  barn-yard,  especi.illy  to  the  new-calvcd  cows,  or  any  stray  stuff  that  bore 
a  iicniblancc  of  going  otherwise  to  unuse.  The  herd  boy,  too,  was  enjoinea  to  let  the 
cows  get,  aye,  the  most  choice  patches  of  grass  in  preference  to  the  horse,  among  the 
balks  and  waste  grounds  that  abounded  so  much  in  those  times  on  almost  every  farm. 
Tliis  anxiety  in  tlie  gudewife  for  the  welfare  of  her  cows  was  generally  connived  at  by 
the  gudeman,  who  failed  not  to  observe  any  little  pilferings  of  the  kind,  as  he  knew  it 
would  be  all  very  thriftily  applied.' 

*  The  Caledonian  Joint-Stock  Dairy  Company  was  established  in  1825,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  supplying  the  inhabitants  of  Edinburgh  with  pure  milk.  The  grounds  called 
Meadow-bank,  situated  about  a  mile  from  Edinburgh  on  the  London  road,  and  also  some 
other  property  named  Wheatfield,  were  purchased  at  the  expense  of  8tJ00Z.;  and  14,000Z. 
more  was  expended  in  the  erection  of  a  noble  building.  In  the  front  of  the  edifice  is  a 
semi-circular  projection,  in  the  oonlrc  of  which  is  the  principal  entrance,  having  a  column 
on  either  side  supporting  a  handsome  pediment.  Tlie  interior  of  this  projection  con- 
tains a  saloon  corresponding  with  it  in  form,  and  through  which  the  visiter  passes  into 
th(;  Great  Byre.  This  is  a  noble  place,  and  is  supported  by  two  rows  of  cast-metal  pil- 
lars. The  stalls  are  divided  by  the  same  material,  and  are  capable  of  containing  200 
cows  under  one  roof.  It  is  3U  feet  high,  and  from  the  centre  of  it  rises  a  large  dome, 
for  the  purpose  of  light  and  ventilation.  It  is  also  lighted,  and  air  admitted  at  both 
ends,  and  on  one  of  the  sides.  From  a  gallery  over  the  principal  door,  tlie  visiter  has 
a  jileasing  view  of  the  whole. 

The  troughs  are  of  stone,  and  each  is  supplied  with  a  pipe;  by  means  of  which  it  can 
be  readily  cleansed,  or  water  admitted  for  the  common  drink  of  the  animals. 

Arched  vaults  extend  below,  tlirough  the  whole  length  of  the  byre.  'I'he  urine  readily 
passes,  and  tiie  dung  is  conveyed  without  difficulty  into  these  vaults,  whence  they  are 
removed  through  a  tunnel  that  opens  on  the  main  road. 

Over  the  s.iloon  is  a  room  for  the  Directors,  and  one  above  that  for  servants.  The 
other  part  of  the  building,  parallel  with  the  byre,  contains  the  manager's  house,  count- 
ing-liouse,  milk-house,  ciiurning-houso,  engine-house  to  churn  the  milk,  store-houses  for 
potatoes,  lofts  for  hay,  a  steaniing-house  to  prepare  food  lor  the  cows,  stables  for  the 
horses,  a  shed  for  a  bull,  and  everything  that  can  be  wanted  in  such  a  place.  The 
ground  next  to  the  road,  and  in  front  of  the  building,  is  tastefully  laid  out  as  a  shrub- 
bery ;  and  there  is  an  ice  well  to  prepare  the  cream. 

Like  many  other  speculations  of  the  kind,  it  did  not  answer.  There  were  never  more 
than  160  or  170  cows  in  the  byre;  these  rapidly  diminished  in  number,  until  the  con- 
cern was  so  pLinly  a  losing  one,  that  it  was  abandoned  by  the  company,  and  let  to  a 
epirited  individual,  (Mr.  Bellis,)  by  whom  it  is  still  conducted,  and  who  has  60  or  80 
cows  in  the  byre. 

For  much  of  this  information,  and  also  on  many  a  subject  connected  with  our  work, 
we  are  indebted  to  our  kind  friend,  Mr.  Dick  of  Edinburgh. 

Mr. 


THE  EDINBURGHSHIRE  BREED.  H7 

Little  butter,  and  still  less  cheese  is  made  in  such  a  district,  the  greatest 
profit  arising  from  the  sale  of  the  fresh  milk,* 

Except,  however,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  E(Jinburgh,  there  are  fewer 
milch  cows  kept  in  all  the  Lotluans,  than  there  were  before  a  portion  of 
the  wild  lands  on  the  west  and  the  south  was  brought  under  cultivation. 
The  crops  of  an  arable  farm  are  most  easily  disposed  of,  and  more  profit- 
ably in  the  vicinity  of  a  great  city. 

The  Lothian  farmers  rarely  breed  their  own  dairy  catde,  but  purchase 
them  from  time  to  time  as  some  of  their  stock  become  dry,  or  in  condition 
for  the  butcher.  Some  dairy  men  thus  change  the  greater  part  of  the-ir 
stock  every  year;  those  of  the  former  year  being  put  to  fatten  as  soon  as 
their  milk  is  dried  away,  and  thus,  as  we  have  stated  when  describing 
West  Lothian,  their  dairy  is  always  full  of  milk,  for  the  new  cows  have 
only  recently  calved.  Edinburgh  is  supplied  with  sweet  milk  by  cow- 
keepers  in  the  neighbourhood,  or  large  dairies;  two  of  which  are  esta- 
blished in  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  The  butter-milk,  or  sour  milk,  is 
brought  from  a  greater  distance. 

A  few  cattle  are  bred  among  the  hills,  and  more  are  grazed,  principally- 
winter  grazing.  These  are  chiefly  of  the  West  Highland  breed.  There 
are  many  tracts  of  ground  sufficiently  sheltered,  where  they  may  run 
(luring  the  winter,  and  on  which  sheep  cannot  safely  be  turned,  while 
other  still  wetter  portions  of  the  moorlands  produce  plenty  of  hay — coarse 
enough — but  which  the  stock  readily  eat  during  the  winter  months. 

Mr.  Brown  has  given  ns  some  valuable  hints  as  to  the  management  of  these  cows. 
He  prefers  tiic  fresh  draff  or  grains  irom  a  strong  ale  brewery,  to  any  other  feeding  ior 
the  prod  action  of  milli  and  of  a  good  quulity.  He  gives  tiicm  two  feeds  of  this  (^half 
a  bushel  constituting  a  feed)  twice  every  day,  and  also  two  feeds  of  grass  or  turnijts. 
When  green  beans,  or  peas,  or  tares,  are  to  be  obtained  at  a  moderate  price,  they  are 
preferred,  as  imparting  a  richer  quality  to  the  milk  than  the  grass  will  do.  A  certain 
quantity  of  salt  is  giveji  at  every  meal  to  promote  the  digestion  of  the  food,  and  pie- 
serve  the  health  of  the  animal,  and  produce  a  degree  of  thirst  that  will  make  them  eager 
to  drink,  and  thus  yield  more  milk.  He  considers  the  draft' from  table  beer  or  draught 
ale  as  of  a  very  inferior  quality,  and  producing  a  less  quantity  of  milk  and  of  a  very  in- 
ferior kind. 

The  sproutings  {cummins)  of  malt  furnish  a  valuable  article  of  drink.  He  puts  two 
bushels  into  a  large  tul),  and  adds  as  much  boiling  water  as  will  fairly  draw  it  as  tea. 
He  covers  it  up  close  for  seven  or  eight  hours,  and  then  adds  hot  or  cold  water,  as  may 
be  required,  so  that  the  infusion  may  be  given  to  the  cows  comfortably  warm,  having 
previously  put  in  a  very  considerable  quantity  of  salt.  The  tea  from  these  two  bushels 
will  be  as  mucii  as  70  or  80  cows  will  drink  at  one  time,  and  he  commonly  gives  it  to 
them  twice  every  day,  before  they  arc  fed  with  the  draff. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  turnip  season,  and  when  the  turnips  are  juicy  and  green, 
he  gives  less  of  the  cummins  to  drink,  or  has  recourse  to  distillers'  draft",  in  order  to 
prevent  the  milk  from  being  too  much  lowered  in  quality.  Potatoes  likewise  make  a 
very  useful  drink,  when  boiled  until  they  are  dissolved  through  the  water.  Two 
bushels  of  potatoes  may  be  thus  mixed  with  sufficient  water  to  satisfy  70  cows,  and  they 
will  very  considerably  enrich  the  milk,  when  given  with  salt  before  the  dratf". 
Steamed  potatoes  he  seldom  uses  for  the  milch  cows;  they  fatten  well,  but  they  do  not 
produce  so  much  milk  as  raw  potatoes.  Sometimes,  wiien  the  turnips  are  fresh  and  juicy, 
lie  gives  one  feed  of  them,  and  one  of  steamed  potatoes,  with  the  usual  feeds  of  draff. 
Steamed  potatoes,  with  wliich  a  little  bruised  or  ground  grain  is  mixed,  have  been  very 
useful  in  preparing  the  dried  cows  for  the  butcher. 

*  The  Costorphine  cream  used  to  be  in  high  repute  in  Edinburgh  and  the  neighbour- 
ing country.  The  process,  as  extracted  from  the  statistical  account  of  the  parish  of 
Costorpbine,  is  very  simple.  '  They  put  the  milk  wlien  first  drawn  into  a  barrel  or 
wooden  vessel,  whicli  is  submitted  to  a  certain  degree  of  heat,  generally  by  immersion 
in  warm  water ;  this  accelerates  the  separation  of  the  oleaginous  from  the  serous  parts 
of  the  milk.  The  milk  is  tlien  drawn  off  by  a  hole  in  the  lower  part  of  the  vessel,  what 
remains  i?  put  into  the  plunge-churn,  and,  after  being  agitated  some  time,  is  sent  to 
market  as  Costorphine  cream.' 


148  CATTLE. 


HADDINGTON,    OR   EAST    LOTHIAN. 

This  highly  cultivated  district  lies  partly  on  the  Firtli  of  Forth,  and 
partly  on  the  North  Sea.  On  the  sea-coast  the  system  of  grazing  is  pur- 
sued, but  not  to  a  considerable  extent;  the  central  parts  are  mostly 
arable;  and  the  hills  of  Lammermuir  are  devoted  to  slieep  husbandry,  or 
to  the  breeding  of  a  few  Highland  cattle.  The  old  cattle  were  of  a  black 
or  dark-brown  colour,  with  a  thick  hide  of  liair,  handsome  and  hardy, 
but  not  yielding  much  milk.  A  few  of  them  aie  stall  bred,  and  more  are 
grazed  on  the  natural  pastures  of  Lammermuir,  where  sheep  would  not 
be  safe. 

East  Lothian  cannot  be  called  a  breeding  country,  and  there  arc  few 
of  the  farmers  who  breed  cattle  as  a  regular  branch  of  their  husbandry. 
The  great  bulk  of  the  catde  are  bought  at  Falkirk,  in  September  and 
October,  and  selected  not  from  any  particular  breed,  but  according  to  the 
fancy  of  the  purchaser.  They  are  mostly  Aberdeens,  Angus,  or  Fife  cat- 
tle, with  a  few  Highlanders,  which  are  put  into  the  yard  immediately  on 
getting  home,  and  are  fed  in  the  beginning  of  winter  on  white  turnips,  and 
afterwards  on  Swedes.  They  are  rarely  tied  up,  but  feed  in  the  yard. 
The  reasons  assigned  for  this  are,  that  the  skin  and  the  feet  are  in  a  better 
state  to  bear  the  journey  to  the  market;  and  that  the  same  number  of  cat- 
tle can  rot  a  greater  quantity  of  straw.  Mr.  Rennie,  to  whom  we  are  in- 
debted for  much  useful  information,  tells  us,  that  he  has  from  700  to  1300 
bullocks  feeding  during  the  winter,  and  that  he  always  prefers  the  short 
horns  when  he  can  get  them  well  bred. 

The  dairy  cows,  until  within  a  few  years,  were  so  various  in  their  form 
and  quality,  that  it  v/as  difficult  to  trace  their  ancestry  with  anything  like 
precision;  yet  there  were  among  them  many  very  excellent  milkers. 
Mr.  George  Rennie,  of  Fantassie,  had  a  cow,  tliat,  during  one  week, 
yielded  22  Scotch  pints  (11  gallons  daily),  from  which  were  produced  22 
pounds  10  ounces  avoirdupois  of  butter. 

They  were  chiefly  a  cross  of  the  Holderness  with  the  native  breed,  but 
they  have  yielded  in  a  great  measure  to  the  Fifeshire  and  the  Ayrshire 
breeds,  which,  with  aii  increasing  number  of  tolerably  pure  short-horns, 
divide  the  county  among  them. 

Li  the  neighbourhood  of  Ormiston  there  used  to  be  a  mixture  of  the 
Holderness  with  the  native  cattle.  They  were  short-horned  and  hand- 
some, they  fattened  Avell,  and  gave  much  milk.  Five  or  six  gallons  of 
milk  daily  was  no  uncommon  produce. 

We  have  been  honoured  with  a  letter  from  Mr.  John  Rennie  on  the 
subject  of  his  stock,  from  wliich  we  make  the  following  extract,  con- 
firmatory of  Mr.  Brown's  account,  and  which,  injustice  to  so  enterprising 
and  skilful  a  breeder  as  Mr.  Rennie,  should  be  placed  upon  record.  '  The 
principal  breed  (he  means  among  the  few  who  have  directed  their  atten- 
tion to  the  breeding  of  cattle)  is  short  horns,  or  Tecswaters,  which 
■were  introduced  by  myself;  having  selected  them  from  Mr.  Robertson,  of 
Lady-kirk,  who,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  had  some  of  the  l)est 
short-horns  in  the  knigdom.  I  also  liad  tv.o  or  three  bulls  of  the  best 
blood  from  the  county  of  Durham.  I  had  three  or  four  large  sales  of 
stock,  which  v/ere  attended  by  some  of  the  most  celebrated  breeders  in 
England  and  Scodand.  Bulls  were  bought  at  from  50/.  to  120/.  each,  to 
go  200  miles  north,  and  above  300  miles  south.' 

Mr.  Brown,  of  Drylaw-hill,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  some  previous 
remarks,  informs  us,  that  about  the  year  1818  and  1819,  the  short- 
horned,  01  Teeswater  breed  of  the  best  and  purest  sort,  was  introduced 


THE  ROXBURGHSHIRE  BREED.  149 

into  the  county  principally  from  the  stock  of  the  late  Mr.  Rohertson,  of 
Lady-kirlv,  and  which  were  descended  in  a  direct  line  from  those  of 
Messrs.  Colling,  of  Darlington.  Others  were  likewise  brought  from  some 
of  the  most  celebrated  stocks  in  the  north  of  England.  For  this,  he  says, 
the  county  was  indebted  to  Mr.  John  Rennie,  son  of  Mr.  George  Rennio. 
The  produce  of  his  stock  is  now  spread  over  the  county;  and  as  a  proof 
of  its  merit,  a  bullock,  bred  by  Mr.  Rennie,  and  fed  by  Mr.  Boyne,  of 
Woodhall,  received  the  second  prize  at  the  Smithfield  Cattle  Show,  ia 
1831. 

Mr.  Rennie  obtained  many  prizes  from  the  Highland  and  his  own  dis- 
trict Society.  He  has  had  many  beasts  that  weighed  from  80  to  100  stones 
(imperial  weight)  when  at  2|^  or  3  years  old;  and  he  once  sold  18  steers, 
at  2i  years  old,  which  weighed  from  85  to  100  stones,  and  for  which  he 
received  33/.  per  head. 

The  spirited  exertions  of  Mr.  Rennie  have  not  been  followed  up  by 
others  as  they  should  have  been,  partly  from  disinclination  to  move  out 
of  the  old  track,  but  more  from  the  badness  of  the  times. 

Some  agriculturists,  however,  began  to  direct  their  attention  to  the  cross- 
ing of  the  sliort-horn  bull  with  some  of  the  Scottish  breeds,  such  as  the 
West  Highland  and  Ayrshire  cows,  and  confining  themselves  to  one  cross. 
In  this  way  they  have  produced  some  very  tine  animals,  possessing  many 
of  the  best  qualities  of  both  breeds,  and  particularly  combining  the  early 
maturity,  aptitude  to  fatten,  and  beautiful  form  of  the  sire,  with  the  fine 
beef  and  hardy  constitution  of  the  dam.  A  few  went  beyond  the  first 
cross,  and  the  best  qualities  of  both  breeds  were  lost. 


ROXBURGHSHIRE. 

The  cattle  of  this  district  are  much  changed  since  Dr.  Douglas  wrote  his 
'Survey  of  Roxburghshire'  in  1798.  He  says,  that  '  if  there  ever  was 
a  breed  of  black  cattle  peculiar  to  this  county  it  cannot  now  be  distinguish- 
ed. For  several  years  a  number  of  the  Northumberland,  Lancashire, 
Galloway  kinds,  a  few  of  the  Dutch  and  Guernsey,  and  many  from  the 
northern  counties  of  Scotland,  have  been  brought  into  Roxburghshire,  and 
their  offspring,  from  various  crosses  with  each  other,  forms  the  principal 
part  of  its  present  motley  stock.' — P.  144. 

Now,  except  with  the  small  farmer,  and  it  is  the  same  with  hiin 
everywhere,  there  are  few  counties  in  which  the  breed  is  so  distinct.  He 
acknowledges  that  two  kinds  were  beginning  to  obtain  a  preference:  'one 
of  them,  the  polled  or  Galloway  kind,  whose  properties  are  Avell  knowa 
over  all  the  island;  and  the  other  (to  which  he  does  not  give  a  name)  with 
small  horns  of  a  middling  length,  thin  necks,  round  deep  bodies,  and  short 
legs.' 

'J'his  nameless  breed,  w-hich  was  indeed  the  Ayrshire,  beginning  to 
assert  its  superiority  over  the  other  cattle  of  the  south  of  Scotland,  by 
degrees  drove  before  it  the  polled  breed  and  all  the  crosses  and  became 
the  prevailing  stock  in  Roxburghshire.  Within  the  last  ten  or  twelve 
years,  however,  a  second  revolution  has  been  commencing.  The  short- 
horns, zealously  cultivated  on  the  English  portion  of  the  south  of  the 
Tweed,  have  been  finding  their  way  in  increased  numbers  across  the  bor- 
ders, and  disputing  the  palm  with  the  Ayrshire,  and  threatening  to  beat 
them  out  of  the  field.  The  last  cattle-show  at  Kelso  (1832)  will  complete 
the  victory,  for  while  thirty  short-horned  bulls  competed  for  the  prize,  only 
two  Ayrshire  heifers  were  produced. 

The  rich  soil  of  a  considerable  part  of  Roxburghshire,  and  of  tho 
14* 


150  CATTLE. 

south  of  Scotland  generally,  may  support  this  large  and  excellent  breeds 
but  even  in  the  southern  counties  there  is  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  in- 
ferior land,  and  in  tlie  northern  counties  there  is  a  great  deal  of  it,  and  it 
may  be  worth  while  to  consider  liow  far  it  may  be  prudent  so  decidedly 
to  encourage  a  race  of  cattle,  that  must  be  restricted  to  comparatively  fa- 
voured districts  and  localities.  With  all  their  pre-eminent  qualities,  and 
Ave  shall  do  them  full  justice  in  the  proper  place,  they  have  already  been 
tried  in  the  middle  and  the  north  of  Scodaud,  and  have  failed. 

The  greater  part  of  the  rich  pastures  of  Roxburghshire  are  devoted  to 
sheep,  yet  there  are  many  cattle.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Kelso,  and 
extending  thence  to  .ledburgh,  much  veal  is  fatted.  Dr.  Douglas  says, 
that  620  calves  are  killed  by  the  butchers  in  Kelso  alone,  and  1400  in 
Jedburgh  and  the  other  inferior  markets.  To  fatten  2000  calves,  and  to 
rear  as  many  more  for  after-sale,  or  to  keep  up  the  stock,  will  require 
more  than  an  equal  number  of  cows,  so  that  in  this  district  there  is  little 
cheese  made,  and  ^iO  more  butter  than  is  sufficient  for  the  consumption  of 
the  inhabitants. 

Towards  the  middle  and  south  of  the  county  there  is  much  fine  pas- 
ture, on  which  a  great  many  cattle,  bought  at  the  northern  trysts,  or 
from  Northumberland,  are  grazed  during  the  summer,  or  stall-fed  in  the 
Avinter. 

Dr.  Douglas  computes  the  turnip-fed  catde  at  GOOO,  and  those  that  are 
grass-fed  at  the  same  number. 

Very  few  oxen  are  employed  in  husbandry. 

BERWICKSHIRE. 

This  county  has  well  been  called  the  cradle  of  Scottish  agriculture. 
Here  some  of  the  most  important  improvements  in  husbandry  generally, 
and  particularly  in  the  breeding  and  management  of  cattle,  commenced; 
and  although  the  march  of  improvement  has  been  rapid  elsewhere,  some 
parts  of  Berwick  are  not  inferior  to  the  most  highly  cultivated  districts  of 
the  south  of  Scotland. 

So  late  as  the  year  1772,  one  of  the  parishes  was  described  as  pos- 
sessing all  the  peculiarities  of  bad  husbandry  to  which  we  have  so  often 
alluded  in  our  sketch  of  the  catde  husbandry  of  Scotland.  '  The  coun- 
try was  almost  totally  uninclosed,  and  let  out  into  small  farms;  an  incon- 
siderable part  only  of  ea(di  could  be  kept  in  condition  for  tillage.  The 
croft  part  had  all  the  litde  manure,  the  out-field  was  partly  cropped  with 
oats,  without  any  kind  of  manure,  and  pardy  allowed  to  lie  waste,  pas- 
tured by  some  half-starved  catUe.  When  that  which  was  cropped  was 
quite  exhausted,  it  was  allowed  to  rest,  and  a  portion  of  the  other  waste 
ground  was  taken  up  in  its  place;  and  the  whole  face  of  the  country  exhi- 
bited marks  of  extreme  indigence.*'  This  was  a  faithful  picture  of  Ber- 
wickshire; but  now,  by  the  introduction  of  turnip-husbandry,  and  a  more 
scientific  attention  to  the  rearing  and  feeding  of  catde,  a  great  part  of  it 
has  been  converted  from  a  bleak  and  neglected  district  into  a  beautiful  and 
well-cultivated  country. 

Among  the  earlier  labourers  in  the  work  of  improvement  may  be 
reckoned  Mr.  Pringle,  of  Coldstream,  who,  in  1755,  began  to  cultivate 
turnips  in  drills.     About  the  year  1770  Mr.  Robert  Hogarth,  of  Corpse, 

*In  consequence  of  a  drouglit,  which  continued  during  the  whole  summer  of  1766, 
two-thirds  of  the  cattle  at  Lauder,  in  tliis  county,  were  slaughtered  at  Martinmas,  and 
sold  at  2|(i.  per  pound.  Many  of  those  tliat  remained  died  at  the  stall  in  the  following 
spring,  alter  having  consumed  all  the  straw  that  remained. 


THE  BERWICKSHIRE  BREED.  151 

on  the  property  of  the  Marquess  of  Tweeddale,  took  up  the  culture  of  the 
turnip  and  of  sown  grasses.  Mr.  Brodie,  of  Ledgert  Wood,  speedily 
followed,  and  many  spirited  improvers  were  soon  found  in  the  Merse,  or 
lower  part  of  the  country. 

Tiie  parish  of  Gordon,  in  Berwickshire,  affords  a  singular  illustration 
of  the  rapid  progress  of  turnip  husbandry.  In  1775  there  were  only 
eleven  beasts  fed  with  turnips  for  the  butcher;  in  1781,  an  interval  of 
only  six  years,  there  were  200,  beside  a  great  many  sheep. 

This  increase  of  more  nutritious  food  for  catde  necessarily  led  to  the 
introduction  of  a  better  stock.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  was  the  native 
stock  of  cattle  in  Berwickshire.  They  were  small  and  ill  formed,  especially 
on  the  high  moors  wliich  occupy  the  north  of  the  country,  but  they  were 
essentially  of  the  Highland  breed.  In  the  lower  parts  of  the  country  they 
were  of  larger  size,  and  crossed  in  every  possible  way.  They  were  hardy, 
kindly  feeders,  especially  when  moved  to  richer  pasture  than  the  place  of 
their  birth  produced,  or  than  was  allotted  to  them  there.  In  the  drier 
turnip-soiled  part  of  the  country,  a  somewhat  larger  breed  could  be 
maintained ;  and  the  natives  were  crossed  by  the  Teeswaters,  and  a  half- 
bred  and  improved  stock  Avas  the  result.  This  differs  little  from  the 
Roxburgh  cattle  already  described ;  but  some  of  the  richer  pastures,  and 
especially  the  vale  of  Merse,  could  support  yet  heavier  cattle,  and  the  pure 
improved  short-horn  was  established  there.  Mr.  Robertson  (Rural  Recol- 
lections, p.  369)  thus  describees  the  progress  which  Mr.  Hogarth  had 
made:  '  He  had  the  finest  hirsel  of  beautiful  cattle,  of  his  own  rearing, 
that  I  have  seen  in  any  one  breeder's  possession.  On  one  occasion  I 
counted  136,  full  grown,  pasturing  in  one  field  on  the  Carfrae  farm,  of  an 
elegant  form,  and  fine  brindled  brown  and  white  colour.' 

Among  the  better  kind  of  farmers,  and  where  the  ground  will  bear 
them,  the  Teeswater  is  the  favourite  breed;  but  by  them  it  is  often  very 
capriciously,  sometimes  injuriously,  and  at  other  times  advantageously 
crossed.  The  smaller  farmers  have  more  of  the  half-bred,  likewise 
strangely  mingled ;  for  many  of  the  calves  are  bought  of  their  servants, 
or  at  some  fair,  almost  without  reference  to  the  breed,  and  reared  for 
the  dairy. 

Grazing  is  carried  to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  low  country,  where 
there  is  plenty  of  hay  and  turnips.  Some  short-horns  are  raised  to  a 
gieat  size ;  and  a  great  many  Highlanders  are  bought  for  winter-grazing, 
or  to  co)isume  the  straw  and  inferior  turnips  in  winter,  and  be  prepared  for 
sale  by  grass  in  the  spring  and  summer. 

Mr.  Kerr,  in  his  excellent  Survey  of  this  County,  published  in  1809, 
says,  that  '  there  are  few  legular  grazing  farms  in  Berwickshire,  but  the 
pastures  are  variously  stocked  with  mixed  feeding  beasts,  or  young 
cattle,  or  sheep  of  various  ages,  or  young  horses,  or  all  mixed  together. 
These  are  occasionally  going  off  to  market,  or  taken  home  to  the  parti- 
cular farms,  as  the  home  pastures  become  thinned  of  stock,  or  when  the 
latter-math  of  the  hay-fields  are  ready  for  pasturing;  and  their  places  are 
supplied  by  draughts  from  the  farms,  by  weaned  lambs  or  calves,  or  by 
purchase  from  different  markets  for  feeding,  or  for  carrying  on  to  feed  in 
winter  upon  turnips;  or  these  fields  are  occupied  by  the  still  more  miscel- 
laneous and  continually  changing  stock  of  butchers  or  jobbers,  serving  as 
receiving  fields  for  their  constant  purchases,  until  the  demand  at  market 
enables  them  to  kill  or  sell  to  advantage.' — p.  326. 

'  No  regular  dairy  grounds  are  to  be  found  in  Berwickshire.  Any 
little  dairy  there  is,  is  entirely  confined  to  such  quantity  of  milk  as  can 
be  spared  from  rearing  the  regular  yearly  supply  of  young  stock  on  each 


152  CATTLE. 

farm,  or  rather  after  the  calves  are  reared.  This  serves  to  supply  each 
family  with  milk,  butter,  and  cheese,  and  sometimes  leaves  a  small  super- 
fluity, chiefly  of  butter,  for  sale.  The  wives  of  the  married  ploughmen 
and  herds,  who  have  always  one  cow  each,  make  their  litfle  dairies  an  ob- 
ject of  particular  attention,  and  by  tliem  chiefly  the  few  contiguous  markets 
within  their  reach  are  supplied,'* — p.  327. 

The  winter  food  diflTers  with  the  difl'erent  kinds  of  stock.  The  cows  in 
calf,  and  those  giving  milk,  are  fed  on  white  straw,  with  a  few  turnips. 
Young  cattle  that  are  only  carrying  forward  in  the  three  first  years  are 
treated  in  the  same  manner  by  farmers  that  have  few  turnips;  but  where 
this  valuable  root  can  be  spared,  the  younglings  have  a  more  liberal  allow- 
ance, and  which  is  amply  repaid  by  their  manure  and  increase  of  size. 
Hay  is  rarely  allowed  to  the  cattle  stock,  except  to  early  calving  cows  a 
little  while  before  calving,  or  to  other  catfle  when  turnips  fail  before  the 
spring-grass  comes  in.  Oil  cake  is  not  much  used,  except  for  carrying  on 
some  favourite  to  a  great  size.     Soiling  cattle  is  getting  more  into  practice. 

THE  SOUTH-WESTERN  LOWLANDS. 

These  contain  Selkirk,  Dumfries,  Kirkcudbright,  and  Wigtown. 


More  than  five-sixths  of  this  little  and  thinly-populated  county  is  devoted 
to  sheep  pasture,  and  consequently,  neither  the  rearing  nor  the  fattening 
of  cattle  is  an  object  of  much  attention  to  the  Selkirk  farmer;  but,  as  on 
most  of  the  sheep  pastures  there  is  a  considerable  quantity  of  coarse 
grass  which  the  sheep  will  not  touch,  the  agriculturist  is  compelled  to 
keep  a  certain  number  of  cattle,  either  to  eat  it  down  in  the  field,  or  to 
consume  it  when  made  into  hay.  Dr.  Douglas,  in  his  '  Survey  of  Selkirk' 
in  1798,  calculated  that  about  2200  black  cattle  were  kept  in  the  whole 
county,  while  the  number  of  sheep  were  118,000;  but  since  the  draining 
of  so  great  a  proportion  of  the  bog-land,  the  succulent  grass  has  increased 
so  much,  that  a  mixture  of  cattle  with  the  sheep  is  indispensable  on  every 
recovered  and  drained  pasture.  Mr.  Hogg  calculates  that  there  are  now 
3000  head  of  dairy  cattle,  besides  a  great  number  of  the  Highland  breed 
which  are  grazed  on  the  sheep  grounds. 

The  middle  division  of  Selkirk  is  said  to  have  been  first  occupied  as  a 
sheep  country  by  James  IV.,  in  1503;  but  the  old  prejudices  in  favour  of 
black  cattle  remained  in  the  other  districts  for  more  than  two  centuries 
afterwards,  and  the  Ettrick  Shepherd  (in  his  short  but  interesting  account 

*  Mr.  Aiton,  in  his  '  Treatise  on  Dairy  Husbandry,'  p.  5,  lias  some  valuable  remarks 
on  this  too-neglected  branch  of  agriculture.  '  In  a  large  store  farm  in  the  Lamniermuir, 
Annanddle,  or  in  any  otlier  of  tlie  southern  or  eastern  districts  of  Scotland,  fifty,  one 
hundred,  perhaps  several  hundred,  acres  of  land,  much  of  it  lying  in  a  state  of  com- 
plcte  waste,  overrun  vvith  brambles,  heath,  and  rushes,  or  burns,  or  streams  of  water  at 
times  running  over  and  wasting  the  best  of  it,  might,  by  proper  industry,  be  converted 
into  excellent  duiry-ground,  and  rendered  productive  of  mucii  grain,  roots,  and  hay, 
without  doing  great  injury  to  the  sheep  walks.  Part  of  it  could  be  appropriated  every 
winter  to  the  feeding  of  tiie  young  or  weak  of  the  sheep  flock;  and,  when  the  hill-pus- 
ture  was  buried  under  snow,  tiie  sheep  would  often  find  relief  on  the  low  and  cultivated 
lands,  or  be  supported  on  the  hay,  turnips,  &.c.  raised  thereon,  and  stirred  up  for  their 
use  in  winter.  Some  of  the  store-masters  argue, -that  the  rich  grass  on  such  land 
would  induce  disease  on  the  sheep-stock;  yet,  when  deep  snow  lies  long,  they  drive  their 
sheep  many  miles  to  come  at  similar  pasture.  The  range  of  sheep-pasture  would,  no 
doubt,  be  a  little  narrowed  by  taking  off  the  lowest  lands  tor  dairy-ground,  but  is  nothing 
to  be  reckoned  upon  10,  15,  or  20  milch  cows,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  good  grain 
in  early  ordinary  seasons.' 


THE  SELKIRK  BREED.  153 

of  the  '  Statistics  of  Selkirkshire,'  pubhshed  in  the  18tli  number  of  the 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Agriculture)  says,  'in  all  the  high-lying  grassy 
farms,  the  occupiers  had  shielings  for  the  summer  tending  of  cattle,  of 
which  there  are  unequivocal  marks  in  every  glen.  You  have  the  mark  of 
the  litde  bothy  or  shieling  there,  the  small  round  fold  for  the  calves,  the 
larger  one  for  the  cows,  and  the  litde  milking  bught  for  the  cross  camstray 
ones.  There  you  have  the  long  raggled  fence  between  the  high  and  the 
low  grounds!  or  between  the  summer  and  winter  grazing.  Within  this 
all  their  arable  laud  was  contained,  spr(!ad  in  patches  here  and  there  over 
an  immense  surface;  and  within  this  fence  the  catde  were  not  admitted 
until  the  harvest  was  over.' 

Mr.  Hogg,  in  a  private  communication,  with  which  he  kindly  favoured 
us,  says  that  '  in  his  early  remembrance,  the  cattle  of  Ettrick  Forest  (an- 
other name  for  Selkirkshire,  or  for  that  part  of  it  which  includes  the  two 
pastoral  rivers,  the  Ettrick  and  the  Yarrow,  with  all  their  tributary  streams, 
and  the  land  around  them)  were  all  of  one  breed,  a  sort  of  cross  made  red, 
or  red  and  white  breed,  and  rather  a  hardy  and  useful  breed;  but  now  the 
short-horns,  or  tiie  Ayrshires,  or  a  cross  between  the  two,  have  almost 
totally  superseded  them.  The  short-horns  are  becoming  more  and  more 
the  favourites,  yet  for  domestic  purposes  it  may  be  doubtful  whether  they 
excel  either  the  old  breed  or  the  Ayrshire  cross. 

'  The  premiums  for  catde,  given  by  the  pastoral  society  of  Selkirkshire, 
are  all  for  the  short  horned  breed,  snd  therefore  the  principal  farmers 
cherish  that  breed;  but  the  catde  of  the  smaller  farmers  and  the  cottagers 
are  nearly  all  of  the  Ayrshire,  or  of  the  cross  of  which  I  have  spoken, 
and  which  is  really  the  best  for  domestic  purposes,  producing  more  milk 
and  butter,  proportioned  to  the  weight  of  the  carcass,  than  any  other  breed 
or  cross  in  Scodand.' 

Mr.  Hogg  deserves  much  praise  for  his  zeal  in  improving  the  forest 
breed  of  catde!  The  late  Mr.  Milne  brought  a  fine  short-horn  bull-calf 
from  Northumberland,  which  proved  so  fine  a  beast,  that  he  was  anxious 
to  retain  his  produce  as  much  as  he  could  to  himself.  Mr.  Hogg,  how- 
ever, obtained  a  calf  of  his  getting,  which  proved  as  fine  an  animal  as  his 
sire,  the  use  of  which  he  permitted  to  all  his  neiglibours,  and  by  means 
of  which  he  effected  a  change  in  the  breed  of  the  whole  district.  He  thus 
describes  them:  '  They  are  of  the  short-horned  breed,  with  horns  white 
to  the  top,  and  the  prevading  colour  white;  but  the  breed  is  rather  small, 
weighing  when  fat  60  or  70  stones.  The  quantity  of  milk  they  give  is 
not  large,  but  rich  in  butter.' 

Speaking  of  the  management  of  catde  in  Selkirk,  he  says,  that  '  There 
is  generally,  over  Selkirkshire,  a  boundary  between  the  sheep  and  catde 
pastures,  over  which  the  cows  are.  not  allowed  to  range.  It  is  always  an 
article  in  the  Duke  of  Buccleagh's  leases,  that  no  cattle  shall  be  allowed 
to  graze  on  the  sheep  pasture:  nevertheless,  many  farmers,  both  of  his, 
and  of  all  tlie  other  proprietors,  graze  young  cattle,  and  Highland  cattle 
on  their  mountain  pastures,  wherever  the  farms  are  rough,  ooarse,  and 
spritty,  for  the  cattle  eat  all  the  coarser  grasses  which  the  sheep  have 
left.  The  fact  is,  that  on  many  of  our  forest  and  Eskdale  farms,  the  more 
catde  they  keep  from  May  to  September,  the  more  sheep  they  can  keep; 
as  the  former  eat  all  the  large^  rich  and  succulent  grasses,  which,  unless 
they  were  mown,  would  lodge  and  perish.  These  Highland  and  young 
catde  sometimes  graze  in  the  fields  the  greater  part  of  the  winter,  but  go 
into  the  sheds  and  are  foddered  at  night,  and  when  fodder  is  plentiful, 
and  manure  is  wanted,  they  are  fed  in  the  sheds  during  the  whole  of  the 
winter.' 


154  CATTLE. 

The  calves  are  fed  three  times  in  the  day,  and  get  two  quarts  at  each 
meal  for  three  months;  after  that,  the  farmers'  wives  begin  to  '  take  a 
stoiip  out  o'  their  bicker,'  as  they  term  it,  giving  them  less  and  less  with 
a  little  skimmed  milk,  until  they  are  weaned.  After  this,  the  calves  are 
generally  turned  out  into  coarse  pasture.  The  fattening  cattle  are  fed 
solely  on  grass  in  the  summer,  and  on  hay,  straw  and  turnips  in  the  winter. 
The  shepherds'  cows  are  fed  solely  on  bog-hay  during  the  winter,  and  graze 
Avith  the  sheep  all  the  summer. 

In  his  Statistical  Account  of  this  county,  Mr.  Hogg  speaks  of  Lord 
Napier,  as  having  done  much  to  improve  the  Selkirk  cattle,  and  especially 
by  having  established  a  pastoral  society  for  the  improvement  of  the  breed 
of  all  kinds  of  live  stock;  the  effects  of  which,  in  a  local  point  of  view, 
have  been  as  beneficial  as  those  of  the  Highland  Society  in  a  general  one. 

Having  now  treated  of  all  the  different  breeds  of  the  middle  horns,  we 
must,  in  order  to  complete  our  description  of  the  Scottish  cattle,  commence 
a  new  chapter. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  POLLED  CATTLE. 


We  have 
tinct  breed 


already  stated  that  there  appear  to  be  the  remnants  of  two  dis- 
tuict  breeds  of  aboriginal  catde  in  the  parks  of  Chillingham  in  Northum- 
berland, and  Chalelherault  in  Lanarkshire;  the  first  are  mitidle  horns,  and 
the  second  are  polled.  The  continuation  of  the  first  we  have  evidently 
traced  in  the  Devon,  the  Hereford,  the  Sussex,  and  the  Highland  cattle; 
the  others  would  appear  to  survive  in  the  Galloways,  the  Angus  hunilies, 
the  Suffolks  and  the  Norfolks.  How  far  this  may  be  correct  will  appear 
as  we  take  a  rapid  survey  of  these  districts. 

GALLOWAY. 

The  stewartry  of  Kirkcudbright  and  the  shire  of  AVigton,  with  a  part  of 
Ayrshire  and  Dumfries,  formed  the  ancient  province  or  kingdom  of  Cal- 
loway. The  two  first  counties  possess  much  interest  with  us  as  the  native 
district  of  a  breed  of  polled,  or  doddecl,  or  *  humble  cattle,  highly  valued 
in  some  of  the  southern  Scottish  counties,  and  in  almost  every  part  of 
England,  for  its  grazing  properties.  So  late  as  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  the  greater  part  of  the  Galloway  cattle  were  horned — they  were 
middle-horns:  but  some  of  them  were  polled — they  were  either  remnants 
of  the  native  breed,  or  the  characteristic  of  the  aboriginal  cattle  would  be 
occasionally  displayed  although  many  a  generation  had  passed. 

For  more  than  150  years  the  surplus  cattle  of  Galloway  had  been  sent 
far  into  England,  and  principally  to  the  counties  of  Norfolk  and  Suliblk.t 

*  Dr.  Johnson  gives  a  curious  derivation  of  the  term  humble.  He  says  of  their  black 
cattle,  (Journey  to  the  Western  Isles,  p.  186.)  '  Some  are  without  horns,  called  by  the 
Scots  hiimlde  cows,  as  we  call  a  bee  a  humble  bee  that  wants  a  sting.' 

+  In  1663  the  Rev.  Andrew  Symson  was  appointed  minister  of  the  parisli  of  Kirkinner, 
in  the  county  of  Wigton;  and  in  J  682  he  publislied  a  work,  entitled 'A  large  Description  of 
Galloway.'  The  manuscript  was  accidentally  found  in  the  Library  of  the  Faculty  of  Advo- 
cates in  Edinburgh,  and  was  pubhshcd  by  a  gentleman  connected  with  Galloway.     It  is 


THE  KIRKCUDBRIGHT  BREED.  155 

The  polled  beasts  were  ahva}'s  favourites  with  the  English  farmers;  they 
fattened  as  kindly  as  the  others,  they  attained  a  larger  size,  their  flesh  lost 
none  of  its  firmness  of  grain,  and  they  exhibited  no  trace  of  the  wildness  and 
dangerous  ferocity  which  were  sometimes  serious  objections  to  the  High- 
land breed.  Thence  it  happened  that,  in  process  of  time,  the  horned  breed 
decreased,  and  was  at  length  quite  superseded  by  the  polled;  except  that, 
now  and  then,  to  show  the  uncertainty  of  the  derivation  of  the  breed,  a  few 
of  the  Galloways  would  have  diminutive  horns,  but  these  were  of  a 
very  curious  nature,  for  they  were  attached  to  the  skin  and  not  to  the 
skull. 

The  agriculture  of  Galloway,  like  that  of  every  part  of  Scodand,  was  in 
a  sadly  deplorable  state  until  about  1786,  when  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  be- 
came desirous  of  efljecting  some  improvement  in  the  management  of  his 
estates  both  in  the  shire  and  the  stewartry.  He  was  however  too  far 
advanced  in  life  to  engage  personally  in  the  business,  and  he  delegated  the 
whole  management  of  his  property  to  one  of  his  sons.  Lord  Daer. 

This  young  nobleman  entered  enthusiastically  into  the  views  of  his 
father,  and  although  he  encountered  much  opposition,  and  many  a  diffi- 
culty, from  the  ignorance  and  prejudice  of  the  tenantry,  he  was  beginning 
to  possess  the  satisfaction  of  witnessing  the  accomplishment  of  several  of 
his  projects,  when  he  was  carried  off  by  consumption  at  the  age  of  thirty. 
His  plans,  however,  were  adopted  and  zealously  pursued  by  his  brother, 
who  succeeded  to  the  earldom,  and  Galloway  owes  much  of  its  present 
prosperity  to  these  liberal  and  patriotic  noblemen. 

In  addition  to  the  Selkirk  family,  we  may  reckon  among  the  most  zea- 
lous and  successful  improvers  of  the  breed  of  Galloway  cattle,  the  Murrays 

now  o  t  of  print.  The  following  extracts  from  it  will  be  interesting-,  as  exhibiting  the 
state  of  the  breed  and  management  of  eattle  in  Galloway  at  that  period.  '  The  north 
parts  of  the  countrey  are  hilly  and  inoimtainous;  the  southern  parts  more  level  and  con- 
taining much  arable  land.  The  soil  is  thin  and  gravelly,  but  towards  the  sea  it  is  deeper. 
The  snow  uses  to  melt  shortly  after  it  falls,  unless  it  be  aeeonipanicd  by  violent  frosts. 
The  products  are  bestiall,  small  horses,  sheep,  wool,  white  wollen,  bier  (barley,)  oats  and 
hay;  as  for  wheat,  there  is  very  little.  The  besti.iU  are  vented  in  England,  the  sheep 
at  Edinburgh,  the  wool  at  Ayr  and  Glasgow  and  Stirling,  and  the  horses  and  woolen 
cloatli  at  the  fa  ires. 

'  In  this  parish  of  Kirkinner,  Sir  David  Dunbar  of  Baldone  (a)  hath  a  park,  about  two 
miles  and  an  halfc  in  length,  and  a  mile  and  an  halfe  in  breadth,  the  greatest  part  whereof 
is  rich  and  deep  valley  ground,  and  yeelds  excellent  grasa.  This  park  can  keep  in  winter 
and  in  summer  about  a  thousand  bestiall,  part  whereof  he  buys  from  the  countrey  and 
grazcth  there  all  winter;  other  part  whereof  is  of  his  owne  breed,  for  he  hath  neer  two 
hundred  milch  kine,  which  for  the  most  have  calves  yearly.  He  buys  also  in  the  summer 
time  from  the  countrey  many  bestial,  oxen  lor  the  most  part,  which  he  keeps  till  August 
or  September;  so  that  yearly  he  either  sells  at  home  to  drovers,  or  sends  to  St.  Faiths, 
Satcli,and  other  faires  in  England,  about  eighteen  or  twcntie  scores  of  the  four  year  olds; 
those  of  his  owne  breed  arc  very  large,  and  may  bring  five  or  six  pounds  sterling  apeece. 
Those  of  his  own  breed  are  very  large,  yea,  so  large,  that  in  August,  1682,  nine  and  filly 
of  that  sort  were  seized  upon  in  England  for  Irish  (b)  caltell,  and  because  the  person  to 
whom  tliey  were  entrusted  had  not  witnesses  there  ready  at  the  time  to  swear  that  they 
were  seen  calved  in  Scotland,  (altliough  he  offered  to  depone  that  he  lived  within  a  mile 
of  the  park  where  they  were  calved  and  reared,)  they  were,  by  the  sentence  of  Sir.  J. 

L and  some  others,  knocked  on  the  head  and  killed:  a  very  hard   measure,  and  an 

act  unworthy  persons  of  that  quality  and  station. 

'  I  can  say  that  the  park  of  B.ildone  is  tlie  chiefe,  yea,  I  may  say,  the  first,  and,  as  it 
were,  the  mother  of  all  the  i-cst.  Sir  David  Dunbar  being  the  first  man  that  brought  parka 
to  be  in  request  in  this  countrey;  but  now  many  others,  finding  the  great  benefit  there- 
of, have  followed  his  example,  as  the  Earl  of  Galloway,  Sir  William  Maxwell,  Sir  God- 
frey M'Culloch,  Sir  James  Dalrymple,  and  many  others,  who  have  now  their  parks  and 
enclosed  grounds.' 

(ff)  The  ancestor  of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk's  family. 
(6)  At  this  period  the  importation  of  black  cattle  from  Ireland  was  prohibited. 


156 


CATTLE. 


of  Broiighlon,  the  Herons  of  Kirroiicbtrie,  the  Gordons  of  Greenlaw,  the 
Maxwells  of  Munches,  and  the  Maitlands  in  the  valley  of  Tarff  in  Kirk- 
cudbright; and  in  Wigton,  the  Earls  of  Galloway,  the  Maxwells  of 
Mouneith,  the  M'Dowals  of  Logan,  the  Cathcarts  of  Genoch,  the 
Hathorns  of  Castle-Wig,  and  the  Stewarts  of  Phygell. 

For  much  of  the  description  of  the  Galloway  beast,  and  for  the  greater 
part  of  our  account  of  the  management  of  the  cattle  in  that  district,  we 
are  indebted  to  an  old  and  skilful  and  well-known  breeder,  whose  name 
we  regret  that  we  are  enjoined  to  withhold;  but  he  will  accept  our  thanks, 
and  at  some  future  period,  possibly,  the  public  will  know  to  whom  we  and 
they  are  much  indeljted. 


[_Lean  Galloway  Gx."} 

This  cut  is  the  portrait  of  a  lean  Galloway  ox  which  gained  the  High- 
land Society's  prize  in  1821.  It  was  bred  by  Mr.  Mure  of  Grange,  near 
Kirkcudbright,  (we  wish  that  we  were  permitted  to  acknowledge  all  our 
obligations  to  this  gentleman,)  and  belonged  to  James  Bell,  Esq.  of  Wood- 
ford Lees. 

The  Galloway  ciittle  are  straight  and  broad  in  the  back,  and  nearly  level 
from  the  head  to  the  rump.  They  are  round  in  the  ribs,  and  also  between 
the  shoulders  and  the  ribs,  and  the  ribs  and  the  loins.  They  are  broad 
in  the  loin  without  any  large  projecting  hook  bones.  In  roundness  of  bar- 
rel and  fulness  of  ribs  they  will  compare  with  any  breed,  and  also  in  the 
proportion  which  the  loins  bear  to  the  hook  bones,  or  protuberances  of  the 
ribs.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  the  author  of  the  Survey  of  Galloway,  says 
that, '  when  viewed  from  above,  the  whole  body  appears  beautifully  round- 
ed like  the  longitudinal  section  of  a  roller.'  They  are  long  in  the  quarters 
and  ribs,  and  deep  in  the  chest,  but  not  broad  in  the  twist.  The  slightest 
inspection  will  show  that  there  is  less  space  between  the  hook  or  hip  bones 
and  the  ribs  than  in  most  other  breeds,  a  consideration  of  much  importance, 
for  the  advantage  of  length  of  carcass  consists  in  the  animal  being  well 
ribbed  home,  or  as  little  space  as  possible  lost  in  the  flank. 


THE  GALLOWAY  BREED. 

The  Galloway  is  short  in  the  leg,  and  moderately  fine  in  the  shank  bones, 
— the  happy  medium  seems  to  be  preserved  in  the  leg-,  which  secures  hardi- 
hood and  a  disposition  to  fatten.  With  the  same  cleanness  and  shortness  of 
shank,  there  is  no  breed  so  large  and  muscular  above  the  knee,  while  there 
is  more  room  for  the  deep,  broad  and  capacious  chest.  He  is  clean,  not 
fine  and  slender,  but  well  proportioned  in  the  neck  and  chaps  ;  a  thin  and 
delicate  neck  would  not  correspond  with  the  broad  shoulders,  deep  chest, 
and  close  compact  form  of  the  breed.  The  neck  of  the  Galloway  bull  is 
thick  almost  to  a  fault.  The  head  is  rather  heavy;  the  eyes  are  not 
prominent,  and  the  ears  are  large,  rough,  and  full  of  long  hairs  on  the 
inside. 

The  Galloway  is  covered  with  a  loose  mellow  skin  of  medium  thickness, 
and  which  is  clothed  with  long,  soft,  silky  hair.  The  skin  is  thinner  than 
that  of  the  Leicestershire,  but  not  so  fine  as  the  hide  of  the  improved  Dur- 
ham breed,  but  it  handles  soft  and  kindly.  Even  on  the  moorland  farms, 
where  the  cattle,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  are  fed  on  the  scantiest 
fare,  it  is  remarkable  how  little  their  hides  indicate  the  privations  they 
endure. 

The  prevailing  and  the  fashionable  colour  is  black — a  few  are  of  a 
dark  brindled  brown,  and  still  fewer  are  speckled  with  white  spots,  and 
some  of  them  are  of  a  dun  or  drab  colour  perhaps  acquired  from  a  cross 
with  the  Suffolk  breed  of  cattle.  Dark  colours  are  uniformly  preferred, 
from  the  belief  that  they  indicate  hardness  of  constitution.* 


\_The  Galloiuay  Ox  in  good  condition.'] 
*  Mr.  Cullcy,  who  is  great  authority  in  these  cases,  thus  describes  the  Galloways:  •  In 
most  respects,  except  wanting  horns,  these  cattle  resemble  the  long-horns  both  in  colour 
and  shape,  only  they  are  shorter  in  their  form,  which  probably  makes  them  weigh  less. 
Their  hides  seem  to  be  a  medium  between  the  long  and  the  shorthorns;  not  so  thick  as 
the  former,  nor  so  thin  as  the  latter;  and,  like  the  best  feeding  kind  of  long-horns,  they  lay 
their  fat  upon  the  most  valuable  parts,  and  their  beef  is  well  marbled  or  mixed  with  fat. 
They  are  mostly  bred  upon  the  moors  or  hilly  country  in  Galloway,  until  rising  four  or  five 
years  old,  when  they  are  taken  to  the  fairs  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk  previous  to  the  turnip 


158  CATTLE. 

This  cut  represents  the  Galloway  bullock  almost  ready  for  the  butcher. 
The  beautifully  level  laying  on  of  the  flesh  and  fat  will  not  escape  the  notice 
of  the  reader. 

The  breeding  of  cattle  has  been,  from  time  almost  immemorial,  the  prin- 
cipal object  of  pursuit  with  the  Galloway  farmer;  indeed  it  is  calculated  that 
more  than  thirty  thousand  beasts  are  sent  to  the  south  every  year.  The 
soil  and  face  of  the  country  are  admirably  adapted  for  this.  The  soil, 
although  rich,  is  dry,  nnd  healthy,  particularly  in  tlie  lower  districts,  the 
substratum  being  either  gravel  or  schistus  rock.  There  are  many  large 
tracts  of  old  grass  land,  that  have  not  been  ploughed  during  any  one's 
recollection,  and  which  still  maintain  their  superior  fertility;  while  the  finer 
pastures  are  thickly  covered  with  natural  white  clover,  and  other  valuable 
grasses.  The  surface  of  the  ground  is  irregular,  sometimes  rising  into 
small  globular  hills,  and  at  other  times  into  abrupt  banks,  and  thus  form- 
ing small  fertile  glens,  and  producing  shelter  for  the  cattle  in  the  winter 
and  early  vegetation  in  the  spring.  In  tlie  low  districts  there  is  little  frost 
and  snow,  but  the  climate  is  mild  and  rather  moist;  and  thus  a  languid 
vegetation  is  supported  during  the  winter,  and  the  pastures  constantly 
retain  their  verdure. 

Tlie  rent  of  every  farm  is  derived  chiefly  from  rearing  and  feeding  the 
true  Galloway  cattle,  except  in  the  mountainous  districts,  where  sheep  and 
Highland  beasts  are  grazed.  There  are  very  few  exclusively  tillage  lands, 
or  dairy  farms,  where  cows  are  the  principal  stock  and  kept  for  making 
cheese.  In  the  few  districts  in  which  cows  are  introduced,  they  are  of 
the  Ayrshire  breed,  which  are  undeniably  better  milkers  than  the  Gal- 
loways. 

On  every  farm  a  portion  of  the  land  is  tilled,  but  the  corn  crop  i;  quite  a 
subordinate  consideration;  the  object  of  the  farmer  being  to  produce  straw 
and  turnips  and  other  food  for  the  cattle  in  winter,  and  to  improve  the 
pasture  grounds.  The  young  cattle  are  chiefly  bred  and  reared  to  a  cer- 
tain age  upon  the  higher  districts,  or  upon  the  inferior  lands  in  the  lower 
grounds.  A  few  cows  are  kept  in  the  richer  soils  to  produce  milk,  butter, 
and  cheese  for  the  families,  but  it  is  found  more  profitable  to  breed  and 
rear  the  cattle  upon  inferior  lands,  and  afterwards  to  feed  them  upon  the 
finer  ground,  and  the  rich  old  pastures.  There  would  probably  be  no 
objection  to  this  if  the  Galloway  farmers  would  afibrd  their  young  slock 
a  liitle  shelter  from  the  driving  blasts  of  winter.  No  inconsiderable  num- 
ber of  the  Galloway  farms  are  as  low  as  50/.  per  annum,  and  even  lower; 
a  greater  number  are  from  300/.  to  500/.,  while  a  few  may  reach  nearly  or 
quite  1000/.;  but  the  average  rent  may  be  fairly  computed  at  about  200/. 
per  annum. 

The  calves  are  reared  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  Galloway.  From  the 
time  they  are  dropped,  they  are  permitted  to  suck  the  mother  more  or  less, 
as  long  as  she  gives  milk.*     During  the  first  four  or  five  months  they  are 

« 

feeding  season,  whence  the  greater  part  of  them  are  removed  in  the  winter  and  spring 
(when  fat)  to  supply  the  consumption  of  the  capital,  where  they  are  readily  sold  and  at 
high  prices,  for  tew  or  no  cattle  sell  so  high  in  Smithfield  market,  owing  lo  their  laying 
their  fat  on  the  most  va'uablc  parts;  and  it  is  no  unusual  thing  to  see  one  ot  these  little  bul- 
locks outsell  a  coarse  Lincolnshire  bullock,  although  the  latter  is  heavier  by  several  stones.' 
— Culley  on  Live  Stock,  p.  59. 

Mr.  Lawrence  says,  in  his  excellent  treatise  on  cattle,  that  '  the  pure  Galloway  breed 
exist  perhaps  no  where  in  original  purity  except  in  the  moors  of  Monigaff  and  Glenlove, 
and  that  these  cattle  are  thinner  in  the  hinder  quarters  than  such  as  have  been  crossed 
by  other  breeds.' — p.  79. 

*  Mr.  Culley  gives  a  curious  account  of  this — '  The  calves,  from  the  time  they  are 


THE  GALLOWAY  BREED.  159 

allowed,  morning  and  evening,  a  liberal  supply;  generally  more  than  half 
the  milk  of  the  cow.  The  dairy-maid  takes  the  milk  from  the  teats  on  one 
side,  while  the  calf  draws  it  at  the  same  time,  and  exclusively,  from  the 
other  side.  AVhen  the  calf  begins  to  graze  a  little,  the  milk  is  abrid<j-ed, 
by  allowing  the  calf  to  suck  only  a  shorter  time,  and  he  is  turned  upon  the 
best  young  grass  on  the  farm.  In  winter  he  is  uniformly  housed  during 
the  night,  and  fed  upon  hay  with  a  few  turnips,  or  potatoes;  for  the 
breeder  knows  that,  if  he  is  neglected  or  stinted  in  his  food  during  the 
first  fifteen  months,  he  does  not  attain  his  natural  size,  nor  does  he  feed  so 
well  afterwards. 

The  practice  of  allowing  the  calf  to  suck  its  mother  is  objected  to  by 
some,  and  is  apparently  slovenly,  and  not  economical;  but  the  rearing  of 
cattle  is  considered  of  more  importance  than  the  money  that  could  be 
realized  from  the  milk  and  butter  saved  by  starving  the  calf.  It  is  also 
imagined  that  the  act  of  sucking  produces  a  plentiful  supply  of  saliva, 
Avhich  materially  contributes  to  the  digestion  of  the  milk  and  the  health  of. 
the  calf.  The  Galloway  farmer  maintains  that  an  evident  difference  may 
be  perceived  between  the  calf  that  sucks  its  dam,  and  another  that  is  fed 
from  the  pail — the  coat  of  the  former  is  sleek  and  glossy,  indicating  health; 
while  the  hide  of  the  other  is  dry  and  hard,  nor  is  the  unthrifty  appearance 
removed  until  some  time  after  the  animal  has  been  weaned  and  fed  wholly 
on  grass.  It  is  also  said  that  a  greater  proportion  of  calves  fed  from  the 
pail  die  of  stomach  complaints,  than  of  those  that  suck  the  cow. 

It  is  desirable  that  the  calves  should  be  dropped  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
winter  or  the  beginning  of  spring.  A  Galloway  farmer  attaches  a  great 
deal  of  importance  to  this,  for  he  finds  that  nearly  a  year's  growth"  and 
profit  is  lost  if  the  calf  is  born  in  the  middle  of  the  summer. 

The  regular  Galloway  breeders  rarely  sell  any  of  their  calves  for  veal:* 
that  is  obtained  only  from  those  who  keep  cows  for  supplying  the  villagers 
Avith  milk,  and  from  the  few  dairy  farms  where  cows  are  kepi  for  making 
cheese. 

The  best  qupi/s  are  retained  as  breeders,  in  order  to  supply  the  place  of 
those  whose  progeny  is  not  valuable,  or  who  are  turned  off  on  account  of 
their  age.  The  other  female  calves  are  spayed  during  the  first  year.  'J'he 
spayed  heifers  are  usually  smrdler  than  the  bullocks,  but  they  arrive  sooner 
at  maturity;  they  fatten  readily;  their  meat  is  considered  more  delicate, 
and,  in  proportion  to  their  size,  th.ey  sell  at  higher  prices  than  the  bullocks. 

Mr.  CuUey  says,  '  In  Galloway  they  spay  more  heifers  than  perhaps  in 

dropped,  until  able  to  support  themselves,  arc  allowed  to  run  with  their  dams,  but  are 
prevented  froirl  sucking  by  means  of  a  small  piece  of  leather,  with  sharp  spikes  of  iron 
fixed  upon 'the  outside,  tied  upon  the  upper  part  of  the  calf's  nose,  which,  by  pricking 
the  cow  every  time  the  calf  attempts  to  suck,  prevents  her  from  letting  it,  until  tlie 
milk-maid  comes,  when  she  takes  ofl"  the  muzzle  from  the  little  animal's  nose,  and 
while  she  strips  two  of  the  teats,  the  calf  takes  care  to  empty  the  other  two.  As  soon 
as  the  maid  has  dcme,  she  fixes  on  the  instrument  again,  but  it  is  done  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  not  to  hinder  the  calf  from  feeding  upon  t!ie  grass.'  This  might  have  been  the 
practice  in  Mr.  Culley's  time,  but  little  or  nothing  of  it  is  seen  now. 

*  It  is  an  old  proverb  in  Galloway,  that  a  good  farmer  would  rather  kill  his  son 
than  a  calf  '  The  people  of  this  country  do  very  seldom,  or  rather  not  at  all,  kill  or 
sell  their  calves,  as  they  do  in  other  places,  so  that  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  see  veal,  except 
sometimes,  and  at  some  few  gentlemen's  tables.  They  give  two  reasons  for  this:  one 
is,  because,  they  say,  a  cow  will  not  give  down  her  milk  without  lier  calf,  and  so,  should 
they  sell  or  kill  the  calfe,  they  should  want  the  use  of  the  cow;  but  this,  1  suppo.se, 
might  be  helped,  would  they  but  traine  up  the  cow  otherwise  at  her  first  calving.  The 
other  reason  is  of  more  weight,  viz.,  since  a  great  pait  of  their  wealth  consists  in  the 
product  of  their  catl^,  they  tiiink  it  very  ill  husbandry  to  sell  that  for  a  shilling,  which, 
in  time,  would  yceld  pounds.' — Symson's  'Large  Account  of  Galloway,'  1662. 


160 


CATTLE. 


all  the  island  besides,  and  in  this  too  their  method  is  different  from  any- 
other  part  I  am  acquainted  with,  for  they  do  not  castrate  them  until  they 
are  about  a  year  old,  whereas  in  every  other  place  I  know  the  heifer  calves 
are  spayed  from  one  to  three  months  old;  and  it  is  now  generally  admitted 
as  the  safest  practice  to  castrate  calves  and  lambs,  male  or  female,  while 
very  young.'  They  are  now  generally  spayed  much  earlier  than  they 
used  to  be,  but  some  of  the  breeders  adhere  to  the  old  custom. 

The  young  cattle  are  rarely  housed  after  the  first  winter;  they  are  on 
their  pastures  day  and  night,  but  in  cold  weather,  they  receive  hay  and 
straw  in  the  fields,  supporting  themselves  otherwise  on  the  foggage  left 
unconsumed  after  the  summer  grass.  Many  of  the  farmers  are  beginning 
to  learn  there  true  interest,  and  the  pastures  are  not  so  much  overstocked 
in  summer  as  they  used  to  be,  and  a  portion  of  herbage  is  left  for  the 
cattle  in  the  winter;  therefore,  although  the  beasts  are  not  in  high  condi- 
tion in  the  spring,  they  liad  materially  increased  in  size,  and  are  in  a  pro- 
per state  to  be  transferred  to  the  rich  pastures  of  the  lower  district. 

Mr.  Craig  of  Arbigland,  in  Kirkcudbright,  introduced  the  green  crop 
husbandry  into  Galloway  about  the  year  1770.  He  began  about  that  lime 
to  raise  drilled  crops  of  potatoes,  turnips  and  cabbages,  and  is  considered 
the  father  of  agriculture  in  the  south-west  of  Scodand:  many  years,  how- 
ever, passed  before  the  generality  of  the  farmers  followed  his  example. 
The  culture  of  potatoes  began  to  become  general  about  1780,  hut  the  other 
green  crops  have  never  been  universally  cultivated.  Turnips  are  produced 
extensively  on  a  few  farms;  turnips  and  rape  in  a  less  proportion  to  the 
size  of  the  farm;  but,  more  generally,  there  are  yet  too  many  farms  on 
which  neither  of  them  is  grown. 


\_Galloway  Hdfer.'\ 

This  cut  is  the  portrait  of  a  beautiful  heifer,  deservedly  called  the  'Queen 
of  Scots,'  bred  also  by  Mr.  Mure,  and  grazed  by  Mr.  Wright  of  Rougham 
in  Norfolk.  The  following  were  her  proportions:  height  of  shoulder,  5ft. 
2in.;  length  from  nose  to  rump,  10ft.  4in.;  width  across  the  hip,  2ft. 


THE  GALLOWAY  BREED. 


101 


6in.;  across  the  middle  of  the  back,  3ft.;  across  the  shoulders,  2ft.  4in.; 
girth  of  leg  below  knee,  8in.;  distance  of  breast  from  the  ground,  1ft. 
3iin,;  width  between  fore  legs,  1ft.  5in.  Tlie  weight  was  190  stones, 
of  81b.  to  the  stone,  or  108  stones  lOlb.  imperial  weight.  She  was  exhi- 
bited at  the  Smithfield  Cattle  Show,  and  her  portrait  engraved  under  the 
sanction  of  the  Club. 


[Galloicay  Coic] 

This  cut  contains  the  portrait  of  a  beautiful  Galloway  cow,  belonging  to 
Mr.  Gurney,  near  Norwich. 

The  Galloway  cows  are  not  good  milkers ;  but  although  the  quantity 
of  the  milk  is  not  gi-eat,  it  is  rich  in  quality,  and  yields  a  large  proportion 
of  butter.  A  cow  that  gives  from  twelve  to  sixteen  quarts  of  milk  per  day, 
is  considered  a  very  superior  milker,  and  that  quantity  produces  more 
than  a  pound  and  a  half  of  butter.  The  average  milk,  however,  of  a 
Galloway  cow  cannot  be  reckoned  at  more  than  six  or  eight  quarts  per 
day,  during  the  five  summer  months  after  feeding  her  calf.  During  the 
next  four  months  she  does  not  give  more  than  half  of  that  quantity,  and 
for  two  or  three  months  she  is  dry. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  young  Galloway  cattle  are  more  exposed  than 
others  to  Bedwater,  particularly  on  grass  lands  that  have  not  been  ma- 
nured with  lime.  This  disease,  however,  is  easily  checked  at  an  early 
period  by  a  few  doses  of  Epsom  salts,  and  removing  the  animal  to  good 
young  grass,  where  the  field  has  been  recently  limed.  Quarter  Evil  is 
also  a  frequent  and  fatal  disease  among  these  young  cattle.  From  its  highly 
inflammatory  character,  it  must  be  attacked  in  its  earliest  stage,  or  medical 
skill  will  be  of  no  avail.  When,  however,  the  Galloways  become  two 
years  old,  they  will  yield  in  hardihood  to  none,  and  are  comparatively 
exempt  from  every  complaint. 

It  has  been  remarked  in  this,  as  in  some  other  breeding  districts,  that 
cows  and  queys  of  good  quality  are  to  be  met  with  every  where,  but  that 
it  is  difficult  to  find  a  Galloway  bull  free  from  defect.  Too  many  breeders 
have  become  careless  from  this  circumstance.  They  have  been  contented 
with  a  bull  of  moderate  pretensions,  and  the  form  and  value  of  their  cattle 
15* 


162  CATTLE. 

have  been  depreciated  ;  yet  not  to  the  extent  that  might  be  feared,  for  the 
imperfections  of  the  sire  do  not  always  appear  in  the  progeny,  but  the 
sterling  characteristics  of  the  Galloway  cattle  break  out  again,  although 
obscured  in  one  generation. 

A  bullock  well  fattened  will  weigh  from  40  to  60  stones  at  3  or  3^  years 
old,  and  some  have  been  fed  to  more  than  100  stones  imperial  weight,  at 
5  years  old.  The  average  prices  for  good  Galloway  beasts  may  be  stated 
as  follows.  Stirks  at  about  15  months  old  are  worth  from  31.  10s.  to 
4/.  10s.  per  head;  cattle  of  2  years  old  will  .bring  from  6/,  to  8/.,  and  at 
3  and  3i  years,  they  ought  to  sell  at  10/.  or  12/.  per  head  ;  this,  however, 
supposes  them  to  be  sold  in  the  lot,  and  no  particular  beast  selected.* 
Since  the  year  1818,  Galloway  cattle,  like  all  others,  have  fallen  in  price, 
nearly  or  quite  one-third. 

It  has  often  and  truly  been  remarked,  with  regard  to  the  Galloway  cat- 
tle, that  while  in  most  districts  there  may  be  some  good  beasts,  but  min- 
gled with  others  of  a  diflerent  and  very  inferior  kind,  there  is  a  uniform 
character,  and  that  of  excellence,  here  ;  one  bullock  selected  at  haphaz- 
ard may  generally  be  considered  a  fair  sample  of  the  lot.  The  breeders 
know,  from  long  experience,  what  kind  of  cattle  will  please  the  farmers 
in  Norfolk,  and  by  whom  they  are  chiefly  prepared  for  the  London  mar- 
ket, and  to  that  kind  of  cattle  they  most  carefully  adhere.  The  drover, 
likewise,  becomes  by  his  profession,  an  excellent  judge  of  cattle,  Avhich 
he  often  purchases  in  large  lots.  He  is  unable  to  handle  half  of  them, 
but  long  practice  has  taught  him  to  determine  at  a  glance  whether  they  are 
of  equal  value  and  will  prove  good  feeders,  and  in  the  Galloway  phrase, 
'  will  sell  best  at  the  far  end.' 

The  chief  sales  for  the  southern  markets  take  place  in  September  and 
October,  to  suit  those  at  St.  Faith's  on  October  the  17th,  and  Hampton 
on  November  the  16th.  The  cattle  are  sent  off  in  droves  of  from  200  to 
300,  under  the  charge  of  a  person  called  the  topsman,  who  generally  goes 
before  to  see  that  grass  is  secured  at  proper  stations  and  to  make  all  ne- 
cessary arrangements,  and  who  has  under  him  other  drovers,  in  the  pro- 
portion of  one  to  about  30  cattle.  The  journey  to  Norfolk  occupies  about 
three  weeks.  The  expense  in  summer  and  autumn  is  from  1/.  to  1/.  4s. 
per  head,  and  in  winter,  when  they  are  fed  with  hay,  they  cost  lOs.  or  15s. 
per  head  additional. 

The  cattle  are  purchased  and  paid  for  by  the  drovers,  sometimes  in 
cash,  but  more  generally  a  part  of  the  price  is  paid  in  bills,  and  sometimes 
the  whole  of  it.  In  some  instances,  where  the  farmer  has  confidence  in 
the  drover,  he  consents  that  the  purchase  money  shall  be  remitted  from 
Norwich,  or  that  the  money  shall  be  paid  when  the  jobber  returns  to  Gal- 
loway. The  business  is  hazardous,  and  now  and  then  unfortunate;  but 
the  drover  considers  himself  well  paid,  if,  every  expense^  of  the  journey 
being  discharged,  he  clears  from  2s.  6d.  to  5s.  per  head ;  and  when  he 
has  either  money  or  credit  sufficient  to  take  a  drove  of  600  to  1000  head 
of  cattle  to  the  market,  that  is  a  good  remunerating  price.  From  20,000 
to  25,000  cattle  are  disposed  of  in  this  way  every  year,  of  which  about 
two-thirds  are  bullocks  and  one-third  heifers. f 


*  The  age  of  the  beast  is  reckoned  somewhat  differently  from  that  of  horses ;  they  are 
called  two  years  old  until  the}'  are  three,  and  three  years  old  until  they  are  four. 

t  The  Galloway  farmers,  who  breed  for  sale,  however,  arc  continually  on  the  watch  for 
a  favourable  opportunity  of  disposing  of  a  portion  of  their  stock  ;  and  there  are  others  in 
the  richer  districts  of  the  country  who  consider  it  more  profitable  to  buy  young  cattle 
tlian  to  keep  a  large  breeding  stock.    They,  too,  are  continually  buying  and  selling  ;  and 


THE  GALLOWAY  BREED.  163 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  breed  of  cattle  which  can  be  more  truly  said  to  be 
indigenous  to  the  country,  and  incapable  of  improvement  by  any  foreign 
cross  than  the  Galloways.  The  short-horns  almost  every  Avhere  else  have 
improved  the  cattle  of  the  districts  to  which  they  have  travelled.  They 
have,  at  least  in  the  first  cross,  produced  manifest  improvement,  although 
the  advantage  has  not  often  been  prolonged  much  beyond  the  second  gene- 
ration; but  even  in  the  first  cross,  the  short-horns  have  done  little  good 
in  Galloway,  and,  as  a  permanent  mixture,  the  choicest  southern  bulls 
have  manifestly  failed.  The  intelligent  Galloway  breeder  is  now  prefectly 
satisfied  that  his  stock  can  only  be  improved  by  adherence  to  the  pure 
breed,  and  by  care  in  the  selection. 

thence,  according  to  Mr.  Smith,  arose  a  peculiarity  in  the  character  of  the  Galloway  far- 
mer. We  do  not  believe,  as  he  seems  to  think,  that  it  belongs  to  the  greater  portion  of 
them,  but  some  features  of  it  are  yet  to  be  traced  in  some  of  the  cattle  breeders  and 
graziers.  We  give  it  in  his  own  words  in  his  Survey  of  Galloway.  '  Frequent  transfers 
of  cattle  are  necessary,  and  he  seems  to  acquire  the  habit  of  buying  and  selling  without 
any  other  object  than  the  prospect  of  a  good  bargain.  Some  of  them,  therefore,  keep  a 
bullock  more  than  a  year,  or  when  markets  are  brisk,  not  more  than  a  few  weeks. 
With  very  good  judges  this  has  succeeded  to  a  great  degree.  Some  of  the  most  opulent 
farmers  have  been  indebted  for  their  success  to  their  skill  in  cattle  and  their  address  in 
striking  a  bargain;  and  this  success  has  tempted  others  to  embark  in  the  trade,  without 
either  the  talents  or  resources  for  carrying  it  on.  The  truth  is,  it  possesses  all  the  fasci- 
nation of  the  gaming  table.  The  fluctuation  and  uncertainty  of  markets,  the  sudden 
gains  and  losses  that  follow,  the  idea  of  skill  and  dexterity  requisite,  the  risk  connected 
with  the  business,  these  excite  the  strong  passions  of  the  mind,  and  attach  the  cattle- 
dealer,  like  the  gambler,  to  his  profession,  although  he  may  be  assured  that  he  is  fre-  ■ 
qucntly  pursuing  the  road  to  ruin.  He  counts  his  gains,  but  seldom  calculates  his  losses. 
After  a  long  succession  of  bad  luck,  he  hopes  that  a  few  successful  adventures  will  enable 
him  to  retrieve  the  desperate  situation  of  his  affairs,  and  the  failure  and  ruin  of  those 
who  have  been  gambling  in  a  large  way  are  productive  of  great  detriment  to  the  agri- 
culturist and  the  community  generally.  The  inevitable  consequence  of  this  mode  of 
proceeding  is,  that  the  farmer  is  a  constant  attendant  on  fairs  and  markets  whether  he 
has  any  thing  to  do  or  not.  One  or  two  days  in  the  week  are  useless,  or  worse  than  use- 
less. That  accurate  attention  to  minutiae  on  which  so  much  of  the  farming  business 
depends,  order  and  regularity  in  his  habits,  are  forsaken  and  forgotten;  serious  expenses, 
exceeding  his  profits,  are  incurred;  habits  of  dissipation  are  contracted;  every  moral 
principle  is  gradually  sapped  and  destroyed  and  he  becomes  at  last  disqualified  for  any 
business  or'iemploymcnt.'  This  is  a  dark  picture.  It  is  not  so  true  and  faithful  a  one  as 
it  formerly  was,  but  the  farmer  may  learn  wisdom. 

Of  the  lower  kind  of  dealers,  Mr.  Ross,  in  one  of  his  statistical  accounts,  gives  a  very 
vivid  description. 

'  A  mountaineer  will  travel  from  fair  to  fair  for  30  miles  round  with  no  other  food  than 
the  oaten  cake  which  he  carries  with  him,  and  what  requires  neither  fire,  table,  knife, 
nor  other  instrument  to  use.  He  will  lay  out  the  whole,  or  perhaps  treble  of  all  he  is 
worth  (to  which  the  facility  of  the  country  banks  is  a  great  encouragement)  in  the  pur- 
chase of  30  or  100  head  of  cattle,  with  which,  when  collected,  he  sets  out  for  England, 
a  country  with  the  roads,  manners  and  inhabitants  of  which  he  is  totally  unacquainted. 
'  In  this  journey,  he  scarcely  ever  goes  into  a  house,  sleeps  but  little,  and  then  gene- 
rally in  the  open  air,  and  lives  chiefly  upon  his  favourite  oaten  bread.  If  he  fail  of  dis- 
posing of  his  cattle  at  the  fair  of  Carlisle,  the  usual  place  of  sale,  he  is  probably  ruined, 
and  has  to  begin  the  world,  as  he  terms  it,  over  again.  If  he  succeeds,  he  returns  home 
only  to  commence  a  new  wandering  and  a  new  labour,  and  is  ready  in  about  a  month 
perhaps  to  set  out  again  for  England. 

'  There  are  others  who  job  about  from  fair  to  fair  without  leaving  the  country.  The 
wandering  and  unsettled  habits  which  this  species  of  life  induces  are  very  unfavourable 
to  improvement;  whenever  by  any  accident  the  cattle  trade  is  suspended,  or  becomes  un- 
profitable, the  persons  accustomed  to  be  employed  in  it,  being  unfit  for  any  soberer  occu- 
pation, remain  in  a  great  measure  idle.  Even  agriculture  is  burdensome  to  them  as 
wanting  the  variety  and  interest  which  their  usual  occupation  affords:  thus  the  fruits  of 
so  much  labour  and  enterprise  are  often  wasted  during  the  long  intervals  of  indolence 
and  inactivity'  The  drovers,  however,  of  the  present  day,  deserve  a  far  better  charac- 
ter, and  are,  generally  speaking,  a  very  respectable  and  deserving  class  of  men. 


164 


CATTLE. 


ICjalhwuu  Bull,'] 

For  this  cut  also  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Gurney. 

The  Galloway  cattle  are  generally  very  docile.  This  is  a  most  valuable 
point  about  them  in  every  respect.  It  is  rare  to  find  even  a  bull  furious 
or  troublesome. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  in  his  Survey  of  Galloway,  has  some  very  good  re- 
marks on  the  old  management  of  the  breeds  here,  and  a  little  applicable  to 
some  of  the  present  day.  '  The  graziers  in  Galloway  are  generally  censu- 
rable for  overstocking,  although  they  are  less  so  now  than  at  former  times, 
or  perhaps  than  the  graziers  of  some  other  districts.  Their  greatest  fault 
lies  in  their  winter  and  spring  management,  and  this  is  more  the  effect  of 
necessity  than  choice,  for  the  bulk  of  farms  cannot  keep  the  same  number 
of  catde  in  winter  as  in  summer,  and,  on  a  reduction  of  prices,  which  often 
occurs  about  the  end  of  autumn,  they  must  either  sell  to  great  disadvantage 
or  wait  the  issue  of  the  spring  market.  Hence  in  ordinary  pastures  the 
full  stock  of  summer  still  remains  with  but  a  scanty  allowance  of  fodder, 
and  are  compelled  by  hunger  to  devour  every  remnant  of  grass,  and 
leave  the  fields  naked  and  exposed,  and  thus  not  a  litde  retard  the  subse- 
quent vegetation.  But  this  is  not  all;  for,  from  the  deficiency  of  fodder, 
the  cattle  are  eager  to  snatch  up  every  pile  of  new  grass  as  it  rises,  and  the 
pasture  being  thus  kept  completely  eaten  down,  and  denuded  in  this  first 
vigorous  period  of  vegetation,  never  afterwards  acquires  a  full  growth,  nor 
can  it  feed  the  same  stock  in  summer  which  it  might  have  fattened  under 
better  management.  Every  experienced  grazier  knows  the  great  advan- 
tage of  sparing  his  pastures  in  spring,  until  they  have  acquired  their  full 
cover  of  herbage.' 

During  tbe  last  fifty  years  a  very  great  improvement  has  taken  place 
both  in  the  tillage  management,  and  in  the  rearing  and  grazing  of  cattle  in 
Galloway.  Most  of  the  great  landholders  farm  a  portion  of  their  own 
estates,  and  breed  and  graze  cattle,  and  some  of  them  very  extensively. 
Agricultural  societies  have  been  established  in  the  counties  of  Kirkcud- 
bright and  Wigton,  and  all  the  land-proprietors,  and  the  greater  part  of 
the  tenants,  have  become  members  of  them.     These  societies  have  been 


THE  DUMFRIES  BREED.  165 

enabled  to  grant  numerous  premiums  for  the  best  tillage  husbandry  and 
management  of  stock,  and  rearing  of  stock,  and  the  consequence  has 
been  very  considerable  improvement  in  the  breed  of  cattle,  on  the  im- 
deviating  principle,  however,  of  selection  and  adherence  to  the  pure  breed. 
Of  the  grazing  properties  of  these  valuable  cattle,  we  cannot  give  a 
more  satisfactory  illustration  than  by  stating,  that  60  Galloways  were 
bought  in  September  last  at  Barnet  fair  for  10/,  per  head,  to  be  turned 
into  his  Majesty's  Home  Park  at  Hampton  Court,  and  are  now,  (March, 
1833,)  after  being  fed  occasionally  with  hay,  seUing  at  an  average  of  18/. 
each. 

About  ten  thousand  Irish  cattle  are  annually  landed  at  Port  Patrick  in 
Wiglonshire,  a  few  of  which  remain  in  that  district,  but  the  greater  part 
find  their  way  into  England.  Port  Patrick  is  well  situated  for  this  pur- 
pose, on  account  of  the  shortness  of  the  passage  from  Ireland,  This  com- 
merce was  once  prohibited,  from  the  absurd  notion,  that  it  would  be  detri- 
mental to  the  interests  of  the  English  breeders;  at  length  it  was  permitted 
for  seven  years  by  way  of  experiment,  in  the  fifth  year  of  George  III., 
and  made  perpetual  in  the  sixteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  the  same  mo- 
narch. There  is  a  great  deal  of  speculation  attending  this  traffic  in  cattle. 
It  is  influenced  materially  by  the  quality  of  grass,  and  hay,  and  turnips  in 
England,  or  by  the  probability  of  large  crops  of  these  articles,  and  large 
sums  are  often  speedily  gained  or  lost  in  the  speculation.* 


DUMFRIES. 

This  is  a  considerable  wedge-shaped  county,  interposed  between  Lanark, 
Peebles,  Selkirk,  and  Roxburgh  on  the  east,  and  Kirkcudbright  on  the 
west,  and  divided  from  Cumberland  by  the  river  Liddel.  The  native  cattle 
of  Dumfries  were,  according  to  Dr.  Singer,  in  his  survey  of  that  county, 
horned,  long  in  the  leg,  narrow  in  the  loack,  thin  and  short  in  the  hair, 
and  neither  weighty  for  their  height  nor  hardy.  These,  however,  have 
been  superseded  by  the  Galloways  for  grazing,  and  by  the  Ayrshires, 
which  in  their  turn  have  partly  yielded  to  the  short-horns,  for  milking. 
There  is  beside  a  fluctuating  and  uncertain  number  of  flying  stock  consist- 
ing of  Highlanders,  principally  from  Falkirk  tryst,  and  even  a  few  Irish 
which  are  grazed  a  part  of  the  year,  or  wintered  in  the  county. 

The  richer  pasture  of  Dumfries  has  given  to  the  Galloways,  bred  or 
grazed  there,  a  somewhat  larger  form  and  earlier  maturity,  than  they 
possess  in  their  native  district,  and  on  this   account  they  used  to  be  held 

*  Dr.  John  Scott,  in  his  account  of  the  parish  of  Swynehohn  in  Kirkcudbright,  in  1795, 
describes  the  polled  Galloways  as  then  highly  valued  by  the  Norfolk  farmers.  They 
would,  at  one  year  old,  bring-  from  21.  to  51.;  at  two  years  old,  they  would  bring  from 
41.  to  9/.;  and  at  three  years,  from  6/.  to  101.  At  that  time,  the  best  of  the  two  years  old 
were  usually  sent  with  the  three  years  old  to  the  English  market.  Speaking  of  the  at- 
tempts at  improvement,  he  says, '  our  farmers  cannot  be  too  careful  to  preserve  this  breed, 
for  any  trials  to  meliorate  it  by  crossing  with  other  bulls  have  hitherto  failed.  A  gentle- 
man in  this  county,  who  had  a  large  dairy  remarkable  for  rearing  the  best  cattle,  and  who 
kept  and  fed  them  until  a  proper  age,  when  he  sent  them  with  other  cattle  which  he 
bought  from  his  tenants  to  the  English  markets,  in  order  to  try  the  experiment,  purchased 
one  of  Mr.  Bakewell's  bulls.  He  put  one  half  of  his  cows  to  this  beast,  and  the  other 
half  to  a  Moorland  bull  bred  upon  his  own  estate.  He  fed  the  product  equally  until  they 
were  sent  to  market  at  Norfolk,  when  those  bred  from  the  Galloway  bull  brought  con- 
siderably more  money  than  the  others,  besides  being  easier  to  feed.' 

'  On  the  other  hand,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  in  his  account  of  Kirkbean,  says  that  Mr. 
Craik  of  Arbigland  introduced  the  Bakewell  breed  upon  his  estate,  and  that  the  same 
number  of  cattle  upon  the  same  field  fattened  equally  with  those  of  the  Galloway  kind.' 


166  CATTLE. 

in  much  estimation.  They  were  bought  at  the  Dumfries  market  by  the 
Galloway  farmers  themselves,  who  after  keeping  them  for  a  certain  time, 
drafted  them  among  their  own  cattle  of  a  twelvemonth  older,  and  sent  them 
for  sale  to  Carlisle.  It  was  doubtful,  however,  whether  these  beasts  had 
the  perfect  form  of  the  native  Galloways,  and  whether  the  fine  grain  and 
flavour  of  their  meat  were  not  somewhat  deteriorated.  The  cattle  market 
at  Dumfries  is  the  largest  in  the  south  of  Scotland. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson  gives  the  following  account  of  the  cattle  of  Dum- 
fries in  1811.  'The  cows  for  breeding  are  principally  of  the  Galloway 
kind.  The  return  or  annual  profit  per  cow  is  about  6/.  The  young  two- 
year-old  bullocks  kept  for  grazing  are  one-half  Galloways,  and  the  other 
half  West  Highlanders,  bousht  at  Falkirk  tryst  in  October;  and,  after  being 
fed  one  year,  they  are  sold  to  drovers  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Enghsh  mar- 
kets, after  having  yielded  to  the  grazier  a  profit  of  .3/.  3s.  per  head.  Others 
sell  them  early  in  the  summer,  after  having  fed  them  on  fog-hay  in  the 
fields  during  the  winter,  and  usually  given  from  1/.  to  2Z.  per  head.* 

A  very  superior  and  finely  flavoured  butter  is  made  on  the  borders  of 
the  Esk  in  this  county.  It  is  made  from  tlie  cream  only,  and  no  part  of 
the  milk  is  churned.  The  milk  is  suffered  to  stand  about  36  hours,  when 
the  cream  is  collected,  and  the  different  meals  thrown  togedier  until  there 
is  enough  to  be  conveniently  churned  atone  time,  or  the  cream  has  become 
a  litfle  sour  of  its  own  accord,  and  the  sooner  it  is  churned  after  it  has 
begun  to  become  acid,  the  better  will  be  the  butter. 

Robert  Burns  rented  a  farm  at  Dunscore  in  Dumfries,  and,  not  content 
with  the  Galloway  breed,  he  introduced  some  of  the  west-country  cows, 
which  he  thought  would  produce  more  milk.  The  climate  did  not  agree 
with  them,  and  the  speculation  was  decidedly  unsuccessful. 


ANGUS  POLLED  CATTLE. 

There  have  always  been  some  polled  cattle  in  Angus;  the  country-people 
call  them  humlies  or  clodded  cattle.  Their  origin  is  so  remote,  that  no  ac- 
count of  their  introduction  into  this  country  can  be  obtained  from  the  oldest 
farmers  or  breeders.  The  attention  of  some  enterprising  agriculturists  ap- 
pears to  have  been  first  directed  to  tliem  about  sixty  years  ago,  and  par- 
ticularly on  the  eastern  coast,  and  on  the  borders  of  Kincardineshire.  Some 
of  the  first  qualities  wliich  seem  to  have  attracted  the  attention  of  these 
breeders  were  the  peculiar  quietness  and  docility  of  the  doddies,  the  easi- 
ness with  which  they  were  managed,  the  few  losses  that  were  incurred 
from  their  injuring  each  other  in  their  stalls,  and  the  power  of  disposing 
of  a  greater  number  of  them  in  the  same  space. 

A  few  experiments  upon  tliem  developed  another  valuable  quality — 
their  natural  fitness  for  stall-feeding,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  they 
fattened.  This  brought  tliem  into  much  repute  during  the  revolutionary 
war,  not  only  in  their  own  country,  where  great  numliers  were  fattened  for 
the  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh  markets,  but  also  in  England,  whither  they 
were  sent  in  numerous  droves  for  the  supply  of  Smilhfield,  and  also  of  the 


*  A  writer  in  the  'Gentleman's  Magazine,'  says  that  'he  was  at  the  bridg-c  end  of 
Dumfries  in  1736,  when  Anthony  M'Kic,  of  Nellvenon,  sold  five  score  of  five  years  old 
Galloway  cattle  in  good  condition,  to  an  Englisiiman,  for  21. 12s.  G(Z. each;  and  old  Rob. 
Halliday,  who  was  a  tenant  of  a  great  part  of  Preston  estate,  said  that  he  reckoned  he 
could  graze  his  cattle  on  his  farms  at  2s.  Gil  per  head,  i.  e.  his  rent  corresponded  to  that 
sum.' 


THE  ANGUS  BREED.  167 

army  and  navy.  They  were  purchased  for  Smithfield  chiefly  by  the  Nor- 
folk and  Leicestershire  graziers,  and  after  from  one  year  and  a  half  to  two 
years'  English  feeding  they  paid  for  their  keep  at  least  equal  to  the  most 
approved  English  cattle.  They  were  brought  to  the  south  under  the 
denomination  of  Galloways,  pardy  b'icause  they  were  a  comparatively 
unknown  breed,  bearing  much  resemblance  to  the  Galloways,  and  also 
because  the  purchasers  of  the  Angus  catUe  were  known  to  be  extensive 
speculators  in  the  Galloway  beasts.  They  were  usually  fed  off  at  about 
three  years  old,  and  reached  to  an  average  weight  of  sixty  imperial 
stones. 

They  have  much  of  the  Galloway  form,  and  by  those  unaccustomed  ta 
catde  would  often  be  mistaken  for  the  Galloways.  A  good  judge,  how- 
ever, would  perceive  that  they  are  larger,  somewhat  longer  in  the  leg, 
thinner  in  the  shoulder,  and  flatter  in  the  side. 

Climate  and  management  have  caused  another  diflerence  between  the 
Angus  doddies  and  the  Galloways.  The  Galloways  have  to  encounter  a 
moist  climate ;  they  are  in  most  cases  wintered  out  in  the  fields,  or  at 
least  receive  only  a  scanty  allowance  of  natural  hay  during  the  severest 
part  of  the  season,  and  are  chiefly  sent  to  the  Norfolk  market  in  a  lean. 
state :  hence  they  have  a  more  robust  appearance,  a  much  thicker  skin, 
and  a  rougher  coat  of  hair  than  the  Angus  oxen.  Forfarshire  is  a  great 
turnip  country,  and  has  its  fields  for  the  most  part  inclosed ;  the  catUe  are 
regularly  kept  in  straw-yards  during  six  months  of  the  year,  receiving  tur- 
nips with  their  fodder  every  day,  and  in  summer  they  are  grazed  on  com- 
paratively dry  and  warm  pastures.  By  this  mode  of  treatment  they  look 
and  feel  more  kindly  than  the  Galloways. 

The  greater  part  of  them  are  black  or  with  a  few  white  spots.  The 
next  general  colour  is  yellow,  comprehending  the  brindled,  dark  red,  and 
silver  coloured  yellow. 

They  are  a  valuable  breed,  and  have  rapidly  gained  ground  on  the  horned 
cattle.  They  have  become  far  more  numerous  than  the  others,  particularly 
in  the  Lowlands ;  and  when  the  agriculturist  now  speaks  of  the  Angus 
breed,  he  refers  to  the  polled  and  not  to  the  horned  species. 

One  of  the  most  spirited  and  successful  breeders  of  the  dodded  Angus 
cattle  is  Mr.  Watson,  of  Keillor,  by  Meigle,  in  Angus,  and  to  him  we  are 
indebted  for  much  valuable  information  respecting  the  breed. 

His  stock  of  Angus  cattle  has  deservedly  obtained  the  name  of  the 
Keillor  breed,  and  a  most  excellent  one  it  is.  He  has  gained,  on  ac- 
count of  them,  more  than  100  prizes,  besides  several  valuable  pieces  of 
plate.  The  facdities  which  will  now  be  afforded  by  the  establishment  of 
steam-carriage,  will  enable  him  and  other  enterprising  breeders  to  send 
many  beasts  to  the  London  market,  which  will  find  a  ready  and  profitable 
sale  there. 

The  following  cut  contains  the  portrait  of  one  of  a  pair  of  oxen  exhibited 
by  him  at  the  show  of  the  Highland  society  at  Perth,  in  1829,  and  which 
obtained  the  prize  as  '  the  best  pair  of  oxen  of  the  Angus  breed.'  He 
was  afterwards  sent  to  the  Smithfield  show,  at  the  Christmas  of  the  same 
year,  Avhen  he  was  particularly  admired.  The  butcher  who  purchased 
him,  Mr.  Sparks,  of  High-street,  Mary-le-bone,  with  whom  we  have  con- 
versed on  the  subject,  and  who  may  be  considered  to  be  a  competent  judge, 
said,  after  he  was  slaughtered,  that  he  was  one  of  the  best  quality  he  ever 
saw,  and  he  thought  must  have  been  the  best  of  the  breed  that  ever  was 
exhibited.  The  meat  was  finally  grained,  and  there  were  more  than 
240  lbs.  of  fat. 


168 


CATTLE. 


[Angus  Ox,  Fat.] 

The  next  cut  is  a  fair  specimen  of  an  Angus  bullock,  in  good  store  con- 
ditbn!    ifwas  the  property  of  Mr.  Clarke,  a  dealer  ui  polled  cattle. 


[Angus  Ox.] 


The  following  cut  gives  us  the  portrait  of  a  heifer,  bred  and  fattened  by 
Mr.  Watson.     She  was  exhibited  at  the  same  show  at  Perth,  and  obtamed 


THE  ANGUS  BREED.  169 

the  medal  '  for  extra  stock  of  superior  quality.'  She  also  was  sent  to  the 
Smithfield  show,  and  obtained  the  medal  in  the  class  of  extra  stock.  The 
Highland  Society  requested  that  she  might  be  sent  there  as  a  sample  of 
the  excellence  to  which  this  breed  of  Scottish  catUe  could  arrive :  she  was 
then  4.V  years  old.  The  chairman,  in  presenting  the  medal,  stated  '  that 
the  judges  deemed  it  their  duty  to  mention  her  as  a  most  extraordinary 
animal,  and  which  they  could  not  too  highly  commend.  Her  dead 
weight  was  estimated  at  130  or  140  stones,  and  yet  it  was  imagined  that 
she  had  not  arrived  at  her  point  of  extreme  weight.  She  sold  for  50/,  and 
Avas  publicly  exhibited  for  a  considerable  time  before  she  was  slaughtered, 
and  realised  a  considerable  sum  for  her  purchasers.*  We  admired  a  very 
superior  pair  of  Angus  oxen,  exhibited  by  the  same  gentlem.an  at  the  show 
of  the  Highland  Society,  at  Kelso,  in  1832 :  one  of  them  seemed  to  be 
perfect  in  all  his  points. f 


[Angus  Coii'.] 

We  must  however  acknowledge  that  the  Angus  polled  cattle  generally 
arc  not  of  that  very  superior  quality  and  value  which  this  account  of  the 
Keillor  breed  would  seem  to  indicate,  or,  what  is  the  case  with  many  oiiher 
breeds,  they  are  exceedingly  valuable  in  tl-.eir  own  climate  and  on  their 
own  soil,  but  they  do  not  answer  the  somewiiat  unreasonable  expectations 
of  their  purchasers,  when  driven  to  ihe  south.     They  have  yielded  a  good 


*  She  was  out  of  a  very  small  cow  with  a  remote  dash  of  Guernsey  blood  in  her,  yet 
retaining  all  the  best  features  of  the  pure  An£]fus  blood.  'J'he  bone  of  her  fore  leg,  which 
Mr.  Wutson  has  in  his  possession,  was  not  tliicker  than  that  of  a  red  deer,  and  she  woe 
exceediiigly  active  to  the  last.  Wlien  killed  her  breast  was  not  quite  8  inches  clear  from 
the  ground,  and  her  inside  fat  was  equal  to  a  quarter  of  her  whole  weight  of  beef. 

t  At  one  year  old  tliis  beast  gained  a  prize  at  the  annual  show  of  the  Strathniore  Ag- 
ricultural  Society  at  Coupar,  Angus;  at  tv/o  years  old  he  also  carried  off  the  prize  at 
the  next  show  of  the  same  Society.  At  three  years  old,  he  and  another  ox,  also  bred  by 
Mr.  Watson,  gained  the  first  premium  of  the  same  society  for  the  best  pair  of  fiit  oxen 
of  any  breed  ;  and  in  the  same  year,  the  same  pair  were  shown,  as  v.c  have  stated,  at  tlie 
meeting  of  tiic  Highland  Society  at  Perth. 

16 


170  CATTLE. 

remunerating  price,  and  the  grazier  has  had  no  cause  to  complain,  but 
they  are  not  quite  equal  to  their  ancestors  the  Galloways  in  quickness  of 
feeding,  or  fineness  of  grain.  They  attain  a  larger  size,  but  they  do  not 
pay  the  grazier  or  the  lautcher  so  well.  They  have  been  fairly  tried  in 
the  south,  and,  on  the  faith  of  the  excellency  of  the  Keillor  breed,  Mr. 
Watson  sold  a  bull  in  18.31  for  100  guineas,  and  in  the  same  year  he  sold 
a  lot  of  breeding  heifers  in  calf  at  the  rate  of  40/.  per  head,  yet  in  many 
places  the  Angus  cattle  have  gradually  given  way  to  the  old  occupiers  of 
the  land,  the  Galloways. 

The  greatest  shows  of  this  kind  of  stock  in  Angusshire  are  at  Brechin, 
in  June,  and  Forfar  in  July  and  August.  The  beasts  are  chiefly  purchased 
by  English  dealers.  We  saw  a  great  many  of  them,  and  very  fine  ones 
too,  at  the  Falkirk  Tryst  in  October,  1832.  When  in  good  condition  they 
sell,  at  3  years  old,  at  from  10/.  to  15/. 

In  the  statistical  account  of  Angus  it  is  said  to  contain  45,400  cattle ; 
but  there  could  be  no  certain  grounds  on  which  to  form  the  calculation, 
the  numbers  depending  on  the  season  and  on  the  quantity  of  keep.  The 
Hying  stock  bear  a  greater  proportion  to  the  whole  number  of  cattle  than 
in  almost  any  other  county. 

The  calves  that  were  reared  always  fared  better  here  than  in  many  dis- 
tricts ;  they  got  nearly  two  gallons  of  milk,  warm  from  the  cow,  every  day 
for  more  than  three  months  ;  and  were  then  put  on  the  best  grass,  and  had 
turnips  and  hay,  or  sometimes  only  straw,  in  the  winter,  when  they  were 
always  housed  :  the  cows  were  also  generally  housed,  except  there  was  a 
scarcity  of  straw  and  other  fodder,  when,  and  especially  in  the  hilly  country, 
they  were  permitted  to  wander  over  some  rough  pasture  during  the  day. 

Mr.  Watson,  about  20  years  ago,  introduced  the  practice  of  suckling  the 
calves  in  the  house,  and  has  since  continued  the  system  with  great  success. 
We  find  this  plan  thus  described  by  himself  in  a  letter  to  the  conductor  of 
a  work  on  domestic  animals,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Highland  Society 
of  Scotland. 

'  The  cows  intended  for  nursing  generally  calve  early  in  the  season, 
about  the  month  of  January  or  February,  when  a  stranger  calf  is  procured 
from  some  of  the  small  tenants  in  the  district  who  have  dairies.  This 
calf  is  suckled  with  the  others,  by  the  same  cow  ;  and,  although  the  cow 
at  first  shows  great  dislike  to  the  stranger,  in  a  few  days  she  receives  it  very 
quiedy — care  being  taken  that  both  are  put  to  suck  (one  on  each  side) 
exactly  at  the  same  time,  by  tying  the  calves'  bands  to  the  stall,  or  the 
band  of  the  cow,  so  as  to  keep  each  calf  at  its  own  side.  They  remain 
with  the  cow  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  by  which  time  her  milk  is  per- 
fecdy  drawn  away.  As  the  calves  advance  in  age  they  eat  hay,  sliced  po- 
tatoes, porridge,  and  other  food  that  they  are  inclined  to  take.  By  the  1st 
of  May,  or  as  soon  as  grass  is  ready,  they  are  weaned  and  turned  out  from 
the  byre,  when  two  fresh  calves  are  immediately  put  into  their  stalls  and 
receive  the  same  treatment,  excepting  that  they  are  turned  out  at  12  o'clock, 
after  they  have  got  their  suck,  to  eat  grass,  and  are  brought  into  the  byre 
again  in  the  evening,  when  the  cows  come  in  to  be  sucked.  Tliis  set  is 
ready  to  wean  by  the  1st  of  August,  and  a  single  calf  is  put  into  the  feed- 
ing pen  and  fattened  for  the  butcher,  the  season  being  now  too  late  for 
rearing.  As  these  are  fed  off",  the  cows  are  let  off'  milk,  having  each 
suckled_y?yc  calves.  It  is  necessary  to  have  a  very  careful  and  steady  per- 
son to  attend  to  the  suckling,  which  has  to  be  done  three  times  a  day,  viz., 
early  in  the  morning  before  the  cows  are  turned  out  to  grass,  at  mid  day, 
and  in  the  evening  when  the  cows  come  into  the  byre  for  the  night  and  get 
a  little  cut  grass,  tares,  or  other  green  food.  The  byre  is  arranged  so  that  the 


THE  NORFOLK  BREED.  171 

cows  have  each  a  stall  of  about  four  feet  wide,  with  their  heads  to  the  wall; 
and  on  the  opposite  wall  the  calves  are  tied  up,  two  in  a  stall,  exactly  be- 
hind the  cow,  so  that  there  is  little  trouble  in  putting  them  to  the  cows, 
and  no  chance  of  misplacing  them.  The  fat  calves  have  in  some  seasons 
been  sold  at  5/.  each,  this  being  the  scarcest  time  of  the  year  for  veal. — 
Keillor,  October  1831.' 

The  quantity  of  milk  yielded  by  the  dairy  cows  is  various.  In  the 
hilly  district  from  two  to  three  gallons  are  given  per  day,  but  that  is  very 
rich.  In  the  lowlands  the  cows  will  give  five  gallons  during  the  best  of 
the  season.  The  cows  of  this  district  were  formerly  regarded  as  some  of 
the  best  dairy-cows  in  Scotland,  but  since  the  breed  has  been  more  im- 
proved, and  greater  attention  paid  to  the  fattening  qualities,  they  have 
fallen  off  in  their  character  for  the  pail.  About  half  of  the  milk  is  con- 
sumed at  home,  the  rest  is  made  into  bul'er  and  cheese.  The  butter,  as  is 
generally  the  case  in  this  part  of  Scotland,  is  good,  but  the  cheese  poor 
and  ill-flavoured.     No  oxen  are  used  on  the  road,  and  few  for  the  plough. 

Although  there  is  so  great  a  mixture  of  diflerent  breeds  in  Forfarshire, 
they  are  all  of  Scottish  origin.  The  southern  breeds  have  been  repeatedly 
tried  and  have  failed,  and  so  has  the  Guernsey,  which  hiS  contributed  so 
much  to  the  improvement  of  some  English  dairies.* 


Having  now  returned  to  the  districts  with  the  character  of  the  cattle  of 
which  the  greater  part  of  our  readers  may  be  supposed  to  be  tolerably  well 
acquainted,  our  description  both  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  breeds  of  the 
diflerent  counties,  and  the  general  management  of  cattle,  will  be  brief. 

Until  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  and  for  some  years  afterwards, 
the  native  breed  of  Norfolk  belonged  to  the  middle-horns.  Their  colour 
was  usually  red,  or  sometimes  black;  they  possessed  many  of  the  charac- 
ters of  the  Devons  on  a  smaller  scale,  with  their  pointed,  turned  up  horns. 
A  few  of  them  are  yet  occasionally  seen  in  the  less  cultivated  parts  of  the 
county,  and  in  the  possession  of  the  small  farmer  or  the  cottager.  They 
have,  however,  been  almost  superseded  by  -a  polled  breed. 

We  have  stated  that  from  a  very  early  period,  a  great  part  of  the  Gallo- 
way cattle  were  prepared  for  the  Smithfield  market  on  the  pastures  of 
Norfolk  and  Suflblk;  nearly  one-half  of  the  beasts  that  supply  the  metro- 
polis come  from  these  counties.  Some  of  the  Galloways,  either  accident- 
ally, or  selected  on  account  of  their  superior  form  and  quality,  remained 
in  Norfolk;  and  the  farmer  attempted  to  naturalize  and  to  rear  in  his 
own  county,  and  he  hoped  at  somewhat  less  cost,  a  breed  of  cattle  so  highly 

*  Some  curious  sports  in  nature  have  been  observed  in  the  breeding  of  Angus  doddies. 
One  remarkable  fact  is  stated  by  John  Boswell,  Esq.,  of  Balmuto  and  Kingcaussie,  in  an 
essay  upon  the  breeding  of  live  stock,  communicated  to  the  Highland  Society  in  1825. 
*  One  of  the  most  intelligent  breeders  I  have  ever  met  with  in  Scotland  Mr.  Mustard,  an 
extensive  farmer  on  Sir  James  Carnegie's  estate  in  Angus,  told  me  a  singular  fact  with 
regard  to  what  I  have  now  stated.  One  of  his  cows  chanced  to  come  into  season  while 
pasturing  on  a  field  which  was  bounded  by  that  of  one  of  his  neighbours,  out  of  which 
field  an  ox  jumped  and  went  with  the  cow,  until  she  was  brought  home  to  the  bull.  The 
ox  was  white,  with  black  spots,  and  horned.  Mr.  Mustard  had  not  a  horned  beast  in  his 
possession,  nor  one  with  any  white  on  it.  Nevertheless,  the  produce  of  the  following 
spring  was  a  black  and  white  calf,  with  horns.''  Another  fact,  which  shows  the  great  care 
required  in  keeping  pure  this  breed,  is  related  of  the  Keillor  stock,  where,  two  different 
eeasons,  a  dairy  cow  of  the  Ayrshire  breed,  red  and  white,  was  allowed  to  pasture  with 
the  black  doddies.  In  the  first  experiment,  from  pure  black  bulls  and  cows,  there  ap- 
peared  three  red  and  white  calves;  and  on  the  second  trial  two  of  the  calves  were  of 
mixed  colours.  Since  that  time  care  has  been  taken  to  have  almost  every  animal  on 
the  farm,  down  to  the  pigs  and  poultry,  of  a  black  colour. 


172 


CATTLE. 


valued  in  the  metropolitan  market.  To  a  cerlaia  degree  he  succeeded;  and 
thus  tiie  polled  cattle  gradually  gained  upon  the  horned  ones,  and  at  length 
became  so  much  more  numerous  and  proiitahle  llian  tlie  old  sort,  that  they 
begin  to  be  regarded  as  the  peculiar  and  native  breed  of  the  county. 

They  retain  mueli  of  the  general  form  of  tlieir  ancestors,  the  Galloways, 
but  not  all  their  excellences.  They  have  been  enlarged  but  not  improved 
by  a  southern  climate  and  a  richer  soil.  They  are  usually  red,  some,  how- 
ever, are  black,  or  either  of  these  colours  mixed  with  white,  with  a  cha- 
racteristic golden  circle  about  the  eye.  They  are  taller  than  the  Gallo- 
ways, but  thinner  in  the  chine,  flatter  in  the  ribs,  longer  in  the  legs,  some- 
Avhat  better  r  ilkers,  of  greater  weight  when  fattened,  but  not  fattening  so 
kindly,  and  the  meat  not  quite  equal  in  quality. 


\_Norfulk  Cow.'] 

This  cut  presents  a  favourable  specimen  of-  liiem.  The  cow  was  bred 
bv  Mr.  George  of  Eaton  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ps'orv.ich.  This  beast, 
at  least,  is  an  exception  to  the  censure  which  lias  been  passed  upon  them 
as  'ugly  and  mishaped.' 

Although  too  little  care  is  taken  in  any  part  of  this  county  to  improve 
the  breed,  yet  it  has  been  improved  in  many  districts,  not  only  in  attain- 
ing larger  weights  at  all  ages,  but  in  the  quality  of  the  meat  being  consi- 
derably better;  yet  it  must  be  confessed,  that  the  Galloways  afforded  so 
ample  a  remuneration  to  the  Norfolk  grazier  during  their  temporary  abode 
with  him  in  their  journey  to  the  Smithfield  market,  that  the  home-bred 
cattle  were,  after  a  while,  comparatively  neglected. 

Norfolk  is  principally  a  grazing  county,  and  the  cattle  chiefly  grazed 
there  are  the  Galloway  Scots.  'I'he  following  estimate  of  the  expense  and 
profit  in  feeding  them,  is  taken  from  the  Agricultural  Survey  of  Norfolk, 
and  was  furnished  by  Mr.  Barton.  The  more  complete  establishment 
of  the  turnip  husbandry  has  made  some  alteration,  and  that  in  favour  of 
the  grazier. 

'  Of  the  Scotch  cattle,  there  are  three  sorts  which  require  consideration; 
the  first  is  a  bullock,  turned  of  four  years  old,  and  bought  at  St.  Faiths 
October  I7th,  for  about  9/.,  and  in  such  condition  as  to  be  fit  to  be  put 


THE  NORFOLK  BREED.  173 

immediately  on  turnips.  He  is  put  on  turnips,  and  kept  there  about  24 
weeks ;  in  bad  weather  a  little  hay  is  given,  and  when  to  this  is  added  the 
customary  straw,  carriage,  attendance,  &;c.,  the  expense  will  amount  to 
about  4s,  per  week,  bringing  the  cost  of  the  ox  to  13/.  16s.  He  will  now 
probably  weigh  from  50  to  52  stones  of  141bs.,  which  at  5s.  6;/.  per  stone, 
or  3s.  Sd.  per  Smithfield  stone  of  8  lbs.,  will  amount  to  14/.  16s.,  leaving 
only  1/.  clear  profit  per  head. 

A  second  lot,  and  a  year  younger,  is  probably  bought  lean  at  the  same 
time,  and  at  about  6/.  They  are  put  on  stubble  or  ordinary  grass,  until 
the  straw-yard  is  open.  They  are  then  sent  into  the  straw-yard  at  night, 
where  they  eat  the  offals  of  every  description,  and  follow  the  best  beasts 
during  the  day.  This,  for  24  weeks,  until  May  day,  and  at  Is.  6(/.  per 
week,  will  amount  to  1/.  l6s.  They  are  then  put  into  the  marshes,  or  on 
good  pasture,  until  a  fortnight  after  Michaelmas,  which,  reckoning  28 
weeks  at  2s.  3d,  per  week,  will  cost  3/.  3s.  more ;  then  to  turnips  for  8 
weeks  at  3s,,  which  will  be  1/.  4s.,  and  amounting  in  the  whole  to  12/.  3s. 
The  weight  of  the  bullock  will  now  generally  be  about  44  stones,  and  the 
value  12/,  2s. 

A  third  lot  is  probably  bought  at  Harleston  in  December.  The  beasts 
are  lean,  of  the  same  age,  and  the  price  averages  at  about  7/.  per  head. 
They  are  sent  immediately  to  the  straw-yard,  and  fed  on  offal  turnips  for 
8  weeks  at  Is.  Qd;  per  week,  and  amounting  to  12s.  They  then  go  on 
full  keeping,  turnips  by  day,  and  the  straw-yard  at  night,  for  10  weeks, 
which  at  2s.  6d.  per  week,  will  give  an  additional  expense  of  1/.  5s.  They 
then  go  into  the  two  years'  lay,  or  good  pasture,  for  20  weeks,  making,  at 
3s.  per  week,  3/.  more,  which  brings  their  cost  to  the  grazier  to  11/.  17s. 
They  will  now  probably  weigh  46  stones,  which  at  5s.  6d.  per  stone  will 
amount  to  12/.  13s. 

It  would  appear  from  these  calculations  that  the  first  lot  paid  10  per 
cent,  interest  on  the  capital  laid  out,  and  a  fair  price  for  what  they  con- 
sumed. The  second  yielded  no  interest  on  the  original  cost,  but  a  fair 
price  for  the  food;  and  the  third  gave  15  per  cent,  in  addition  to  the  same 
remunerating  price ;  but  to  this  seemingly  little  profit  must  be  added  the 
increased  value  of  the  succeeding  crops,  from  the  great  quantity  of  ma- 
nure. 

The  grand  fairs  for  the  purchase  of  the  Galloway  cattle  are  at  St.  Faiths, 
on  October  I7th  ;*  Hampton  Green,  November  22d;  and  Harleston, 
November  28th.  The  horned  Scotch  cattle  are  often  grazed,  although 
not  to  the  extent  of  the  Galloways.  Mr.  Marshall,  in  that  valuable  work, 
*  The  Rural  Economy  of  Norfolk,'  gives  the  following  account  of  two  lots 
of  Kyloes.  The  buying  and  selling  prices  are  now  very  different,  but  the 
proportion  between  them  is  nearly  the  same.  '  How  profitable  are  the 
little  Isle-of-Sky  cattle  to  the  Norfolk  farmer,  who  has  rough  meadows  for 

them  to  run  in?  had  eleven,  bought  last  Hemlingreen  fair,  (just 

twelve  months  ago,)  for  three  guineas  a-piece.     They  were  kept  entirely 

*  Mr.  Marshall  thus  describes  the  Fair  of  St.  Faiths  :—- 

On  Wednesday,  17th  instant,  I  went  to  the  first  day  of  the  fair  of  St,  Faiths,  a  village 
near  Norwich,  where  one  of  the  largest  fairs  in  the  kingdom  is  held  annually  onthat  day, 
for  cheese  and  butter,  and  a  variety  of  wares,  but  most  especially  the  first,  which  is 
brought  in  great  quantities  out  of  Suffolk  to  supply  this  country  during  the  winter 
months,  when  a  Norfolk  cheese  is  not  to  be  purchased  in  this  part  of  the  country. 
The  first  day  of  this  fair  also  draws  together  a  good  show  of  cattle,  principally  'home 
bred,'  either  for  store  or  for  fatting  on  turnips,  and  for  which  purposes  a  show  of  Scotch 
bullocks  is  also  exhibited  upon  a  rising  ground  at  a  small  distance  from  the  fair-field . 

The  sale  of  Scotch  cattle  continues  for  a  fortnight,  or  longer  time,  until  this  quarter  of 
the  county  be  supplied  with  that  species  of  stock,— Marshall's  Economy  of  Norfolk,ii,  4';>. 
16* 


£. 

s. 

d. 

0 

12 

0 

1 

0 

0 

3 

6 

3 

4 

18 

3 

6 

0 

0 

174  CATTLE. 

on  straw  and  rushy  grass,  which  nothing-  else  would  have  eaten,  until  the 
month  of  May,  when  ihey  were  turned  inio  some  Norfolk  meadows, 
(worth  aboLit  ten  shilling  an  acre)  where  they  remained  until  September, 
since  which  time  they  have  been  at  good  lattermath.  Some  of  them  are 
now  quite  fat,  and  the  rest  nearly  so;  one  with  another  they  are  worth 
about  six  pounds  a  piece. 

Supposing  each  occupied  an  acre  of  meadow,  which 

(with  town  charges)  reckon  at     . 
Ten  weeks'  lattermath,  at  two  shillings  (the  price  of, 

such  cattle)        ...... 

First  cost  and  interest 

Total  cost 
Present  value 

Clear  gain,  besides  a  fair  remunerating  price  for  the  ^    ,       ,     q 
meadow  ground  and  aftermath     ...  3 

A  neighbouring  farmer  bought  a  parcel  at  the  same  time,  and  at  the 
same  price ;  also  some  refuse  ones  so  low  as  five-and-twenty  shillings 
a-piece;  two  of  which  he  sold  a  few  days  ago  for  11/.  4s. 

These,  however,  were  followers  at  turnips  the  first  winter.  In  summer 
they  were  sent  to  a  grazing  ground;  since  harvest  they  have  been  in  the 
stubble  and  'rowens'  at  good  keep.* 

The  short  horns  have  established  themselves  in  many  parts  of  Norfolk. 
Some  of  them  are  bought  in  to  graze,  and  others  are  bred  there  with  con- 
siderable success.  The  Devons  have  zealous  advocates  in  Norfolk.  The 
Earl  of  Albemarle's  straw-yard  and  sheds  rarely  contain  fewer  than  60  of 
them  every  winter;  and  Mr.  Coke,  while  he  selects  the  Devons  for  his 
dairy,  is  zealously  employed  in  grazing  and  winter  feeding  the  improved 
short  horn.  The  Devons  are  selected  for  whatever  husbandry  work  is 
performed  by  oxen  in  Norfolk. 


The  Suffolk  Dun  used  to  be  celebrated  in  almost  every  part  of  the 
kingdom,  on  account  of  the  extraordinary  quantity  of  milk  that  she  yielded. 
The  dun  colour  is  now  however,  although  occasionally  met  with  out  of  the 
county,  rarel)'  seen  in  Suflblk,  and  rejected  as  an  almost  certain  indication 
of  inferiority.  The  breed,  consistently  with  the  title  of  the  chapter  under 
which  it  is  placed,  is  in  general  ^o//ff/,  but  some  of  the  calves  would  have 
horns  if  they  were  reared,  and  even  in  the  polled  the  rudiment  of  a  horn 
is  often  to  be  felt  at  an  early  age. 

The  Sudblk,  like  the  Norfolk  beast,  undoubtedly  sprung  from  the  Gal- 
loway; but  it  is  shorter  in  the  leg,  broader  and  rounder  than  the  Norfolk, 
with  a  greater  propensity  to  fatten,  and  reaching  to  greater  weights.  Mr. 
John  Kirby,  the  author  of  '  The  Suflblk  Traveller,'  published  nearly  a  cen- 
tury ago,  describes  the  Suffolk  cow  as  having  'a  clean  throat,  with  little 
dewlap,  a  snake  head,t  thin  and  short  legs,  the  ribs  springing  well  from 
the  centre  of  the  back,  the  carcass  large,  the  belly  heavy,  the  back-bone 
ridged,  the  chine  thin  and  hollow,  the  loin  narrow,  the  udder  square,  large, 

*  Marshall's  Economy  of  Norfolk,  ii.  74. 

t  There  is  much  variation  with  regard  to  this.  We  have  seen  many  Suffolk  cows 
whose  heads  might  be  almost  said  to  be  clumsy,  aud  who  had  llieir  fair  share  of 
dewlap,  but  they  were  not  celebrated  as  milkers,  and  being  soon  discarded  on  that 
account,  fattened  with  great  rapidity.  There  was  too  much  of  the  Galloway  blood 
about  tliem. 


THE  SUFFOLK  BREED.  175 

loose  and  creased  when  empty,  the  milkvehis  remarkably  large  and  rising 
in  knotted  pufis;  and  tliis  so  general,  that  I  scarcely  ever  saw  a  famous 
milker  that  did  not  possess  this  point,  a  general  habit  of  lameness,  hip 
bones  high  and  ill  covered,  and  scarcely  any  part  of  the  carcass  so  formed 
and  covered  as  to  please  an  eye  that  is  accustomed  to  fat  beasts  of  the  finer 
breeds.'  The  prevailing  and  the  best  colours  are  red,  red  and  white, 
brindled  and  a  yellowish  cream  colour.  The  bull  is  valued  if  he  is  of  a 
pure  and  unmingled  red  colour.  In  no  part  of  the  kingdom  were  the  far- 
mers more  careless  as  to  the  breed,  providing  only  that  the  cows  were  true 
Sutlblks.  They  merely  inquired  whether  the  bull  came  from  a  dairy  of 
good  milkers;  and  even  the  cows  which  they  rarely  kept  in  milk  for  more 
than  two  or  three  years,  they  bought  at  the  neighbouring  markets  and  fairs 
much  oftener  than  they  bred  them. 

Some  exaggerated  accounts  have  been  given  of  the  milking  properties  of 
the  Sufiblk  cow,  but,  nevertheless,  she  is  not  inferior  to  any  other  breed  in 
the  quantity  of  milk  that  she  yields.  In  the  height  of  the  season  some  of 
these  cows  will  give  as  much  as  8  gallons  of  milk  in  the  day;  and  6  gal- 
lons is  not  an  unusual  quantity.  The  produce  of  butter,  however,  is  not 
in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  milk.*  The  Rev.  Mr.  Aspin,  of  Cockfield, 
had  three  cows  one  of  them  a  heifer  with  her  first  calf.  They  were  kept 
on  three  acre?  only  of  grass,  without  any  change  of  pasture  until  after 
mowing  time,  and  in  the  winter  chiefly  on  straw  with  very  little  hay.  Both 
the  old  ones  yielded  8  gallons  of  milk  per  day  during  the  height  of  their 
season,  and  the  quantity  of  butter  made  from  June  to  December  was 
6S31bs.  The  Rev.  Arthur  Young,  the  Secretary  to  the  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture, forty  years  ago,  adds,  that  one  Holderness  cow  would  have  consumed 
all  tiie  food  of  the  three,  without  returning  half  of  the  produce.  There  are 
few  short-horn  cows,  although  far  superior  in  size  to  the  SufTolks,  and  con- 
suming nearly  double  the  quantity  of  food,  that  will  yield  more  milk  than 
is  usually  obtained  from  the  smaller  polled  breed. 

Fifty  thousand  firkins  of  butter  are  sent  to  London  every  year  from  Suf- 
folk, of  which  each  cow  furnishes  on  an  average  three  firkins,  each  weigh- 
ing I  cwt.,  with  I  of  a  wey  of  cheese.t 

*  Some  experiments  were  made  by  Mr.  Chevalier  of  Aspal,  near  Debenham,  which 
would  give  a  more  favourable  opinion  of  the  richness  of  the  Suffolk  cow's  milk.  Three 
quarts  of  milk  from  a  Suffolk  cow,  and  the  same  quantity  from  a  long-horn  of  Mr.  Toosey's 
breed  were  set  in  separate  bowls  for  36  hours.  The  milk  of  each  was  then  skimmed,  and 
tiic  cream  fromtlie  milk  of  the  SulTolk  weighed  2^  ounces  more  than  that  from  the  horned 
cow.  The  cream  was  after  that  put  into  two  bottles  and  churned,  and  one  quarter  part 
inure  butler  was  extracted  from  the  cream  of  the  polled  cow  than  from  that  of  the  horned 
one. 

A  variety  of  experiments,  however,  must  be  made  before  this  question  can  be  settled, 
and  particularly  in  summer,  when  the  milk  of  both  is  so  much  more  abundant.  The  time 
v.hich  lius  elapsed  from  the  calving  of  each  should  also  be  attended  to,  and  the  condition 
and  food  of  the  animals.  The  milk  of  a  cow  that  keeps  herself  in  good  condition  is  well 
known  to  be  more  productive  of  cream  and  butter  than  that  ofa  half-starved  one,  who  pos- 
sibly may  yield  a  greater  quantity  of  milk;  and  yet  it  may  be  questioned  whether  the 
superiority  of  quality  always  makes  amends  for  the  diminution  of  quantity.  The  most 
extraordinary  milkers  are  usually  the  very  worst  looking  animals. 

t  Mr.  Cullcy  extracts  from  Mr.  Young's  Survey  of  Suffolk,  an  estimate  of  the  pro- 
duce of  one  of  the  cows: — 

£    g.    d. 
Three  firkins  of  butter,  each  weighing  ^  cwt.  at  32s.     .     .  4    16     0 

^  wey  of  cheese 1      4     0 

A  hog         10     0 

A  calf         0    10     0 

Total     ...  7    10     0 


176 


CATTLE. 


A  little  good  cheese  is  made  in  Suffolk,  but  generally  speaking,  the  milk 
is  more  profitably  converted  into  butter,  and  the  cheese  manufactured  from 
the  skim  milk  is  alone  of  very  inferior  quality. 


\_Suffulk  Cow.'] 

The  cattle  are,  by  the  majority  of  the  farmers,  much  better  attended  to 
than  they  were  when  Mr.  Young  wrote  his  '  Survey.'  He  says,  that '  few 
cows  were  confined  in  the  winter  to  a  cow-yard,  but  the  cattle  ranged  over 
the  fields  almost  at  their  pleasure,  poaching  the  land  dreadfully.  Some- 
times however,  they  were  tied  up,  in  the  field  without  house,  or  shed,  or 
roof  to  cover  them.  A  rough  manger  was  placed  on  the  ground  in  which 
tusnips  or  cabbages,*  or  straw  was  given  to  them,  and  small  posts  were 
driven  into  the  ground  3ft.  6in.  asunder,  to  which  the  cows  were  tied.  A 
faggot  hedge  was  set  up  before  them,  or  they  were  placed  before  a  thick 
hedge  in  order  to  screen  them  from  the  blast.  They  were  regularly  littered, 
and  the  dung  was  piled  up  behind  them  in  the  form  of  a  wall,  which  served 
them  for  another  screen;  while  a  slight  trench  was  dug  at  their  heels  to 
conduct  away  the  urine.'  It  was  imagined  that  this  was  better  than  letting 

In  his  third  edition  Mr.  Young  calculating  the  butter  and  cheese  at  a  higher  price, 
makes  the  produce  8Z.  12s.  6rf. 

Mr.  Parkinson,  a  very  excellent  writer  on  the  breeds  and  general  treatment  of  cattle 
but  not  to  be  depended  upon  when  he  speaks  of  their  diseases  has  the  following  ver}' 
appropriate  remarks  on  this,  vol.  i.  p.  119,  which  we  have  somewhat  condensed. 
'  When  it  is  asserted  that  the  best  of  the  cows  give  24  quarts  of  milk  in  one  day,  and  that 
the  profit  of  one  of  tliem  for  a  year  is  only  11. 10s.,  tlie  milk  and  the  quantity  of  butter  bear 
no  sort  of  proportion  to  eaeli  other.  There  must  be  an  error  in  the  one;  for  if  tlic  produce 
of  this  cow  be  only  calculated  at  half  a  year,  or  26  weeks,  the  butter  would  he  1841bs. 
which  at  Is.  a  pound,  would  give  9/.  4s.;  the  hog  would  be  worth,  in  otlier  butter  and 
cheese  counties  2Z.;  and  the  calf  about  15s.  Skim-milk  cheese  fetches  from  2/.  5s.  to 
2Z.  15s.  in  Dorsetshire  and  Somersetshire,  which  would  make  the  produce  amount  to, 
\5l.  13s.,  a  sum  much  nearer  the  truth  than  that  stated  by  Mr.  Young. 

*  Forty  years  ago  (1792)  the  practice  of  growing  cabbages  was  almost  universal  among 
the  dairy  farmers;  but  the  butter  was  sometimes  bad  when  the  cabbages  began  to  be 
decayed  and  this  vegetable  did  considerable  damage  to  the  succeeding  crop.  The  cul- 
ture of  tliis  food  for  milch  cows  is  therefore  in  a  gieat  measure  superseded. 


THE  SUFFOLK  BREED.  177 

them  range  at  will;  and  that  every  kind  of  food  went  much  farther.  The 
farmers  believed  that  they  were  more  healthy  and  profitable  when  thus  ex- 
posed to  the  weather;  than  if  they  had  a  roof  over  them,  and  that  the 
warmth  produced  by  their  lying  so  close  to  each  other,  and  by  the  screea 
before  and  behind,  was  sufficient.  Mr.  Young  remarks,  '  if  they  do  as  well 
as  under  sheds  much  expense  is  saved,  but  this  is  a  very  doubtful  question.' 
When  they  had  calved,  or  were  near  tlie  time  of  calving,  they  were  brought 
into  the  cow-house.  The  land  is  now  thrown  a  great  deal  more  open  than 
it  formerly  was.  These  high,  impervious  hedges  are  rarely  to  be  found,  and 
this  system  of  feeding  in  the  field  is  comparatively  seldom  adopted. 

There  used  to  be,  and  still  to  a  very  considerable  degree  remain,  some 
other  points  of  bad  management.  Although  the  calves  that  are  reared  are 
selected  according  to  the  milking  properties  of  the  dam,  few  of  the  early- 
dropped  ones,  which  are  generally  the  best,  are  saved.  The  price  of 
veal  then  oflfers  a  temptation  which  the  farmer  cannot  resist ;  and  the 
young  ones  are  fattened  and  disposed  of  as  soon  as  possible.  The  selec- 
tion is  therefore  made  almost  entirely  from  the  later  calves,  and  they  have 
not  so  good  a  chance  as  the  early-dropped  ones  would  have  had  of  becoming 
strong  and  hardy  before  winter,  and  thus  acquiring  a  good  constitution, 
and  the  certainty  of  thriving  and  yielding  well. 


IS  tiff  oik  Bull.] 

Another  instance  of  mismanagement  is  not  always  avoided  even  at  the 
present  day.  He  says  that  '  the  bulls  are  rarely  sufiere<l  to  live  after  they 
are  three  years  old,  however  excellent  they  may  be,  for  the  farmer  believes 
that  if  they  are  kept  longer  they  do  not  get  a  stock  equally  good,  and  par- 
ticularly that  their  calves  are  not  so  large  after  that  period.'  Nothing  can 
be  more  erroneous  or  mischievous.  A  bull  is  never  in  finer  condition  than 
from  four  to  seven  years  old. 

Beside  this,  the  practice  of  the  Suffolk  breeders  is  subject  to  radical  ob- 
jection, for  before  the  value  of  the  progeny  of  a  bull  can  be  known  he  is 
slaughtered,  so  that  if  the  cows  got  by  him  turn  out  to  be  the  most  excel- 
lent milkers,  no  advantage  could  be  derived  from  the  discovery,  the  sire  of 


178  CATTLE. 

To  such  an  extent  was  this  absurd  practice  formerly  carried,  that  Mr. 
Young  justly  observes  that  'having  obtained  by  accident,  or  by  exertions, 
the  memory  of  which  is  now  lost,  a  good  breed  of  milkers,  the  Suffolk 
people  have  preserved  them  almost  by  mere  cliance,  and  without  any  of 
the  care  and  attention  which  their  value  demanded. 

Somewhat  of  the  same  system  was  and  is  pursued  with  regard  to  the 
heifers.  A  heifer  of  scarcely  two-years  old,  with  a  calf  at  her  foot,  is  no 
rare  object.  This  system  of  breeding  before  the  form  of  either  the  sire  or 
the  dam  is  developed;  this  tax  upon  the  power  of  nature  to  contribute  to 
the  growth  of  the  young  mother  as  well  as  to  that  of  the  calf,  must  be 
exceedingly  injurious.  She  also  at  four-years  old  is  frequently  discarded 
and-fattened  for  the  butcher,  unless  she  has  displayed  more  than  usually 
good  milking  properties. 

The  Suifolk  cow  when  thus  discharged,  poor  and  angular  as  she  may 
look,  fattens  with  a  rapidity,  not  equal,  indeed,  to  that  of  the  Galloways, 
but  greater  than  could  be  expected  from  her  gaunt  appearance.  Whence  she 
obtained  the  faculty  of  yielding  so  much  milk,  is  a  question  that  no  one  has 
yet  solved.  Her  progenitor,  the  Galloway,  has  it  not.  The  Holderness 
could  scarcely  be  concerned;  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  the  Suffolk 
dun  was  as  celebrated  as  a  milker,  as  the  breed  of  this  county  is  at  present, 
and  the  Holderness  had  not  then  been  introduced.  The  fattening  property 
derived  from  the  northern  breed  is  not  yet  impaired.  The  discarded 
cow  is  easily  fattened  to  forty  or  five-and- forty  stones,  and  the  quality  of 
her  meat  is  excellent.* 

The  grazing  property  of  the  Suffolk  has  been  supposed  to  be  increased 
by  a  cross  with  the  short  horn;  but  although  they  are  both  excellent 
milkers,  their  value  has  been  uniformly  lessened  as  milch  cows  by  the 
admixture  of  the  two,  and  the  progeny,  although  better  than  the  Suffolk 
for  grazing,  is  decidedly  inferior  to  the  improved  short-horn.  Very 
few  of  the  Suffolks,  however,  are  bred  for  the  mere  purpose  of  grazing  ; 
for  notwithstanding  what  we  have  said  of  their  value  in  this  respect,  they 
are  decidedly  inferior  to  the  pure  Galloways. 

Vast  numbers  of  the  Galloways  are  bought  at  the  fairs  after  Michaelmas. 
The  same  management  is  pursued  as  in  Norfolk,  and  the  Galloways  from 
Suffolk  join  those  from  Norfolk  in  their  journey  to  the  London  market,  in 
the  spring  and  early  part  of  the  summer. 

A  great  many  Welsh  cattle,  and  a  few  Irish,  are  also  grazed,  both  in 
Suffolk  and  Norfolk;  but  they  do  not  bear  so  high  a  price  in  the  market 
as  the  Galloways,  and  their  meat,  although  very  good,  is  somewhat 
inferior.  The  short-horns  are  also  establishing  themselves  in  some  parts 
of  this  county  as  grazing  cattle;  but  as  milkers,  they  cannot  contest  the 
palm  with  the  Suflblks  on  their  native  soil.  Some  Devons  are  found, 
but  they  are  not  so  numerous  or  such  favourites  as  they  are  in  Norfolk. 

Lord  Huntingfield  has  a  very  fine  dairy  of  North  Devon  cows,  and  he 
spares  no  expense  to  procure  the  purest  and  most  beautiful  bulls  from  that 
district.  Li  the  year  1832,  he  gave  two  hundred  and  eighty  guineas  for  a 
bull  of  that  breed.  His  lordship  is  also  very  successfully  engaged  in  the 
grazing  and  winter  feeding  of  the  improved  short-horn.  Some  very  fine 
beasts  of  his  stock  were  exhibited  at  the  last  Smithfield  cattle  show, 
1832. 

There  is  no  other  breed  of  polled  cattle  of  sufficient  consequence  to 
deserve  distinct  mention   here.     Mr.   John   Lawrence,   in  his   excellent 

*  Mr.  Parkinson  says — '  The  oxen  of  this  breed  weigh  from  570  lbs.  to  700  lbs.;  and 
the  cows  from  420  lbs.  to  560  lbs.,  and,  in  a  general  way,  I  do  not  find  any  beef  before 
them,' 


THE  IRISH  BREED.  fi9 

work  on  cattle,  speaks  of  the  Nortliern  or  Yorksliire  polled  cattle.  He 
describes  them  as  having  the  same  qualities  as  the  short-horns,  of  differ- 
ent sizes,  but  some  of  them  carrying  vast  substance,  and  he  thinks  that 
most  of  the  various  breeds  of  horned  catde  are  attended  with  hornless, 
but  perfectly  congenial  varieties.  This  is  true  to  a  very  considerable  ex- 
tent. The  Devonshire  Nafs,  or  polled  cattle,  now  rapidly  decreasing  in 
number,  possess  the  general  figure  and  most  of  the  good  qualities  of  the 
horned  beasts  of  that  district;  and  the  Forks/lire  polls  are  almost  as  large 
as  the  horned  beasts  of  that  county,  and  as  good  for  grazing  and  for  the 
pail.  Many  breeders  pay  particular  attention  to  the  shape  of  the  head  in 
these  polled  cattle,  and  to  a  certain  extent,  also,  in  the  horned  ones.  If 
the  crown  of  the  head  is  fine,  like  that  of  a  doe,  and  drawn  almost  to  a 
point  on  the  top,  the  breed  is  supposed  to  be  good. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  IRISH  CATTLE. 


Before  we  enter  on  the  consideration  of  the  two  remaining  breeds  of 
English  cattle,  the  long  and  the  short-horns,  we  will  take  a  very  rapid 
glance  at  the  Irish  cattle. 

They  are  evidently  composed  of  two  distinct  breeds;  the  middle  and 
the  long-horns. 

The  former  is  plainly  an  aboriginal  breed.  They  are  found  on  the 
mountains  and  rude  parts  of  .the  country,  in  almost  every  district.  They 
are  small,  light,  active,  and  wild.  The  head  is  small,  although  there  are 
exceptions  to  this  in  various  parts,  and  so  numerous,  indeed,  are  those 
exceptions,  that  some  describe  the  native  Irish  cattle  as  having  thick  heads 
and  necks;  the  horns  are  short  compared  with  the  other  breed,  all  of  them 
line,  some  of  them  rather  upright,  and  frequently,  after  projecting  forward, 
then  turning  backward.  Although  somewhat  deficient  in  the  hind-quarters, 
they  are  high-boned,  and  wide  over  the  hips,  yet  the  bone  generally  is  not 
heavy.  The  hair  is  coarse  and  long;  in  some  places  they  are  black,  in 
others  brindled;  and  in  others  black  or  brindled,  with  white  faces.  Some 
are  finer  in  the  bone,  and  finer  in  the  neck,  with  a  good  eye,  and  sharp 
muzzle,  and  great  activity. 

They  are  exceedingly  hardy;  they  live  through  the  winter,  and  some- 
times fatten  on  their  native  mountains  and  moors;  and  when  removed  to 
a  better  climate  and  soil,  they  fatten  with  all  the  rapidity  of  the  aboriginal 
cattle  of  the  Highlands  and  Wales.  They  are  generally  very  good 
milkers,  and  many  of  them  are  excellent  in  this  respect.  The  cow  of 
Kerry,  with  a  portrait  of  which  the  reader  is  here  presented,  is  a  favour- 
able specimen  of  them.  Where  they  have  much  of  the  Kerry  blood  in 
them  their  very  wildness  proves  them  to  be  the  native  breed;  for  there  is 
no  fence  nor  ditch  which  they  will  not  leap. 

The  cow  of  Kerry  is  truly  a  poor  man's  cow,  living  everywhere  hardy, 
yielding,  for  her  size,  abundance  of  milk  of  a  good  quality,  and  fattening 
rapidly  when  required.     The  slightest  inspection  of  the  cut  will  convince 


180 


CATTLE. 


the  reader  of  the  diflerence  between  this  breed  and  both  the  larger  and  the 
smaller  long-horned  Irish  one;  were  it  not  for  the  cloddiness  about  the 
shoulder,  and  the  shortness  and  thickness  of  the  lower  part  of  the  neck, 
and  the  pied  colour,  we  should  almost  fancy  that  we  saw  the  middle-horn 
North  Devon  cow.* 

These  cattle  usually  run  small,  and  are  confined  to  the  hilly  and  moor 
grounds,  or  to  the  scanty  portion  of  land  possessed  by  the  cottager  and 
the  small  farmer.  Tliere  are,  however,  some  exceptions  to  this.  In  Con- 
naught,  this  breed  runs  to  a  very  considerable  size,  and  are  improved  ia 
form  as  well  as  in  weight.  The  horns,  usually  of  middle  length,  turn  up; 
as  do  the  horns  of  tliose  on  the  mountains;  but  they  are  shorter  in  the  leg, 
and  shorter  in  the  body;  their  loins  and  haunches  are  heavy  and  wide; 
although  the  hair  is  thick,  the  hide  is  mellow,  and  they  thrive  with  a  ra- 
pidity rarely  excelled  by  any  other  breed. 


[Atr-^  Co 


Mr.  Walker,  of  Belmont,  in  Wexford,  informs  us,  that  this  breed  is  now 
not  to  be  met  with  pure,  except  inland  on  the  mountains;  being  nearly 
worn  out  in  the  more  civilized  parts  of  the  country,  by  repeated  crosses 
•with  the  Leicester,  the  Hereford,  and  the  Devon;  but  that  for  tlie  dairy,  all 
the  farmers  still  prefer  those  cows  which  show  most  of  the  native  Irish  blood. 

Mr.  CuUey  seems  to  consider  the  middle-horn  Irish  as  a  mixed  breed 
between  the  long-horns  and  the  Welsh  or  Scotch,  but  most  inclined  to  the 


*  Mr.  Rawson,  in  his  Survey  of  Kildare,  gives  the  following  description  of  the  native 
Irish  beast: — It  should  have  a  sweet,  placid  countenance — a  neat,  clean  horn — liead 
very  small — neck  very  thin  at  the  head,  tapering  gently,  and  increasing  where  it  meets 
the  shoulder,  so  as  gently  to  cover  it — shoulders  flat,  and  tjiin  in  the  blade — chine  not 
too  fine — chest  very  deep  and  full  at  the  breast — ribs  rising  roundly  and  swelling  from 
the  chine  couples  close — hip  not  too  wide,  and  nearly  concealed  by  the  high  arching  of 
the  ribs,  and  the  closeness  of  the  couples — hind  quarters  broad  and  lengthy,  narrowing 
gradually  to  the  tail,  which  should  be  snug  between  the  bones — the  quarters  on  the  out- 
side flat,  on  the  inside  full,  but  not  extending  too  low — legs  fine,  and  clean  in  the  bone, 
but  not  leggy. 


THE  IRISH  BREED. 


181 


long-liorns.  This  is  an  opinion  to  which  we  can  by  no  means  assent. 
The  very  locality  of  these  cattle,  (the  smaller  varieties  especially,) — the 
mountainous  and  comparatively  inaccessible  situation  which  they  occupy, 
seem  to  point  them  out,  like  the  Welsh  and  the  Scotch,  as  the  aboriginal 
breed,  and  to  prove  that  one  of  a  very  similar  character  was  indigenous 
to  both  islands. 

The  other  breed  is  of  a  larger  size.  It  is  the  old  or  the  partially  im- 
proved Craven  or  Lancashire  beast,  which  we  shall  have  presently  to 
describe.  It  is  the  true  long-horn;  the  horns  first  taking  a  direction  out- 
ward, then  forming  a  curve,  and  returning  towards  the  face,  sometimes 
threatening  to  pierce  the  bones  of  the  nose,  or  at  other  times,  so  to  cross 
before  the  muzzle,  that  the  animal  shall  be  unable  to  graze. 

The  following  cut  represents  this  large  variety  of  Irish  cattle,  and  is 
evidently  identical  with  the  Craven  or  Lancashire.  In  Tipperary,  Limerick, 
Meath,  a  great  part  of  Munsler,  and  particularly  in  Roscommon,  many  of 
th(!se  cattle  are  found,  of  which,  although  we  cannot  say  with  the  author 
of  the  Survey  of  the  county  of  Dublin,  that  -  \he  cattle  of  Ireland  are  in 
such  a  progressive  state  of  improvement,  that  in  a  few  years  the  English 
themselves  will  be  out-done,  and  will  finally  resort  to  us  to  improve  their 
breed,'  yet  we  can  affirm  that  they  are  most  valuable  animals. 


[Irish  Cattle.'] 

Whence  these  long-horns  originally  came,  is  a  question  that  has  been 
rnuch  disputed.  There  is  no  doubt  that  they  very  much  resemble  the 
English  long-horns,  and  have  been  materially  improved  by  them;  but 
whether  Ireland  or  England  was  the  native  country  of  this  breed  will  never 
be  determined.  Ancient  records  are  silent  on  the  subject;  and  in  both 
countries  we  can  trace  the  long-horns  to  a  very  remote  period.  As  from 
very  early  times  Ireland  has  materially  contributed  to  the  supply  oi" 
the  British  capital  and  the  British  navy,  and  thousands  of  Irish  beasts 
yearly  traverse  almost  eveiv  part  of  Great  Britain,  from  Port  Patrick  to 
17 


182  CATTLE. 

the  Thames,  many  persons  have  concluded  that  the  English  long-horns 
sprung  from  some  of  the  Irish  ones  who  were  arrested  in  different  parts  of 
their  journey.  Others,  however,  and  we  think  with  more  reason,  finding 
the  middle-horns  in  every  mountainous  and  unfrequented  part  of  the 
country,  and  the  long-horns  inhabiting  the  lower  and  more  thickly  inhabited 
districts,  regard  the  first  as  the  pure  native  breed,  and  consider  the  other 
to  have  been  a  stranger  race,  and  introduced,  probably  from  Lancashire, 
where  a  breed  of  catde  of  the  same  character  and  form  is  found. 

However  this  may  be,  there  was  a  variety  of  circumstances  which  ren- 
dered the  march  of  improvement  much  more  rapid  in  England  than  in  Ireland. 
While  the  British  long-horns  had  materially  improved,  those  in  Ireland, 
owing  to  the  depressed  state  of  the  peasantry,  their  proverbial  indolence 
in  these  matters,  and  the  law  of  gavel-kind,*  which,  by  the  division 
of  even  the  smallest  portion  of  land  among  all  the  children,  produced  a 
too  numerous  class  of  embarrassed  and  starving  tenants  or  little  land- 
holders, had  not  progressed  in  the  slightest  degree. 

More  than  a  century  ago,  some  zealous  agriculturists  in  Meath  com- 
menced the  work  of  improvement.  Mr.  Waller  introduced  some  of 
the  old  Lancashires,  a  few  of  which  long  remained  in  AUenstown.  Sixty 
years  afterwards,  a  namesake  and  successor  of  his  brought  over  one  of 
the  new  Leicester  breed.  He  permitted  his  neighbours  and  tenants  to 
have  the  almost  unrestrained  use  of  him,  and  there  was  scarcely  a  cottager 
within  three  or  four  miles  of  AUenstown,  that  did  not  possess  a  cow  dis- 
playing some  traces  of  the  Leicestershire  blood.  Mr.  Lowther,  the  Earl  of 
Bective,  and  Mr.  Noble,  successively  contributed  to  the  improvement  of 
the  breed  in  this  part  of  Ireland. 

About  the  same  time.  Lord  Massarene  introduced  some  fine  long-horned 
cattle  into  Antrim;  in  1775,  Mr.  Lesly,  of  Lesly-hill,  imported  one  ef 
Mr.  Bakewell's  bulls,  and  the  catde  of  the  neighbouring  country  was 
materially  and  rapidly  improved.  The  Marquis  of  Donegal  imported  an- 
other true  Leicester  from  the  stock  of  Mr.  Astley.  Mr.  Watson,  of  Bros- 
hill,  likewise  diligently  crossed  the  country  cows  with  a  valuable  Leicester 
bull. 

Lord  Farnham  was  zealously  employed  in  improving  the  cattle  of 
Cavan,  but  he  was  long  opposed  by  the   not  unfounded  apprehensions  of 

*Mr.  Ross,  in  liis  Survey  of  Londonderry,  gives  an  interesting-  account  ofthis  custom  of 
gavel-kind  and  its  pernicious  effects.  '  One  great  obstacle  to  improvement,  and  which  is 
too  general  in  Ireland,  is  their  notion  of  the  equal  and  unalienable  right  of  all  thcir 
children  to  the  inheritance  of  their  father's  property,  whether  land  or  goods.  This 
opinion,  so  just  and  reasonable  in  theory,  but  so  ruinous  and  absurd  in  prrictice,  is  inter, 
woven  in  such  a  manner  in  tlie  very  constitution  of  their  minds,  that  it  is  next  to  im- 
possible to  eradicate  it.  In  spite  of  every  argument,  the  smaller  Irish  landholders  con- 
tinue  to  divide  their  farms  among  their  children,  and  these  divide  on  until  division  is  no 
longer  practicable;  and  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  generations,  the  most  thriving  family 
must  necessarily  go  to  ruin. 

'  I  knew  a  respectable  farmer  who  held  about  thirty  acres  of  arable  land,  in  one  of  the 
mountain  town- lands,  and  had  twosons,  between  whom, accordingto  custom,  he  equally  di- 
vided his  farm,  which  was  thus  barely  able  to  support  them  and  their  families.  One  of 
these  had  himself  four  sons,  among  whom,  during  his  lifetime,  lie  also  divided  his  fifteen 
acres,  reserving  to  himself  an  equal  share.  Here  then  were  five  persons  with  three  acres 
apiece;  and  as  each  of  the  sons,  considering  himself  at  once  an  establislied  landholder, 
immediately  married,  there  were  five  of  the  poorest  and  most  wretched  families  that  can 
be  well  imagined,  without  scope  for  their  industry,  trade  or  manufacture  to  employ 
them,  or  land  sufficient  to  produce  for  them  the  common  necessaries  of  life. 

'  Landlords  blindly  encourage  this  to  increase  their  political  influence.  If  the  farm  had 
been  bequeathed  to  one  of  the  sons,  and  the  others  iiad  been  taught  some  useful  trade, 
and  a  little  sum  of  money  given  to  them  to  set  up  with,  all  might  have  been  respectable 
and  happy.' 


THE  IRISH  BREED.  183 

the  cottagers  and  small  farmers.  It  was  soon  evident  tliat  he  was  able  to 
fatten  his  cattle  oa  less  ground  and  poorer  pasture  than  he  could  before, 
and  raise  them  to  a  much  greater  weight;  but  it  was  also  plain,  that  in 
proportion  as  he  gave  this  disposition  to  fatten,  he  lessened  the  quantity 
of  nulk,  which  the  cottager  cculd  ill  spare:  thence  arose  a  prejudice 
against  improvement  altogether,  and  which  was  not  surmounted  without 
considerable  difficulty. 

In  Langford  the  calde  were  much  improved  by  the  exertions  of  the  late 
Earl  of  Rosse,  who  imported  several  bulls  of  the  best  English  breeds,  and 
brought  them  to  his  highly  cultivated  demesne  at  Newcastle.  On  May 
31,  1803,  10  six-years-old  bullocks  were  sold  at  the  fair  of  Ballymahoe 
for  400  guineas,  and  10  four-years-old  heifers  for  300  guineas.  These 
cattle  were  the  property  of  Lord  Oxmantown,  (afterwards  Earl  of  Rosse) 
and  for  size,  shape,  and  fatness,  could  not  be  excelled.  They  were  all  fed 
on  common  hay  and  grass. 

In  Clare,  Sir  Edward  O'Brien  and  Mr.  Doxon  of  Fountain,  Mr.  Molony 
of  Kiltannon,  and  Mr,  Blood  of  Riverston,  did  much  to  render  the  breed 
more  valuable;  by  the  importation  of  the  improved  Leicesters.  In  Ros- 
common, the  Messrs.  Finch  were  particularly  active  in  introducing  the 
Lancashire,  Leicestershire,  and  Warwickshire  cattle. 

Almost  every  county  and  barony  of  Ireland  had  its  zealous  and  success- 
ful improver  of  tlie  native  breed,  until,  in  the  richer  and  more  cultivated 
■districts,  the  catde  became  of  as  great  a  size  and  as  perfect  form  as  any 
which  midland  districts  of  England  could  produce. 

There  were,  however,  either  two  distinct  breeds  of  long-horns,  the  one 
capable  of  rapid  improvement,  while  the  other,  in  a  manner,  set  at  defi- 
ance every  means  to  add  to  the  size,  or  give  a  tendency  to  early  maturity, 
or  there  were  found  too  great  a  proportion  of  agriculturists  who  obsti- 
nately refused  to  adopt  the  proper  means  for  the  amelioration  of  their 
stock;  or  there  were  many  districts  into  which  the  improved  long-horns 
rarely,  or  to  a  very  inconsiderable  degree,  penetrated.  From  one  or 
all  of  these  causes  it  happened,  that  there  are  at  the  present  moment  two 
kinds  of  these  cattle  in  Ireland,  in  character  essentially  different;  the  lar- 
ger, which  we  have  described,  and  a  smaller,  prevailing  principally  in 
the  north  of  the  island.  At  first  view,  perhaps,  these  would  appear  to 
be  the  same  cattle,  onl)^  smaller  from  poor  keep  and  bad  management; 
but  their  horns,  long  out  of  all  proportion,  their  clumsy  heads,  large  bones 
and  thick  hides,  their  bulkiness  of  dewlap  contrasted  with  their  lightness 
of  carcass,  in  fine,  an  accumulation  of  defects  about  them,  clearly  mark 
them  as  being  of  far  inferior  value. 

Thousands  of  them,  and  more  perhaps  than  of  the  improved  breed,  find 
their  way  to  the  midland  counties  of  England,  in  order  that  some  attempt 
may  be  made  to  prepare  them  for  the  metropolitan  market.  The  purchase 
of  them  is  quite  a  lottery,  or  demands  great  skill  and  experience.  Occa- 
sionally they  will  thrive  to  a  degree  not  much  inferior  to  the  Welsh 
cattle,  v/hile  at  other  times  a  lot  of  them  may  be  put  on  as  good  fattening 
pasture  as  any  in  England,  and  be  continued  there  the  whole  of  the  sum- 
mer, consuming  almost  as  much  food  as  the  largest  oxen,  and  yet  scarcely 
improving  in  condition. 

In  process  of  time,  the  English  long-horns,  although  of  the  improved 
Bakewell  breed,  began  to  lose  ground  even  in  their  native  country;  or 
rather  a  rival  with  somewhat  higher  pretensions  appeared  in  the  field. 
The  improved  short-horns  began  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  breeder; 
and  their  propensity  to  fatten,  and  the  comparatively  earlier  period  at 
which  they  arrived  at  maturity,  soon  became  evident.     There  were  not 


184  CATTLE. 

wanting  spirited  agriculturists  in  Ireland,  wlio  quickly  availed  themselves 
of  this  new  mode  of  improving  the  Hibernian  cattle.  Sir  Henry  Vane 
Tempest  was  one  of  the  first  who  introduced  the  short-horn  bull.  The 
improvement  efiected  by  the  first  cross  was  immediately  evident  in  the 
early  maturity  of  the  progeny.  The  pure  short-horn,  or  this  cross  with 
the  long-horn,  weighed  as  much  at  three  years  old  as  the  pure  long-horn 
used  to  do  at  five.  But  the  breed  rapidly  degenerated,  and  it  perhaps 
must  be  confessed  that  the  first  experiment  in  a  great  degree  failed,  and 
particularly  as  it  was  found  that  while  the  cattle  l>red  back  to  the  native 
Irish  character,  they  never  fully  regained  their  hardihood,  or  their  reputa- 
tion as  milkers. 

It  was  likewise  found  that  the  pure  Teeswater  did  not  suit  the  ordinary 
management  of  catde  in  Ireland.  They  answered  only  where  the  farmer- 
had  capital  and  quick  return,  and  where  he  could  house  and  feed  them 
well.  The  Irish  farmer  hud  too  much  to  alter  in  the  system  of  treatment 
to  which  he  and  his  forefathers  had  been  accustomed;  and  he  often  had 
not  the  means  to  eflect  the  requisite  change,  or  if  he  had,  his  prejudices 
forbade  him  to  use  them. 

The  reputation  of  the  short-horn,  however,  becoming  more  fully  esta- 
blished in  England,  other  attempts  were  made  to  introduce  hini  into  Ire- 
land, and  the  experiments  were  more  systematically  conducted.  Mr. 
Conolly  of  Castletown,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  some  valuable  infor- 
mation, efl'ected  much  improvement  in  Donegal.  The  pure  short-horn 
was  found  too  delicate  for  the  severe  weather  and  inferior  food  which  they 
were  destined  to  find  in  that  mountainous  district;  but  a  half-bred  stock 
was  introduced,  which  improved  the  shape  and  increased  the  size  of  the 
Donegal  cattJe,  and  produced  a  better  price.  Mr.  Conolly  sent  four  bulls 
to  his  estates  in  that  county,  and  they  were  highly  approved.  The  prizes 
of  the  Farming  Society  of  Donegal  were  adjudged  to  them,  and  theij 
evident  value  has  produced  more  attention  to  the  care  and  feeding  of  cattle 
genera'Uy, 

Mr.  Walter  tells  us,  that  '  within  the  last  ten  years,  the  breed  has  been 
greatly  improved  by  crossing  with  the  Dutch,  the  Ayrshire,  and  the  Dur- 
ham; yet  that  the  improvements  are  mostly  confined  to  the  gentlemen  and 
large  farmers,  for  the  smaller  farmers  (who  are  the  majority  of  the  inhabi- 
tants) consider  that  the  short-horns  require  too  much  care  and  feeding,  and 
that  their  milk  is  not  so  good  as  that  of  the  native  breed.' 

When  speaking  of  llie  management  of  cattle  in  Wexford,  Mr.  Walker 
gives  a  faithful  account  of  that  which  takes  place  over  a  great  part  of 
Ireland.  'The  farms  are  small,  and  the  occupiers  of  them  have  little 
capital;  therefore,  except  in  summer,  when  grass  is  plenty,  the  cattle  live- 
poorly  and  are  exposed  to  hardships.  For  the  same  reason,  the  calves  and 
young  cattle  are  stinted  in  their  growth;  but' this  does  not  appear  to  injure 
their  milking  qualities.  They  generally  go  to  the  bull  at  a  year,  or  a  year 
and  a  half  old,  so  that  they  come  into  the  dairy  at  two,  or  rising  three 
years  old. 

All  cattle  are  here  fed  abroad  on  grass  in  the   summer.*     Some  of  the 

*  Tiie  Rev.  A.  Ross,  in  his  '  Survey  of  Lontlonderry,'  published  in  1814,  thus  speaks  of 
the  mode  of  letting-,,ind  the  cost  of  these  summcrings:  'The  grazing  of  cattle  is  paid  by  the 
summ,  by  wliich  is  lobe  understood,  tlic  grazing  of  a  tow  when  above  three  years  old. 
The  proportions  of  other  kinds  of  cattle  are  estimated  by  this  in  the  following  manner: — 
A  summ  is  divided  into  three  equal  parts  called  feet,  which  is  thus  applied.  A  year-old 
calf,  is  called  a  foot;  a  two-year  old,  two  feet;  a  summ  is  three  feet;  a  horse  is  fiveftct; 
two  colts  arc  equal  to  a  horse;  six  sheep,  or  four  ewes  and  four  lambs,  the  same;  24  geese 
are  a  summ.    Thus  then,  if  6s.  be  tlie  price  of  a  summ,  a  year  old  will  be  2s.,  a  two  year 


THE  IRISH  BREED.  185 

gentlemeii  and  large  farmers  are  beginning  to  cultivate  mangel-wurzel 
and  turnips,  and  to  use  hay ;  but  the  generality  of  the  cattle  are  wintered 
on  straw  and  potatoes,  and  many  of  them  very  imperfectly  housed.  They 
of  course  thrive  better  and  aflbrd  a  larger  profit,  where  care  is  taken  of 
them;  but  they  are  so  hardy  in  constitution,  as  to  yield  a  fair  return  under 
the  common  management.* 

Mr.  Anderson,  of  Shelton,  in  a  letter  with  which  we  have  been  favoured 
from  him  at  the  request  of  the  Earl  of  Wicklow,  describes  the  old  Irish 
cattle,  tliere,  as  a  low,  broad,  hardy  breed,  with  thick  heads  and  necks,  and  a 
thick  hide.  He  says,  that,  '  the  farmers  run  their  cattle  out  nearly  all  the 
season,  only  taking  them  in  in  the  evening,  and  then  giving  them  a  small 
quantity  of  hay.,  They  are  good  dairy  cows,  but  do  not  answer  well  for 
the  grazier,  as  they  do  not  fatten  so  well,  and  have  more  coarse  meat  than 
the  improved  breed.  The  average  weight  of  the  cows  are  from  four  to 
five  hundred  weight,  (Mr.  Walker  states  that  the  average  weight  of  the 
Wexford  cow  is  about  4i  cwt.) — but  they  might  be  greatly  improved,  if 
proper  attention  were  paid  to  them ;  for  the  calves,  after  the  two  first 
weeks,  are  generally  reared  upon  butter-milk,  and  then  left  to  shift  for 
themselves  ;  only  they  have  a  little  hay  at  night  in  winter.' 

Mr.  Anderson  adds  that  '  the  breed  is  considerably  improved  of  late 
years,  by  crossing  with  the  Durham  and  Ayrshire.'  Lord  Wicklow, 
whose  stock  consists  almost  entirely  of  the  Durhams,  much  to  his  credit, 
gives  his  tenants  the  free  use  of  his  bulls  without  charge  ;  and,  encouraged 
by  the  improvement  that  has  taken  place,  he  purposes  not  only  to  con- 
tinue, but  to  extend  the  system. 

Soiling  in  the  house  is  not  much  practised  in  this  district ;  but  grazing 
in  the  summer,  and  hay  in  the  winter,  constiiute  the  mode  of  feeding  ; 
except  that  some  of  the  graziers  keep  up  part  of  their  pasture  for  the  fat 
catde,  which  they  retain  at  the  end  of  the  season.  These  run  out  in  all 
weathers,  and  have  cribs  fixed  in  the  field  to  give  them  hay  in  a  stormy 
■  night,  bi\t  ihey  have  no  shed  over  them. 

Lord  Wicklow,  who  stall-feeds  with  turnips,  mangel-wurzel,  and  pota- 
toes, prefers  the  latter.  The  calves  are  reared  on  the  cows,  or  have  new 
milk  given  to  them  from  the  pail,  and  they  are  housed  in  winter,  and  fed 
on  hay,  with  a  few  turnips  or  mangel-wurzel,  each  day. 

Lord  Dunally,  in  a  letter  with  which  we  have  been  honoured  from  him, 
says,  that  '  in  Tipperary  he  has  kept  the  North  Devon  cattle  for  many 
years,  and  much  approves  of  them  for  feeding,  for  the  dairy,  for  working, 
and  also  for  hardness,  or  quality  to  bear  bad  wp.ather. 

His  Lordship  states,  that  the  usual  weight  of  the  native  cattle,  when 
fattened,  is  about  five  hundred  pounds.  He  also  gives  a  favourable  account 
of  the  grazing  properties  of  these  cattle.     He  says,  that   '  they  are  often 

old  4s.,  a  horse  10s.,  and  so  on.  The  charge  for  a  summ  in  the  mountains,  from  May 
to  November,  varies  from  Gs.  to  16s.,  according  to  the  goodness  of  the  pasture.  In  the 
parks  which  are  kept  up  for  fattening,  it  is  frum  21.  to  21.  10s, 

*Mr.  Rawson  gives  tlie  following  account  of  tlic  strange  privations  to  which  the  cat- 
tle are  sometimes  exposed.  '  The  droves  of  cattle  when  turned  out  are  generally  attend- 
ed by  a  solitary  herdsman  and  his  boy,  who  are  obliged  to  keep  boundaries.  Hay  is 
never  dreamed  of  as  necessary;  and  in  case  of  deep  snow  of  long  continuance,  the  heal- 
ing bullocks  have  nothing  to  resort  to  but  coar.se  grass  on  undraincd  and  unimproved 
moors  and  wet  lands,  which  have  scarcely  been  trodden  on  during  the  previous  summer. 
Turnips,  rape,  or  even  straw  are  never  thought  of ;  nay,  an  extensive  grazier  would  Lugh 
at  what  lie  would  call  your  folly,if  you  doubted  the  health  of  his  bullocks  on  his  coarse 
bogs.  Houses  or  coverings  of  any  kind  are  not  thought  of.  Yet  alter  a.l  these  severe 
trials  of  thriltiness,  when  at  four  years  old,  they  are  put  to  fatten  about  the  1st  of  May, 
and  in  five  months  are  made  fit  for  slaugliter.' 
17* 


186  CATTLE. 

brought  to  be  fat  without  stall-feeding ;  and  when  upon  good  land,  only 
require  fodder  with  hay  upon  the  ground  for  about  three  months,  and  with- 
out housing.  They  arc,  however,  frequently  housed,  and  fed  with  turnips 
and  potatoes  with  good  success.' 

Mr.  Moore  O'FarrcU  speaks  also  of  the  great  improvement  effected  in 
the  Irish  cattle  within  the  last  twelve  years,  ])y  the  importation  of  the 
Durham  breed.  He  says,  that  'they  have  displaced  a  cross  of  the  long- 
horn  Leicester  on  the  Irish  cow,  and  that  the  farmers  of  the  country 
now  prefer  a  cross  of  the  Durham  bull,  on  the  Irish  cow,  to  the  pure 
breed,  as  being  less  delicate,  and  giving  a  richer  and  greater  quantity  of 
milk ,'  hut  he  very  properly  adds,  that  '  the  two  first  crosses  are  most 
approved  of.' 

Sir  Robert  Bateson,  of  Bel  voir  Park,  Belfast,  purchased  in  1820,  a  bull 
and  three  cows,  of  Mr.  Charles  Howard  of  Melbourn,  of  the  best  short- 
horn breed,  which  succeed  admirably  in  that  district. 

Mr.  M'Neil,  of  Larn,  in  Antrim,  tried  a  Highland  bull,  but  the  breed 
Avas  not  improved,  either  for  the  dairy  or  the  butcher. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  country  in  the  world  which,  in  proportion  to  its 
number  of  acres,  contains  so  many  cattle  or  possesses  so  extensive  a  trade 
in  cattle  and  their  produce,  as  Ireland  does.  In  1812,  no  less  than  79,285 
Jive  oxen  and  cows  were  exported  from  Ireland,  constituting  full  one-eighth 
part  of  the  beef  consumed  in  England,  and  stated  to  be  of  the  official  value 
of  439,128/.  From  that  period,  the  number  seemed  to  be  gradually  di- 
minishing. In  1824,  there  were  only  62,393  oxen  and  cows  exported  ; 
in  1825,  there  were  63,524,  and  of  the  value  of  about  350,000/.  No  later 
details  can  be  given,  for  tlie  tratlic  between  Britain  and  Ireland  was  then 
placed  on  the  fooling  of  a  coasting  trade  :  the  numbers,  however,  were  not» 
until  lately,  fewer  than  they  were  in  1825, 

Before  the  estal^lishment  of  steam  navigation,  many  inconveniences 
and  difiiculties  attended  the  transport  of  the  Irish  cattle.  Many  of  thens 
were  driven  a  hundred  or  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  coast,  where,  if 
the  wind  was  contrary,  they  were  detained  perhaps  several  days,  with  a 
very  scanty  allowance  of  food.  They  had  none  on  the  voyage  ;  and  when 
thev  arrived  at  the  English  shore,  they  were  often  in  a  starved  state,  and 
scarcely  able  to  walk.  This  may  be  placed  in  another  point  of  view.  In. 
a  dry  summer,  the  English  fed  caule  are  sent  to  some  of  the  markets,  and 
particularly  to  those  on  the  western  coast,  and  especially  Liverpool,  to 
great  disadvantage.  From  the  scarcity  of  food  and  water,  they  do  not  ar- 
rive in  a  prime  state  of  fatness  ;  they  have  a  long  way  to  be  driven,  and 
are  often  badly  supported  on  the  road.  In  Ireland,  they  have  had  a  capi- 
tal summer  for  grazing,  never  wanting  grass  or  water — and  the  finest 
long-horned  cattle,  a  breed  now  almost  extinct  in  this  country,  are  sent  over 
in  the  highest  condition.  Such  is  the  facility  of  conveyance,  that  a  steam- 
packet  with  a  cargo  of  fat  cattle  will  leave  Ireland  one  day,  and  have  them 
delivered  and  be  cleared  out  in  good  time  on  the  following  day. 

In  addition  to  this  transport  of  cattle  for  the  graziers  in  England,  Ire- 
land supplies  an  immense  quantity  of  beef,  for  the  navy  and  merchants' 
vessels  at  all  periods.  During  the  late  war,  the  cattle  slaughtered  at  Cork 
for  the  use  of  the  navy  were,  perhaps,  more  numerous  than  all  that  were 
disposed  of  in  every  other  way,  Mr.  Cully  saw  at  one  fair  at  Ballinasloe» 
in  Roscommon,  35,000  head  of  cattle,  and  half  of  them  fat,  all  of  which 
were  bought  up  for  slaughter  at  Cork. 

Of  the  vexatious  mode  in  which  the  business  between  the  gra- 
zier and  the  contractor  was  often  transacted,  we  subjoin  in  a  note 
a  somewhat  humorous   account,    extracted    from    Dutton's    Survey    of 


THE  IRISH  BREED.  187 

the  county  of  Clare:*  we  hope  that  the  picture  is  not  a  hltle  over- 
charged. 

The  perfect  establishment  of  steam  navigation,  while  it  affords  facilities 
for  the  transport  of  live-stock,  yields  still  greater  ones  for  the  carriage  of 
the  carcass;  and  cattle  may  now  be  slaughtered  in  the  evening  at  any 
of  the  pons  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Ireland,  and  sent  to  Liverpool,  and 
by  means  of  the  railway,  even  to  Manchester  in  time  for  the  morrow's 
market. 

We  have  stated  that  the  old  breed  of  Irish  cattle  is  most  valued  for  the 
dairy.  They  give,  in  proportion  to  their  size,  a  much  greater  quantity  of 
milk  than  the  long-horns,  and  richer  in  butter.     A  cow  is  supposed  to 

*  When  the  merchants  are  combined,  the  o;raziers  are  completely  at  (heir  mercy,  and 
suffer,  not  only  every  kind  of  gross  indignity  of  treatment  fioni  these  great  men,  but 
serious  losses  from  the  cheating  of  every  person  concerned  in  slaughtering  these  cattle. 
As  it  is  scarcely  known  in  other  parts  of  the  kingdom  it  may  be  at  least  amusing  to  detail 
the  business  a  little.  The  grazier  finding  no  agent  attending  the  fairs  to  buy,  except 
some  trusty  friend  of  the  merchants,  who  reads  a  letter  from  Cork  or  Limerick  stating 
the  rumours  of  a  peace  or  the  expected  very  low  price,  is  obliged  to  drive  his  cattle  to 
either  of  these  markets. 

After  driving  them  into  either  of  those  towns,  he  waits  upon  the  great  man,  and  with 
all  humility,  begs  to  know  if  hs  wants  any  fat  cattle;  after, a  good  deal  of  pretended 
Imrry  of  business,  and  waiting  for  a  repetition  of  the  question,  '  he  believes  he  shall  not 

want  any  thing  more  than  what  he  has  already  engaged,  but  to  oblige  Mr. ,  he  will 

endeavour  to  make  room  for  them;  as  to  the  price,  it  is  to  be  regulated  by  what  the 
other  graziers  receive.' 

When  this  is  settled,  he  must  drive  his  beasts  to  a  slaughter  house,  many  of  which  are 
erected  for  this  purpose.  He  pays  for  this  a  high  price,  and  must  give  also  the  heads 
and  offal.  He  must  set  up  all  night,  superintending  the  slaughtering,  and  must  silently 
observe  every  species  of  fraud  committed  by  the  very  worst  kind  of  butchers;  for,  as  has 
frequently  happened;  if  resentful  language  is  used  to  those  scoundrels  they  begin  to 
whet  their  knives  and  put  themselves  in  an  assassinating  attitude.  This  in  a  slaughter- 
ing-house at  night  and  amongst  the  horrid  scene  of  carnage  around  him,  requires  no 
small  share  of  nerve. 

Next  morning,  without  taking  any  rest,  he  must  bring  his  meat  to  the  cutters  up; 
here,  unless  they  are  feed,  begins  the  second  part  of  the  Iraud  he  has  to  suffer.  First, 
they  take  Ibr  their  perquisites  several  pounds  of  his  best  beef;  and  if  he  has  cows,  unless 
they  arc  well  paid,  will  cut  away  large  quantities  of  the  udder,  which  they  call  oifal,  and 
which  is  the  property  of  tlie  mercliant,  though  he  pays  nothing  for  it.  The  mercha-nt 
also  gets  the  tongues;  and  if,  perhaps,  the  grazier  wants  a  iew,  must  buy  them  at  the 
rate  of  three  shillings  each. 

The  third  scene  begins  at  the  scales:  here  another  perquisite  must  be  paid,  and  much 
good  meat  is  refused,  because,  truly,  it  s-hould  be  a  few  pounds  less  than  the  stipulated 
weight  per  beast. 

An  sppcal  is  then  made  to  the  great  man, — '  he  is  gone  out,' — '  he  won't  be  home  to- 
night,'— '  he  is  so  busy  he  can't  be  seen;'  at  length,  perhaps  he  is  visible,  and  when 
matters  are  explained — 'Eeallj',  Sii,  I  do  not  wish  to  take  your  cattk;  the  prices  I 
receive  in  England  are  so  low,  1  shall  lose  by  my  contract:  suppose  you  would  try  if  you 
could  do  better  clsevvhere;  but  I  will  agree  to  take  your  beef,  though  below  the  weight,  if 
you  make  the  terms  lower.'  The  griizier  has  now  no  redress,  and  must  agree  to  any 
terms.  Tlie  business  does  not  end  here.  Then  he  enquires  what  mode  of  payment; 
bills  at  ninety  one  days  are  the  best  terms  he  can  get.  He  then  applies  to  a  chandler 
to  buy  his  fat.  When  this  is  settled,  the  tanner  must  be  waited  on,  and  here  as  well  as 
with  the  chandler,  bills  at  a  long  date  arc  the  only  payment  he  can  receive;  and  as  they 
are  generally  men  of  small  or  no  capital,  if  their  speculations  should  not  succeed, 
their  bills  are  worth  little. 

This  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  gross  indignities  the  grazier  has  to  suffer.  He  has  to 
transact  a  business  totally  foreign  to  his  habits  of  life,  consequently  unable  to  cope  with 
those,  who  from  their  infancy,  are  used  to  the  tricks  practised  in  this  business,  and, 
therefore,  able  to  avoid  them,  or  turn  tiiem,  perhaps,  to  their  own  benefit.  The  price 
depends  nut  only  on  the  causes  before-mentioned,  but  on  the  size  of  the  beast — those  of 
a  large  size  bringing  more  per  cwt.  than  those  of  a  smaller  one,  which  is  a  premium  on 
large  bone;  and  cows  are  always  lower  in  price  than  oxen,  though  they  arc  sent  to 
England  in  the  same  pack;iges;  and,  if  fat,  go  as  the  best  beef,  called  planter's  mess. 


188  CATTLE. 

yield  from  84lbs.  to  112lbs.  of  butter  in  the  year;  a  very  good  cow  will 
yield  l|cwt.  about  half  of  which  is  consumed  by  the  family,  or  in  the 
country,  and  the  remainder  is  exported  to  Enjrlaad.  Carlow  has  the  repu- 
tation of  producing  the  best  butter;  but  the  firkins  containing  that  wliich  is 
manufactured  in  all  the  surrounding  counties  are  often  branded  wiih  the 
name  of  Carlow.  It  is  highly  esteemed  in  London  and  is  often  sold  for 
Cambiidge  butter;  but  much  of  the  Irish  butter  is  very  salt,  and  some- 
times smoky  and  tallowy.  In  fact,  there  are  three  distinct  sorts  of  butter 
in  the  Irish  market.  The  best  is  sent  to  Dublin  and  to  England;  and 
from  the  latter  country,  exported  to  the  East  and  West  Indies.  An 
inferior  sort  finds  a  market  in  Spain;  and  an  inferior  still,  u-^ed  to  be  sent 
to  Boulogne.  In  Cork,  the  half  Holderness  breed  is  chiefly  used  for  the 
dairy.  The  principal  dairy  counties  are — Carlow,  Cork,  Fermanagh, 
Krery,  Leitrim,  Longford,  Sligo,  Waterford  and  Westmeath. 

Very  little  cheese  is  made  in  Ireland,  and  that  is  of  an  inferior  quality. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  LONG  HORNS. 


In  the  district  of  Craven,  a  fertile  corner  of  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire 
borderino-  on  Lancashi.s,  and  separated  from  Westmoreland  chiefly 
by  the  western  moorlands,  there  has  been,  from  the  earliest  records  of 
British  agriculture,  a  peculiar  and  valuable  breed  of  cattle.  They  were 
distinguished  from  the  home-breds  of  other  counties,  by  a  disproportionate 
and  frequently  unbecoming  length  of  horn.  In  the  old  breed  this  horn 
frequently  projected  nearly  hoiizontally  on  either  side,  but  as  the  cattle 
were  improved  the  horn  assumed  other  directions;  it  hung  down  so  that 
the  animal  could  scarcely  graze,  or  it  curved  so  as  to  threaten  to  meet  be- 
fore the  muzzle,  and  so  also  to  prevent  the  beast  from  grazing;  or  imme- 
diately under  the  jaw,  and  so  to  lock  the  lower  jaw;  or  the  points  pre- 
sented themselves  against  the  bones  of  the  nose  and  face,  threatening  to 
perforate  them.  We  have  given  a  similar  description  of  the  improved 
Irish  breed.  In  proportion  as  the  breed  became  improved  the  horns 
lengthened,  and  they  are  characteristically  distinguished  by  the  name  ol 
'  The  Long  Horns.'  The  cut  of  the  Irish  catde  in  page  181,  will  give  no 
unfaithful  representation  of  their  general  appearance  and  form.  Cattle  of  a 
similar  description  were  found  in  the  districts  of  Lancashire  bordering  on 
Craven,  and  also  in  the  south-eastern  parts  of  AVestmoreland;  but  tradi- 
tion in  both  of  these  districts  pointed  to  Craven  as  the  original  habitation 
of  the  long-horn  breed.  If  there  gradually  arose  any  (iilference  between 
them,  it  was  that  the  Craven  beasts  were  the  broadest  in  the  chine,  the 
shortest,  the  handsomest,  and  the  quickest  feeders;  the  Lancashire  ones 
were  larger,  longer  in  the  quarters,  but  with  a  fall  behind  tlie  shoulders, 
and  not  so  level  on  the  chine. 

Whence  these  cattle  were  derived  was  and  still  is  a  disputed  point.  Our 
opinion  of  this  matter  has  been  already  expressed  when  treating  of  the 
Irish  cattle. 

The  long  horns  seem  to  have  first  appeared  in  Craven,  and  gra- 
dually to  have  spread  along  the  western  coast,  and  to  have  occupied 
almost  exclusively  the  midland  counties. 


THE  CRAVEN  BREED. 


189 


There  are,  as  in  Ireland,  two  distinct  breeds;  the  smaller  Cravens  inha- 
biting the  mountains  and  moorlands,  hardy,  useful,  valued  by  the  cottager 
and  little  farmer  on  account  of  the  cheapness  with  which  they  are  kept, 
the  superior  quantity  and  excellent  quality  of  the  milk  which  they  yield, 
and  the  aptitude  with  which  they  fatten  when  removed  to  better  pasture. 
The  larger  Cravens,  occupying  a  more  level  and  richer  pasture,  are  fair 
milkers,  although  in  proportion  to  their  size  not  equal  to  the  others;  but 
possess  a  tendency  to  fatten  and  acquire  extraordinary  bulk  scarcely  in- 
ferior to  that  of  short-horns  of  the  present  day. 

As  either  of  tliese  found  their  way  to  other  districts,  they  mingled  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree  with  tlie  native  cattle,  or  they  felt  the  influence  of 
change  of  climate  and  soil,  and  gradually  adapted  themselves  to  their  new- 
situation;  and  each  assumed  a  peculiarity  of  form  which  characterised  it 
as  belonging  to  a  certain  district,  and  rendered  it  valuable  and  almost  per- 
fect there.  The  Cheshire,  the  Derbyshire,  the  Nottinghamshire,  the 
StafTordshire,  the  Oxfordshire,  and  the  Wiltshire  cattle  were  all  essentially 
long-horns,  but  each  had  its  distinguishing  feature,  which  seemed  best  to 
fit  it  for  its  situation,  and  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  bred.  Having 
assumed  a  decided  character,  varying  only  with  peculiar  local  circum- 
stances, the  old  long-horns,  like  the  Devons,  the  Herefords,  and  the  Scotch, 
continued  nearly  the  same.  There  is  no  authentic  detail  of  their  distin- 
guishing points.  Mr.  Culley  says  that  '  the  kind  of  cattle  most  esteemed 
before  Mr.  Bakewell's  time  were  the  large,  long-bodied,  big-boned,  coarse, 
flat-sided  kind,  and  often  lyery  or  black-fleshed.'  This,  however,  is  rather 
too  severe  a  censure  on  the  Cravens  or  Lancashire  beasts  of  that  day. 
From  hints  given  by  old  writers,  we  may  conclude  that  some  of  them  at 
least  were  characterized  by  their  roundness  and  length  of  carcass,  coarse- 
ness of  bone,  thickness  and  yet  mellowness  of  hide,  and  the  rich  quality 
although  not  abundant  quantity  of  their  milk. 


10 Id  Craven  Bull.} 


190  CATTLE. 

The  foregoing  cut  contains  the  portrait  of  a  Craven  bull  of  the  pre- 
sent day,  but  supposed  to  bear  alxnit  him  many  of  the  characters  of  the 
old  breed.  He  was  drawn  by  Mr.  Harvey  as  he  stood  in  Smilhiield 
market. 

Here  were  evident  materials  for  some  skilful  breeder  to  work  upon;  a 
connexion  of  excellences  and  defects  by  no  means  inseparable,  'J'hat 
which  was  good  might  be  rendered  more  valuable,  and  the  alloy  might 
be  easily  thrown  ofi'.  It  was  not,  however,  until  about  tlie  year  1720  that 
any  agriculturist  seemed  to  possess  sufficient  science  and  spirit  to  attempt 
the  work  of  improvement  in  good  earnest.  A  blacksmith  and  farrier,  of 
Linton,  in  Derbyshire,  on  the  very  borders  of  Leicestershire,  who  at  tlie 
same  time  rented  a  little  farm,  has  the  honour  of  standing  first  on  the  list. 
His  naine  was  Welby.  He  had  a  valuable  breed  of  cows,  which  came 
from  Drakelow  house,  a  seat  of  Sir  Thomas  Gresley,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Trent,  al)out  a  mile  from  Burton.  He  prided  himself  much  in  them,  and 
they  deserved  the  care  which  he  took  in  improving  them  and  keeping  the 
breed  pure;  but  a  disease,  which  defied  all  remedial  measures  then  known, 
broke  out  and  carried  otf  the  greater  part  of  them,  thus  half  ruining  Welby, 
and  putting  a  final  stop  to  his  speculations. 

Soon  after  this  Mr.  Webster,  of  Canley,  near  Coventry,  distinguished 
himself  as  a  breeder.  He  too  worked  upon  Sir  Thomas  Gresley's  stock, 
some  of  whose  cows  he  brought  with  him  when  he  first  settled  at  Canley. 
He  was  at  considerable  trouble  in  procuring  bulls  from  Lancashire  and 
Westmoreland,  and  he  is  said  to  have  had  the  best  stock  of  cattle  then 
known.  One  of  his  admirers  says  that  '  he  possessed  the  best  stock,  es- 
pecially of  beace,  that  ever  were,  or  ever  will  be  bred  in  the  kingdom.' 
This  is  high  praise,  and  is  recorded  as  evidence  of  the  excellent  quality 
of  Mr.  Webster's  breed. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  we  have  such  meagre  accounts  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  early  improvers  of  cattle.  Little  more  is  known  of 
Mr.  Webster  than  that  he  established  the  Canley  breed,  some  portion  of 
whose  blood  flowed  in  every  improved  long-horn  beast. 

The  bull,  Bloxedge,  the  Hubback  of  the  long  horns,  and,  like  him, 
indebted  to  accident  for  the  discovery  of  his  value,  was  out  of  a  three- 
year  old  heifer  of  Mr.  Webster's,  by  a  Lancashire  bull,  belonging  to  a 
neighbour.  When  a  yearling  he  was  so  unpromising  that  he  was  discar- 
ded and  sold  to  a  person  of  the  name  of  Bloxedge,  (hence  the  name  of 
the  beast,)  but  turning  out  a  remarkably  good  stock-geiter,  INIr.  Webster 
re-purchased  him,  and  used  him  for  several  seasons.  He  was  afterwards 
sold  to  Mr.  Hanison,  of  Deakenedge,  in  Warwickshire,  and  Mr.  Flavel, 
of  Hogshill,  where  he  died. 

Now  appeared  the  chief  improver  of  the  long-horns,  and  to  whom  his 
cotemporaries  and  posterity  have  adjudged  the  merit  of  creating  as  it  were 
a  new  breed  of  cattle.  It  is  a  disgrace  to  the  agriculture  of  the  times  that 
Bakewell  should  have  been  suffered  to  pass  away  without  some  authentic 
record  of  what  he  effected,  and  the  principles  that  guided  him,  and  the 
means  by  which  his  objects  were  accomplished. 

The  only  memoir  we  have  of  Ri)bert  Bakewell  is  a  fugitive  paper  in  the 
Gentlman's  Magazine,  from  which  every  writer  has  borrowed,  and  his 
obligation  to  such  a  source  none  has  condescended  to  acknowledge.  It 
tells  us  that  Robert  Bakewell  was  born  at  Dishley,  in  Leicestersliire,  about 
1725.  His  father  and  grandfather  had  resided  on  the  same  estate.  Havj 
ing  remarked  that  domestic  animals  in  general  produced  others  possessing 
qualities  nearly  similar  to  their  own,  he  conceived  that  he  had  only  to 


THE  CRAVEN  BREED.  191 

select  from  the  most  valuable  breeds,  such  as  promised  to  return  the 
greatest  possible  emolument  to  the  breeder,  and  that  he  should  then  be 
able,  by  careful  attention  to  progressive  improvement,  to  produce  a  breed 
Avhence  he  could  derive  a  maximum  of  advantage. 

Under  the  influence  of  this  excellent  notion,  he  made  excursions  into 
different  parts  of  England,  in  order  to  inspect  the  different  breeds,  and  to 
select  those  that  were  best  adapted  to  his  purpose,  and  the  most  valuable 
of  their  kind;  and  his  residence  and  his  early  habits  disposed  him  to  give 
the  preference  to  the  long-horn  cattle. 

We  have  no  account  of  the  precise  principles  which  guided  him,  nor  of 
the  motives  that  influenced  him  in  the  various  selections  which  he  made  ; 
but  Mr.  Marshall,  who  says  that  he  '  was  repeatedly  favoured  with  oppor- 
tunities of  making  ample  observations  on  Mr.  Bakewell's  practice,  and 
with  liberal  communications  from  him  on  all  rural  subjects,'  gives  us  some 
clue.  He  tells  us,  however,  that  '  it  is  not  his  intention  to  deal  out  Mr. 
Bakewell's  private  opinions,  or  even  to  attempt  a  recital  of  his  particular 
practice.'  Mr.  Marshall  was  doubdess  influenced  by  an  honourable 
motive  in  withholding  so  much  that  would  have  been  higldy  valuable  ;  and 
we  can  only  regret  that  he  was  so  situated  as  to  have  this  motive  pressing 
upon  his  mind. 

He  speaks  of  the  general  principles  of  breeding,  and  when  he  does 
this  in  connexion  with  the  name  of  Bakewell,  we  shall  not  be  very  wrong 
in  concluding  that  these  were  the  principles  by  which  that  great  agricultu- 
rist was  influenced. 

•  The  most  general  principle,'  he  says,  (we  are  referring  to  his  '  Eco- 
nomy of  the  Midland  Counties,'  vol.  i.  p.  297)  '  is  beauty  of  form.  It  is 
observable,  however,  that  this  principle  was  more  closely  attended  to  at 
the  outset  of  improvement  (under  an  idea  in  some  degree  falsely  grounded, 
that  the  beautv  of  form  and  utility  are  inseparable)  than  at  present,  when 
men  who  have  long  been  conversant  in  practice  make  a  distinction  be- 
tween a '  useful  sort'  and  a  sort  which  is  merely  '  handsome.' 

'  The  next  principle  attended  to  is  a  propoition  of  parts,  or  what  may  be 
called  KtUity  of  form  in  distinction  from  beauty  of  form;  thus  the  parts 
which  are  deemed  offal,  or  which  bear  an  inferior  price  at  market,  should 
be  small  in  proportion  to  the  better  parts. 

'  A  third  principle  of  improvement  is  the  texture  of  the  muscular  parts, 
or  what  is  termedy7/'S7V,  a  quality  of  live  stock  which,  familiar  as  it  may 
long  have  been  to  the  butcher  and  the  consumer,  had  not  been  sufficiently 
attended  to  by  breeders,  whatever  it  might  have  been  by  graziers.  This 
principle  involved  the  fad  that  the  grain  of  the  meat  depended  wholly  on 
the  breed,  and  not,  as  had  been  before  considered,  on  the  size  of  the  ani- 
mal. But  the  principle  which  engrossed  the  greatest  share  of  attention, 
and  which,  above  all  others,  is  entitled  to  the  ^ro^^er's  attention,  is  fatten- 
ing quality,  or  a  natural  propensity  to  acquire  a  state  of  fatness  at  an  early 
age,  and  when  in  full  keep,  and  in  a  short  space  of  time  ;  a  quality  which 
is  clearly  found  to  be  hereditary.' 

Therefore,  in  Bakewell's  opinion,  every  thing  depended  on  breed,  and  the 
beauty  and  utility  of  the  form,  the  quality  of  the  flesh  and  the  propensity 
to  fatness,  were,  in  ihe  offspring,  the  natural  consequence  of  similar 
qualities  in  the  parents.  His  whole  attention  was  centered  in  these  four 
points;  and  he  never  forgot  that  they  were  compatible  with  each  other, 
and  might  be  occasionally  found  united  in  the  same  individual. 

Improvement  had  hitherto  been  attempted  to  be  produced  by  selecting 
females  from  the  native  stock  of  the  country,  and  crossing  them  with 
males  of  an  alien  breed.     Mr.  Bakewell's  good  sense  led  him  to   imagine 


192  CATTLE. 

that  the  object  might  be  better  accomplished  by  uniting  the  superior 
branches  of  the  same  breed,  than  by  any  mixture  of  foreign  ones. 

On  this  new  and  judicious  principle  he  started.  lie  purchased  two 
long-horn  heifers  from  Mr.  Webster,  and  he  procured  a  promising  long- 
horn  bull  from  Westmoreland.  To  these  and  their  progeny  he  confined 
himself;  coupling  them  as  he  thought  he  could  best  increase,  or  establish 
some  excellent  point,  or  speedily  and  elfectually  remove  a  faulty  one. 

As  his  stock  increased,  he  was  enabled  to  avoid  the  injurious  and  ener- 
vating consequence  of  breeding  too  closely  '  in  and  in.'  The  breed  was  the 
same,  but  he  could  interpose  a  remove  or  two,  between  the  members  of 
of  the  same  family.  He  could  preserve  all  the  excellences  of  the  breed, 
without  the  danger  of  deterioration;  and  the  rapidity  of  the  improve- 
ment which  he  effected  was  only  equalled  by  its  extent. 

Many  years  did  not  pass  before  his  stock  was  unrivalled  for  the  round- 
ness of  its  form,  and  the  smallness  of  its  bone,  and  its  aptitude  to  acquire 
external  fat;  while  they  were  small  consumers  of  food*  in  proportion  to 
their  size;  but  at  the  same  time,  their  qualities  as  milkers  were  very  con- 
siderably lessened.  The  grazier  could  not  too  highly  value  the  Dishley, 
or  new  Leicester  long-horn,  but  the  dairyman,  and  the  little  farmer., 
clung  to  the  old  breed  as  most  useful  for  their  purpose. 

Mr.  Bakewell  had  many  prejudices  opposed  to  him,  and  many  difficul- 
ties to  surmount,  and  it  is  not  therefore  to  be  wondered  at  if  he  was  more 
than  once  involved  in  considerable  embarrassment ;  but  he  lived  to  see 
the  perfect  success  of  his  undertaking.* 

He  died  when  verging  on  his  seventieth  year.  His  countenance  be- 
spoke activity,  and  a  high  degree  of  benevolence.  His  manners  were 
frank  and  pleasing,  and  well  calculated  to  maintain  the  extensive  popu- 
larity he  had  acquired.  His  hospitality  to  strangers  was  bounded  only  by 
his  means. 

Many  anecdotes  are  related  of  his  humanity  towards  the  various  tribes 
of  animals  under  his  management.  He  would  not  suffer  the  slightest  act 
of  cruelty  to  be  perpetrated  by  any  of  his  servants,  and  he  sternly  depre- 
cated the  barbarities  practised  by  butchers  and  drovers;  showing,  by 
examples  on  his  own  farm,  the  most  pleasing  instances  of  docility  in  every 
animal.t 

*  In  that  pleasing  and  instructive  work,  '  Illustrations  of  Natural  History,'  we  find 
the  following  ingenious,  but  too  severe  criticism,  on  Bakewell's  system.  '  It  was  his 
grand  maxim,  that  the  bones  of  an  animal  intended  for  food  could  not  be  too  small,  and 
that  the  fat  being  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  carcass,  it  should  consequently  not  be  too 
abundant.  In  pursuance  of  this  leading  theory,  by  inducing  a  preternatural  smallness 
of  bone,  and  rotundity  of  carcass,  he  sought  to  cover  the  bones  of  all  his  animals  exter- 
nally with  masses  of  fat  Thus,  the  entirely  new  Leicester  breed,  from  their  excessive 
tendency  to  fatten,  produce  too  small  a  quantity  of  eatable  meat,  and  that,  too,  necessarily 
of  inferior  flavour  and  quality.  They  are  in  general  found  defective  in  weight,  propor- 
tionably  to  their  bulk,  and  if  not  thoroughly  fattened,  their  flesli  is  crude  and  with.iut 
flavour;  while  if  they  be  so,  their  carcasses  produce  little  else  but  fat,  a  very  considerable 
part  of  which  must  be  sold  at  an  inferior  price,  to  make  candles  instead  of  food,  not  to 
torget  the  very  great  waste  that  must  ever  attend  the  consumption  of  over-fattened  meat. 

This  great  and  sagacious  improver,  very  justly  digusted  at  the  sight  of  those  huge, 
gaunt,  leggy,  and  misshapen  animals  with  which  his  vicinity  abounded,  and  which 
Bcarcely  any  length  of  time  or  quantity  of  food  would  thoroughly  fatten,  patriotically 
determined  upon  raising  a  more  sightly  and  a  more  profitable  breed;  yet,  ratiier  unfor- 
tunately, his  zeal  impelled  him  to  tlie  opposite  extreme.  Having  painfully,  and  a*  jnuch 
cost,  raised  a  variety  of  cattle,  the  chief  merit  of  which  is  to  make  fat,  he  has  apparently 
laid  his  disciples  and  successors  under  the  necessity  of  substituting  another  that  will 
make  lean.' — p.  5 — 8. 

t  The  writer  in  the  '  Gentleman's  Magazine,'  to  whom  we  have  before  referred,  say* 
tiiat '  the  gentleness  of  the  ditferent  breeds  of  cattle  could  not  escape  the  attention  of  any 


THE  CRAVEN  BREED.  193 

Mr.  Bakewell's  celebrated  bull  Twopenny  was  the  produce  of  the 
Westmoreland  bull,  out  of  old  Comely,  who  has  one  of  the  two  lieifers 
purchased  from  Mr.  Webster;  therefore  he  was,  by  the  side  of  his  dam, 
a  direct  descendant  of  the  Canley  blood. 

Mr.  Bakewell  had  afterwards  a  more  valuable  bull  than  this,  named  D. 
He  retained  him  principally  for  his  own  use,  except  that  he  was  let  for 
part  of  a  season  to  Mr.  Fowler,  and  that  a  few  cows  were  brought  to  him 
at  five  guineas  a  cow.  He  was  got  by  a  son  of  Twopenny,  out  of  a 
daughter  and  sister  of  the  same  bull,  slae  being  the  produce  of  his  own 
dam.  The  method  of  rearing  the  young,  as  practised  by  Mr.  Bakewell, 
was  not  very  different  from  that  now  in  use.  '  The  calves  sucked  for  a 
week  or  a  fornight,  according  to  their  strength;  new  milk  in  the  pail  was 
then  given  a  few  meals;  next,  new  milk  and  skim-milk  mixed,  a  few 
meals  more;  then  skim-milk  alone,  or  porridge  made  with  milk,  water, 
ground  oats,  &c.,  and  sometimes  oil-cake,  until  cheese-making  commenced, 
if  it  was  a  dairy  farm;  after  which,  whey  porridge,  or  sweet  whey  in  the 
field,  being  careful  to  house  them  in  the  night  until  the  warm  weather 
was  confirmed.  Bull  calves,  and  high-bred  heifers,  however,  were  suf- 
fered to  remain  at  the  teat  until  they  were  six,  nine,  or  perhaps  twelve 
months  old,  letting  them  run  with  their  dams,  or  more  frequently  less 
valuable  cows  or  heifers.'* 

Starting  a  few  years  afterwards,  and  rivalling  Mr.  Bakewell  in  the 
value  of  his  cattle,  was  Mr.  Fowler  of  Rollwright,  in  Oxfordshire,  on  the 
borders  of  Warwickshire.  His  cows  were  also  of  the  Canley  breed;  most 
of  them  having  been  purchased  from  Mr.  Bakewell;  and  his  bull  Shak- 
speare,  the  best  stock-getter  that  the  long-horn  breed  ever  possessed,  was 
got  by  D,  out  of  a  daughter  of  Twopenny,  and  therefore  of  pure  Canley 
blood. 

Mr.  Marshall  gives  the  following  description  of  this  bull,  and  a  very 
interesting  and  instructive  pne  it  is.  It  is  a  beautiful  explication  of  some 
of  the  grand  principles  of  breeding.  '  This  bull  is  a  striking  specimen  of 
what  naturalists  term  accidental  varieties.     Though  bred  in  the  manner 

observer.  It  seemed  to  run  through  them  all.  At  an  age  when  most  of  his  brethren  are 
either  foaming  or  bellowing  with  rage  and  madness,  old  C,  a  bull,  a  son  of  the  old  parent 
Comolj',  had  all  the  gentleness  of  a  lamb,  both  in  his  look  and  action.  He  would  lick 
the  hand  of  his  feeder;  and  if  any  one  patted  or  scratched  him,  he  would  bow  himself 
down  almost  on  his  knees.' 

The  same  writer  dcscri!)cs  Mr.  Bakewell's  servants,  one  of  whom  had  been  with  him 
20  years,  and  another  32,  and  another  40  years.  lie  likewise  gives  a  curious  account  of 
Mr.  Bakewell's  hall.  'The  separate  joints  and  points  of  each  of  the  more  celebrated  of 
his  cattle  were  preserved  in  pickle,  or  hung  up  side  by  side;  showing  the  thickness  of  the 
flesh  and  external  fat  on  each,  and  the  smallness  of  the  oftnl.  There  were  also  skeletons 
of  the  different  breeds,  that  they  miglitbe  compared  with  each  other,  and  the  compara- 
tive difference  marked.  Some  joints  of  beef,  the  relics  of  old  Comely,  the  mother  of  the 
stock,  and  who  was  slaughtered  when  her  existence  had  become  burdensome  to  her,  were 
particularly  remarked.  The  fat  of  the  sirloin  on  the  outside  was  four  inches  in  thickness.' 

Mr.  Young,  in  his  Eastern  Tour,gives  the  following  account  of  Mr.  Bakewell's  man- 
agement of  the  cattle — 'Another  peculiarity  is  the  amazing  gentleness  in  which  he  brings 
up  these  animals.  All  his  bulls  stand  still  in  the  field  to  be  examined:  the  way  of  drir 
ing  them  from  one  field  to  anotlier,  or  home,  is  by  a  little  switch:  he  or  his  men  walk 
by  their  side,  and  guide  them  with  the  stick  wherever  they  please;  and  they  are  accus- 
tomed to  this  method  from  being  calves.  A  lad,  with  a  stick  three  feet  long,  and  as 
big  as  his  finger,  v/ill  conduct  a  bull  away  from  other  bulls,  and  his  cows,  from  one 
end  of  the  farm  to  the  other.  All  this  gentleness  is  merely  the  effect  of  management^ 
and  the  mischief  often  done  by  bulls  is  undoubtedly  owing  to  practices  very  contrary, 
or  else  to  a  total  neglect.' 

*  Marshall's  Midland  Counties,  toI.  i.  p.  358. 
18 


194  CATTLE. 

that  has  been  mentioned,  he  scarcely  inherits  a  single  point  of  the  long-* 
horned  breed,  his  horns  excepted.  When  I  saw  him  in  1784,  then  six 
years  old,  and  somewhat  below  his  usual  condition,  though  by  no  means 
low  in  flesh,  he  was  of  this  description. 

•  His  head,  chap  and  neck  remarkably  fine  and  clean;  his  chest  extra- 
ordinarily deep — his  brisket  down  to  his  knees.  His  chine  thin,  and 
rising  above  the  shoulder  points,  leaving  a  hollow  on  each  side  behind 
them.  His  loin,  of  course,  narrow  at  the  chine;  but  remarkably  wide 
at  the  hips,  which  protuberate  in  a  singular  manner.  His  quarters  long 
in  reality,  but  in  appearance  short;  occasioned  by  a  singular  formation  of 
the  rump.  At  first  sight  it  appears  as  if  the  tail,  which  stands  fonvard, 
had  been  severed  from  the  vertebrse  by  the  chop  of  a  cleaver,  one  of  the 
vertebrae  extracted,  and. the  tail  forced  up  to  make  good  the  joint;  an 
appearance,  which,  on  examining,  is  occasioned  by  some  remarkable 
wreaths  of  fat  formed  round  the  setting  on  of  the  tail;  a  circumstance 
which  in  a  picture  would  be  deemed  a  deformity,  but  as  a  point  is  in  the 
highest  estimation.  The  round  bones  snug,  but  the  thighs  rather  full 
and  remarkably  let  down.  The  legs  short  and  their  bone  fine.  The 
carcass,  throughout,  (the  chine  excepted)  large,  roomy,  deep,  and  well 
spread. 

'  His  horns  apart,  he  had  every  point  of  a  Holderness  or  a  Teeswater 
bull.*  Could  his  horns  have  been  changed,  he  would  have  passed  in 
Yorkshire  as  an  ordinary  bull  of  either  of  those  breeds.  His  two  ends 
would  have  been  thought  tolerably  good,  but  his  middle  very  deficient; 
and  I  am  of  opinion,  that  had  he  been  put  to  cows  of  those  breeds,  his 
stock  would  have  been  of  a  moderate  quality;  but  being  put  to  cows  de- 
ficient where  he  was  full,  (the  lower  part  of  the  thigh  excepted,)  and  full 
where  he  was  deficient,  he  has  raised  the  long-horned  breed  to  a  degree 
of  perfection,  which  without  so  extraordinary  a  prodigy  they  never  might 
have  reached.' 

No  wonder  that  a  form  so  uncommon  should  strike  the  improvers  of 
this  breed  of  stock,  or  that  points  they  had  been  so  long  striving  in  vain 
to  produce,  should  be  rated  at  a  high  price.  His  owner  was  the  first  to  es- 
timate his  worth,  and  could  never  be  induced  to  part  with  him  except  to 
Mr.  Princep,  who  hired  him  for  two  seasons,  at  the  unusual  price  of  eighty 
guineas  a  season.  He  covered  until  he  was  ten  years  old,  but  then,  al- 
though otherwise  healthy,  he  became  paralytic  in  his  hind  quarters,  and 
consequently,  useless.  His  sire,  D,  at  the  age  of  12  or  13,  was  more 
active  than  bulls  usually  are  at  three  or  four  years  old. 

At  a  public  sale  of  Mr.  Fowler's  cattle,  1791,  the  following  prices 
were  given  for  some  of  the  favorite  beasts.  This  a  sufficient  proof  of  the 
estimation  in  which  the  improved  Leicesters  were  now  beginning  to  be 
held. 

BULLS.  £.      s.    d. 

Garrick,  five  years  old 

Sultan,  two  years  old 

Washington,  do. 

A,  by  Garrick,  one  year  old 

Young  Sultan,  do. 

E,  by  Garrick,  do.    . 

*  This  may  be  true,  according  to  the  character  of  the  short-horns  at  that  time,  but 
Shakspeare  does  not  so  strictly  resemble  them  in  their  present  improved  state. 


250 

0 

0 

230 

0 

0 

215 

0 

0 

157 

0 

0 

210 

0 

0 

152 

0 

0 

£. 

s, 

d. 

273 

0 

0 

120 

0 

0 

136 

0 

0 

126 

0 

0 

141 

0 

0 

194 

0 

0 

4289 

4 

6 

THE  CRAVEN  BREED.  195 

COWS. 

Brindled  Beauty,  by  Shakspeare 

Sister  to  Garrick 

Nell,  by  do.  .  .  . 

Young  Nell,  by  brother  of  do, 

Black  Heifer 

Dam  of  Washington 

Fifty  breed  of  cattle  produced* 
Another  improver  of  the  long-horns  deserves  mention  before  we 
proceed,  and  that  is  Mr.  Princep  of  Croxall,  in  Derbyshire,  He  was 
supposed  at  that  time,  to  have  the  best  dairy  of  long-horn  cows  in  the 
whole  of  the  midland  counties.  He  originally  bred  them  from  a  cow  of 
the  name  of  Bright,  who  was  got  by  Mr.  Webster's  Bloxedge,  the  father 
of  the  Canley  blood,  and  he  much  improved  his  breed  through  the  me- 
dium of  Shakspeare,  which,  as  we  have  just  stated,  he  hired  of  Mr. 
Fowler  for  two  successive  seasons.  It  was  remarked,  that  every  cow  and 
heiier  of  the  Shakspeare  blood  could  be  recognized  at  first  sight  as  a 
descendant  of  his.f 

Mr.  Paget  of  Ibstock,  in  Leicestershire,  should  be  added  to  the  list  of 
the  improvers  of  the  long-horns.  His  cattle  were  of  the  purest  of  the 
RoUwright  blot)d,  and  consequently  of  the  Canley  stock. 

Mr.  Mundy  of  Derby  must  not  be  forgotten,  whose  cattle,  although 
not  so  large  as  some  of  the  improved  Leicesters,  were  excelled  by  none 
in  beauty  of  form  or  aptitude  to  fatten|:  and,  last  of  all,  mention  should 

*  Mr.  Fowler  used  to  conduct  his  business  on  the  old  principle  of  selling,  Mr.  Mar- 
shall says  that  Mr.  Coke  of  Norfolk  used  to  have  all  the  cow  calves  he  could  spare  at  ten 
guineas  each,  taking  them  when  young;  and  in  1789,  Mr.  Fowler  had  ten  bull-calves, 
for  which  he  refused  500  guineas.  The  practice  of  letting  bulls  originated  in  tliis  dis- 
trict; and  chiefly  with  Mr.  Bakewcll,  and  was  generally  adopted.  The  bulls  were  sent 
out  in  April  or  the  beginning  of  May,  and  were  returned  in  August.  The  prices  varied 
from  ten  to  fifty  or  sixty  pounds;  but  in  one  case,  as  we  have  just  stated,  a  bull,  (Mr. 
Fowler's  Shakspeare)  was  let  at  eighty  guineas  a  season. 

Some  inconvenience  occasionally  resulted  from  this;  and  a  bull  that  appeared  a  very 
desirable  one  in  the  show-yard  was  now  and  then  returned,  long  before  his  season  was 
over,  not  only  as  deficient  in  some  material  point,  but  as  absolutely  useless.  Mr.  Mar- 
shall  very  ingeniously  accounts  for  this:  he  says  that '  tlie  breeders  object  is  to  render 
his  bull,  to  the  eye  at  least,  as  near  perfection  as  may  be;  he  is  therefore  made  up  for 
the  show  by  high  keep,  as  well  to  evince  his  propensity  to  fatten  as  to  hide  his  defects, 
thereby  showing  him  off  to  the  best  advantage;  the  consequence  of  which  is,  that  being 
taken  from  this  high  keep,  and  lowered  at  once  to  a  common  cow-pasture,  he  flags. 
Hence  it  is  become  a  practice  of  judicious  breeders,  when  their  bulls  are  let  early  enough 
to  lower  them  down  by  degrees  to  ordinary  keep,  previous  to  the  season  of  employment. 

t  Mr.  Parkinson  says,  '  One  of  the  greatest  excellences  in  Mr.  Princep's  cattle,  is 
their  length,  with  smallness  in  their  shoulders,  giving  so  many  fine  cuts  along  their 
upper  parts.  Mr.  Princep's  cows  are  remarkably  fat,  so  much  so,  I  think,  that  if  half  a 
dozen  of  them  were  put  in  at  the  Smithfield  show  in  their  milking  state,  there  would  be 
very  few  of  the  cattle  exhibited  and  made  up  for  that  purpose  that  would  equally  attract 
the  eyes  of  the  public'     Vol.  i.  p.  154. 

We  learn  from  the  same  authority,  that  Mr.  Princep  was  bid  500  guineas  for  a  two- 
years  old  bull,  and  thirty  (another  account  says  fifty)  guineas  a  cow  for  the  use  of  his 
best  bull  to  thirty  cows,  vol.  i.  p.  102.  He  was  also  offered  2000Z.  for  twenty  dairy  cows. 
A  four  year  old  steer  of  Mr.  Princep's  breed,  weighed  248  stones  of  141bs.  to  the  stone, 
(424  stones  Smithfield  weight,  or  3472  lbs.)  In  addition  to  this,  there  were  3501bs.  of 
fat,  and  the  hide  weighed  1771bs. 

Anotlier  of  Mr.  Princep's  oxen  was  fed  by  the  Marquis  of  Donegal  in  1794.  The 
four  quarters  weighed  1988  lbs.,  the  tallow  200  lbs.  and  the  hide  177  lbs. 

t  Mr.  Parkinson  bears  the  following  testimony  to  the  superiority  of  the  new  cattle, 
even  at  this  early  period.  He  is  speaking  of  Mr.  Mundy.  'There  was  one  thing  which 
prejudiced  my  mind  much  in  favour  of  Mr.  Mundy's  cattle,  viz.,  it  was  in  the  month  of 
September  that  I  visited  his  farm,  and  his  park  lying  very  conveniently  situated  for  tbe 


196 


CATTLE. 


be  made  of  Mr.  Astley,  whose  breed,  larger  than  Mr.  Mundy's,  but 
seldom  so  heavy  as  Mr.  Princep's,  were  much  admired. 

And  now  we  may  inquire,  a  little  more  particularly,  what  was  the  result 
of  all  these  combined  efforts?  Was  a  breed  produced  worthy  of  the 
talents  and  zeal  of  all  these  skilful  agriculturists?  On  the  Leicestershire 
cattle,  and  in  particular  districts  in  the  neighbouring  counties,  the  change 
was  great  and  advantageous  so  far  as  the  grazing  and  fattening,  and 
especially  the  early  maturity  of  the  animals,  were  concerned. 

We  present  our  readers  with  the  following  two  cuts  of  the  improved 
Leicesters. 


[New  Leicester  Bull.'] 

This  cut  and  the  following  one,  are  taken  from  Garrard's  beautiful 
engravings  of  British  oxen.  Both  the  bull  and  the  cow  were  of  the 
pure  Dishley  breed,  and  were  the  property  of  Mr.  Honeybourn,  Mr. 
Bakewell's  nephew  and  successor. 

What  is  now  become  of  this  improved  long-horn  breed?  Where  is  it 
to  be  found?  It  was  a  bold  and  a  successful  experiment.  It  seemed  for 
a  while  to  answer  the  most  sanguine  expectation  of  these  scientific  and 

inhabitants  of  Derby,  he  permits  them  to  pasture  their  cows  in  it.  I  think  the  number 
seemed  to  be  about  eighty;  and  as  they  probably  belonged  to  half  as  many  ditferent 
people,  without  doubt  bought  of  jobbers  cow  by  cow  and  from  various  parts  of  the  king, 
dom,  it  seems  almost  impossible  that  the  whole  mass  of  these  cows  could  be  selected  of  a 
bad  kind;  and  as  many  of  them  had  grazed  in  the  park  all  tlie  summer,  they  had  had  u 
sufficient  time  to  fatten,  yet  there  was  not  a  single  cow  in  the  whole  number  that  had  the 
least  pretensions  to  fat;  while  Mr.  Mundy  had  some  of  his  own  cows  pasturing  among 
them,  many  of  which  were  fatter  than  any  single  cow  could  be  found  on  some  market 
days  in  Smithfield.  I  do  not  know,'  he  adds, '  that  a  better  trial,  as  an  experiment,  could 
be  made,  to  show  the  superior  value  of  Mr.  Mundy's  cattle.'  These  cows  could  not  be 
very  deficient  at  the  pail,  for  one  of  Mr.  Mundy's  gave  fourteen  pounds  of  butter  in  one 
week. 


THE  CRAVEN  BREED.  197 

spirited  breeders.  In  the  districts  in  which  the  experiments  were  carried 
on,  it  established  a  breed  of  cattle  equalled  by  few,  and  excelled  by  none 
but  the  Herefords.  It  enabled  the  long-horns  to  contend,  and  often  suc- 
cessfully, with  the  heaviest  and  best  of  the  middle-horns.  It  did  more; 
it  improved,  and  that  to  a  material  degree,  the  whole  breed  of  long-horns. 
The  Lancashire,  the  Derbyshire,  the  Staflbrdshire  cattle  became,  and  still 
are  an  improved  race;  they  got  rid  of  a  portion  of  their  coarse  bone. 
They  began  to  gain  their  flesh  and  fat  on  the  more  profitable  points, 
they  acquired  a  somewhat  earlier  maturity,  and,  the  process  of  improve- 
ment not  being  carried  too  far,  the  very  dairy-cattle  obtained  a  disposition 
to  convert  their  aliment  into  milk  while  milk  was  wanted,  and,  after  that, 
to  use  the  same  nutriment  for  the  accumulation  of  flesh  and  fat.  The 
midland  counties  will  always  have  occasion  to  associate  a  feeling  of 
respect  and  gratitude  with  the  name  of  Bakewell.  The  Irish  breeders 
owe  every  thing  to  the  new  Leicester  cattle.  A  new  stock,  in  fact,  has 
arisen  since  the  improved  long-horns  were  grafted  on  the  native  Irisli 
stock. 


\_New  Leicester  Cow.l 

Mr.  Marshall,  to  whom,  for  a  reason  that  will  presently  be  stated,  we  are 
tiompelled  again  to  have  recourse,  thus  describes  the  improved  Ijcicesters 
in  his  own  time,  which  was  that  of  Bakewell,  Princep,  and  Fowler. 

»  The  forend  long;  but  light  to  a  degree  of  elegance.  The  neck  thin, 
the  chap  clean,  the  head  fine,  but  long  and  tapering. 

'  The  eye  large,  bright  and  prominent. 

•  The  horns  vary  with  the  sex,  &c.  Those  of  bulls  are  comparatively 
sliort,  from  fifteen  inches  to  two  feet;  those  of  the  few  oxen  that  have  been 
reared  of  this  breed,  are  extremely  large,  being  from  two  and  a  half  to 
three  and  a  half  feet  long;  those  of  the  cows  nearly  as  long,  but  much 
finer,  tapering  to  delicately  fine  points.  Most  of  them  hang  downward  by 
the  side  of  the  cheeks,  and  then,  if  well  turned,  as  many  of  the  cows  are, 
shoot  forward  at  the  points. 

18* 


198  CATTLE. 

'  The  shoulders  remarkably  fine  and  thin,  as  to  bone;  but  thickly- 
covered  with  flesh — not  the  smallest  protuberance  of  bone  discernible.* 

'  The  girth  small,  compared  with  the  short-horn  and  middle-horn 
breeds.t 

'  The  chine  remarkably  full  when  fat,  but  hollow  when  low  in  con- 
dition.! 

'  The  loin  broad,  and  the  hip  remarkably  wide  and  protuberant. § 

'  The  quarters  long  and  level;  the  nache  of  a  middle  width,  and  the 
tail  set  on  variously,  even  in  individuals  of  the  highest  repute. || 

'  The  round-bones  small,  but  the  thighs  in  general  fleshy;  tapering, 
however,  when  in  the  best  form  toward  llie  gambrels. 

'  The  legs  small  and  clean,  but  comparatively  long.^  The  feet  in 
general  neat,  and  of  the  middle  size. 

'  The  carcass  as  nearly  a  cylinder,  as  the  natural  form  of  the  animal 
will  allow.    The  ribs  standing  out  full  from  the  spine.  The  belly  small.** 

'  The  Jlesh  seldom  fails  of  being  of  the  first  quality. 

'  The  hide  of  a  middle  thickness. 

'  The  colour  various;  the  brindle,  the  finch-back,  and  the  pye,  are 
common.     The  lighter  they  are,  the  better  they  seem  to  be  in  esteem. tt 

'  The  fattening  quality  of  this  improved  breed,  in  a  state  of  maturity, 
is  indisputably  good. 

'  As  grazier's  stock,  they  undoubtedly  rank  high.  The  principle  of  the 
utility  of  form  has  been  stricUy  attended  to.  The  bone  and  oflfal  are 
small,  and  the  forend  light;  while  the  chine,   the  loin,  the  rump   and   the 

*  The  Dishley  breed  excelled  in  this  point.  Some  of  the  heifers  had  shoulders  as  fine 
as  racc-horscs. 

t  Many  of  Mr.  Fowler's  breed,  however,  were  very  fairly  let  down  in  the  girth. 

t  This  is  considered  by  accurate  judges  to  be  a  criterion  of  good  mellow  Hesh.  Tha 
large  hard  ligaments,  (ilic  continualionof  the  ligaments  of  the  neck,  united  with  those  of 
the  vertcbrce  ofthe  spine  itself,)  which  in  some  individuals,  when  in  low  condition,  strelcb 
tightly  along  the  chjne,  from  the  setting  on  of  the  neck  to  the  fore  part  of  the  loins,  is 
said  to  be  a  mark  of  the  flesh  being  of  a  bad  quality.  They  are  only  proofs  of  great 
strength  in  the  spine,  and,  probably,  in  the  animal  generally;  and  indicating  that  the 
meat  will  be  sinewy  and  tough. 

§  A  wide  loin,  with  projections  of  fat  on  the  hips,  may  be  desirable;  but  there  can  be 
neither  beauty  nor  use  in  the  protuberance  ofthe  tuberosities  ofthe  bone.  A  full  hii> 
may  be  of  advantage,  but  scarcely  a  protuberant  one. 

II  The  quarters  of  Shakspcare  have  been  described.  Tliose  ofthe  bull  D.  were  not  Ics* 
remarkable,  his  tail  appearing  to  grow  out  ofthe  top  of  his  spine,  instead  of  being  a  con- 
tinuation  of  the  vertebra;;  and  tlie  upper  part  ofthe  tail  fonning  an  arch,  wliich  rose  some 
inches  above  the  general  level  ofthe  back.  This,  viewing  liiin  as  a  picture,  has  a  good 
eifect;  but  as  a  point,  is  a  very  bad  one  for  the  grazier,  as  tending  to  hide  the  fatness  of 
the  rump.  In  this,  and  in  many  other  points,  the  son  and  the  sire  areas  dissimilar 
as  if  they  had  no  consangninity. 

Mr.  Parkinson  relates  an  anecdote  respecting  the  peculiar  length  of  quarters,  and 
length  generally  of  these  cattle.  *  On  my  observing  to  Mr.  Princep  the  remarkable 
length  of  his  cattle,  he  said  he  was  one  day  showing  them  to  a  gentleman,  who,  as  tb« 
men  were  turning  the  best  bull  out  ofthe  house,  exclaimed  in  astonishment"  When  will 
0II  your  bull  be  out?"  ' — Parkinson  on  Live  Stock,  vol.  i.  p.  154. 

^  This,  however,  is  more  owing  to  the  gauntness  ofthe  carcass,  than  to  the  actual 
length  ofthe  legs. 

**  The  improvers  ofthe  long-horns  have  been  in  error,  when  they  have  considered  this 
an  excellence.  The  discussion  of  this  point,  however,  will  be  advantageously  deferred 
until  we  have  considered  the  anatomy  and  proper  form  of  oxen. 

ft  A  light-coloured  beast  always  appears  to  bo  larger  than  a  dark-brown,  or  black  ono 
of  equal  weight;  llierefore,  perhaps  it  is,  that  the  lighter  ones  are  preferred.  There  is  a 
kind  of  optical  deception  in  their  favour;  but,  otherwise,  if  colour  bus  any  thing  to  do 
with  the  value  ofthe  animal,  we  should  give  the  preference  to  t.  dark-coloured  one,  a* 
indicating  superior  hardihood,  and  generally  with  equal  mellowness  of  skin. 

It  is  said  that  Mr.  Webster's  cows,  the  parents  of  the  Canley  breed,  were  red;  and  s* 
were  some  of  the  best  of  Mr.  Fowler's. 


THE  CRAVEN  BREED.  199 

ribs  are  heavily  loaded,  and  with  flesh  of  the  finest  quality.  In  point  of 
early  maturity,  they  have  also  materially  gained.  In  general,  they  have 
gained  a  year  in  preparation  for  the  butcher;  and  although,  perhaps  not 
weighing  so  heavy  as  they  did  before,  the  little  dimimition  of  weight  is 
abundantly  compensated,  by  the  superior  excellence  of  the  meat,  its  earlier 
readiness,  and  the  smaller  quantity  of  food  consumed. 

'  As  dairy-stock,  their  merit  is  less  evident;  or  rather  it  does 
not  admit  of  doubt  that  their  milking  qualities  have  been  very  much 
impaired. 

'  As  beasts  of  draught,  their  general  form  renders  them  unfit;  yet 
many  of  them  are  sufficiently  powerful,  and  they  are  more  active  than 
some  other  breeds  used  for  the  plough,  or  on  the  road;  but  the  horns 
generally  form  an  insuperable  objection  to  this  use  of  them.' 

But  what  is  become  of  Bakewell's  improved  long-horn  breed?  A  veil 
of  mystery  was  thrown  over  most  of  his  proceedings,  which  not  even  his 
friend  Mr.  Marshall  was  disposed  to  raise.  The  principle  on  which  he 
seemed  to  act,  breeding  so  completely  'in  and  in'  was  a  novel,  a  bold, 
and  a  successful  one.  Some  of  the  cattle  to  which  we  have  referred  were 
very  extraordinary  illustrations,  not  only  of  the  harmlessness,  but  the 
manifest  advantage  of  such  a  system;  but  he  had  a  large  stock  on  which 
to  work;  and  no  one  knew  his  occasional  deviations  from  this  rule,  nor 
his  skilful  interpositions  of  remoter  affinities,  when  he  saw  or  apprehended 
danger. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  is,  that  the  master  spirits  of  that  day  had  no 
sooner  disappeared,  than  the  character  of  this  breed  began  imperceptibly 
to  change.  It  had  acquired  a  delicacy  of  constitution,  inconsistent  with 
common  management  and  keep;  and  it  began  slowly,  but  undeniably  to 
deteriorate.  Many  of  them  had  been  bred  to  that  degree  of  refinement., 
that  the  propagation  of  the  species  was  not  always  certain. 

In  addition  to  this,  a  rival — a  more  powerful  rival,  appeared  in  the 
field.  The  improved  short-horns  began  to  occupy  the  banks  of  the  Tees. 
They  presented  equal  aptitude  to  fatten,  and  greater  bulk  and  earlier 
Hiaturity. 

Westmoreland  was  the  mtive  land  of  the  long-horns.  Webster  had 
brought  thence  the  father  of  the  Canley  stock;  and  Bakewell  had  sought 
the  father  of  his  breed  there:  but  even  in  Westmoreland  the  short-horns 
appeared;  they  spread;  they  established  themselves;  they,  in  a  manner,  su- 
perseded the  long-horns.  They  found  their  way  to  southern  districts;  they 
mingled  with  the  native  breeds;  a  cross  from  them  generally  bestowed 
increase  of  milk,  aptitude  to  fatten,  and  early  maturity.  It  is  true, 
Uiat  a  frequent  recourse  to  the  short-horn  was  generally  necessary  in  order 
to  retain  these  advantages,  but  these  advantages  were  bestowed,  and 
might  be  retained,  except  in  a  few  districts,  and  for  some  particular  pur- 
poses. Thus  they  gradually  established  themselves  every  where;  they 
were  the  grazing  cattle  of  the  large  farmer  and  the  gentleman,  and  an- 
other variety  of  them  occupied  the  dairy.  The  benefits  conferred  by  the 
improved  long-horns  remained,  but  the  breed  itself  gradually  diminished; 
in  some  places  it  almost  disappeared;  and  at  the  present  moment,  and  even 
in  Leicestershire,  the  short-horns  are  fast  driving  the  long-horns  from  tlie 
field.  The  reader  may  scarcely  give  credit  to  the  assertion,  but  it  is 
strictly  true,  that  at  the  present  moment  (1833)  there  is  not  a  single 
improved  Leicester  on  the  Dishley  farm,  and  scarcely  a  half-horn. 
There  are  not  a  dozen  pure  Leicesters  within  a  circuit  of  a  dozen  mile* 
of  Dishley.     It  would  seem  as  if  some  strange  convulsion  of  nature,  or 


200  CATTLE. 

some  murderous  pestilence,  had  suddenly  swept  away  the  whole  of  this 
vahiable  breed. 

Having  tlius  endeavoured  to  do  this  breed  of  cattle  the  justice  which  it 
deserves,  we  will  take  a  very  rapid  survey  of  the  different  counties  which 
it  formerly,  or  still  occupies. 

WESTMORELAND. 

In  the  part  of  this  county  bordering  on  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire,  and 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Kirby  Lonsdale,  the  long-horns  used  to  exist  in 
their  greatest  purity;  but  whether  the  farmers  have  suffered  the  best  of 
their  stock  to  be  drawn  away  in  order  to  keep  up  that  of  the  midland 
counties,  while  the  best  of  the  Teeswater  are  brought  into  Westmoreland 
in  return;  or,  whatever  may  have  been  the  cause,  the  effect  is  unde- 
niable, that  the  short-horns  are  establishing  themselves,  and  the  long- 
horns  retrograding. 

A  vast  number  of  Scotch  cattle  are  grazed  in  Westmoreland.  They 
are  bought  at  Brough  hill  fair  in  the  beginning  of  September;  win- 
tered on  coarse  pasture  or  in  the  straw  yard;  sent  to  the  commons  in 
May;  and  the  foremost  being  put  upon  the  best  grounds,  they  are  ready 
to  journey  farther  south,  or  even  to  be  killed  for  the  Westmoreland  con- 
sumption in  October. 

On  the  wastes  there  are  many  Scotch  and  also  many  of  the  native 
breed,  (the  smaller  Cravens,)  with  which  neither  the  heavier  improved 
long-horns,  nor  the  short-horns  interfere. 

Li  the  better-cultivated  parts  of  the  country,  the  old  and  large  long- 
horns  are  found;  they  are  excellent  feeders;  they  grow  to  a  very  con- 
siderable size,  and  lay  their  fat  on  the  valuable  parts. 

LANCASHIRE. 

In  the  southern  part  of  this,  the  native  county  of  the  long-horns,  that 
breed  is  now  rarely  seen  in  a  pure  state.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  laige 
towns,  the  Yorkshire  milch  cow  is  chiefly  kept;  for  where  the  quantity  of 
milk  is  regarded,  no  breed  can  vie  with  the  Holderness.*  Where  butter 
is  made,  a  cross  between  the  long  and  tlie  short-horn  is  preferred.  These 
cattle  are  said  to  be  more  hardy,  less  liable  to  illness,  and  the  milk  of  the 
short-horn  progenitor  is  litdc  diminished  in  quantity,  while  it  acquire* 
much  of  the  peculiar  richness  of  that  which  is  given  by  the  long-horn 
breed. 

Even  for  grazing,  the  native  breed  is  rarely  seen;  but  at  the  annual 
meetings  of  the  Manchester  Agricultural  Society,  the  short  horns  bear 
mway  the  principal  prizes,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  county,  although  a 
premium  was  formerly  offered  for  the  best  long-horn  bull,  not  one  has 

*  Tlic  average  quantity  of  milk,  yielded  by  a  good  Holdcrncss  cow  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Manchester,  is  about  nine  quarts  per  day.  A  good  long-horn  cow  will  yield 
about  seven  quarts.  Mr.  Stevenson,  wlio  published  a  Survey  of  I^ancashire,  in  1814 
thus  computes  the  expenses  and  returns  of  a  milk  farm,  in  tlie  neighbourhood  of  Man- 
ehestcr.  The  farm  to  which  he  refers  was  under  tiie  management  of  Mr.  Peter  M'Niven,: 
it  contained  115^  Lancashire  acres. 


£ 

je 

Rent  per  annum 

520 

15  acres  of  oats  at  15/. 

.     225 

Taxes      . 

84 

20  ditto  at  20Z. 

.     400 

Servants'  wages 

.        234 

40  cows'  milk  at  \2l. . 

.     480 

Profit      .        .        . 

2G7 

1105 


1105 


THE  LANCASHIRE  BREED.  201 

been  shown  for  the  last  three  or  four  years.  We  are  much  indebted  to 
that  society  and  particularly  to  its  indefatigable  secretary  Mr.  Thomas 
Ashworth,  for  some  valuable  information  respecting  the  present  state  of 
cattle  in  this  part  of  Lancashire. 

On  the  hills  and  moors  some  Welsh  cattle  are  found,  and  also 
small  long-horn  beasts,  whether  Irish  or  home-bred,  and  mingled  with 
crosses  of  every  kind.  A  society  has  lately  been  established  at  Liverpool, 
which  promises  to  be  of  essential  service  in  benefitting  the  agricultural 
concerns  of  that  district;  and  the  example  lately  set  by  a  few  great  land- 
holders, and  especially  by  the  Earl  of  Derby,  of  keeping  good  bulls  for 
the  use  of  their  tenantry,  will  speedily  effect  a  considerable  and  very 
desirable  alteration.  If  the  old  long  horn  breed  is,  in  a  manner,  gone 
here,  something  as  valuable  should  be  subsiituted;  but  as  yet  with  the 
exception  of  the  introduction  of  the  Tees  water  cattle,  to  the  extent  which 
we  have  stated,  among  the  larger  farmers  and  the  Yorkshire  cows  among 
the  milk  dairies,  there  cannot  be  said  to  be  any  prevailing  breed  esta- 
blished in  the  southern  part  of  Lancashire. 

Mr.  Bunnell,  V.  S.  of  Liverpool,  assures  us  that  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  that  town,  very  few  cattle  are  bred  for  the  purpose  of  grazing,  and  that 
those  which  areyer/  are  chiefly  confined  to  gentlemen's  parks,  and  are 
principally  Scotch  Highland  bullocks.  To  the  same  gentlemen  we  are 
indebted  for  the  following  account  of  the  supply  of  the  Liverpool  market. 

Weekly  Average. 

'  600  Irish  beasts,  average  about         6  cv/t.  of  120  lbs. 
'  140  English  do,  do.  6i  do. 

'     60  Scotch    do.  do.  Sj  do. 

'  Of  the  cattle  from  Ireland,  about  twenty  are  short-horns;  sixty  of  the 
long-horn  Leicester  breed,  and  the  remainder  of  the  old  Irish  breed,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  Devons  and  Ayrshires. 

'  Of  the  English  cattle,  about  one  third  are  short-horns;  one-third 
Cumberland  long-horns;  and  one  third  Herefordshire  and  other  breeds. 

'  Of  the  Scotch  cattle,  about  one-eighth  are  short  horns,  and  the  rest 
Galloways  and  Highlanders,  of  various  descriptions.' 

Towards  the  middle  of  Lancashire,  we  find  some  zealous  breeders 
of  the  short-horns.  Mr.  Almond,  of  Slandish,  is  foremost  amongst 
them,  and  his  cattle  bear  otT  the  bell,  even  amongst  the  most  successful 
cultivators  of  this  breed.  The  Earl  of  AViUon  is  a  frequent  competitor 
at  the  meetings  of  the  Manchester  society.  In  1830,  he  exhibited  the 
best  yearling  short-horn  bull,  and  some  very  fine  specimens  of  cows 
fattening  after  milking. 

We  meet  with  more  of  the  long-horns,  but  they  are  principally  of  an 
inferior  sort.  Mr.  Harrison,  V.  S.  at  Lancaster,  thus  expresses  himself; 
*  Since  the  rage  for  short-horned  catde  has  commenced,  and  still  goes  on 
in  this  neighbourhood,  the  breed  of  the  native  long-horn  has  impercep- 
tibly declined,  and  it  is  now  a  very  difficult  point  to  find  a  good  stock  of 
long-horns;  there  not  being  more  than  half  a  dozen  breeders  of  them  in 
a  district  of  20  miles.  There  is,  however,  Mr.  Allen  Kirk's  stock  of  long- 
horns  at  Middleton,  which  for  purity  of  breed  cannot  be  excelled. 

'  The  catde  in  this  neighbourhood  are  mosdy  cross-bred — long  and 
short-horn,  short-horn  and  Scot,  but  the  short-horn,  with  its  varioua 
crosses,  is  that  which  has  encroached  most  upon  the  long-horn,  and  seems 
to  be  rapidly  superseding  that  breed. 

'  That  the  long-horn  breed  has  deteriorated  of  late  years  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at,  when  a  half-bred  cow,  or  any  other  cross,  will  fetch  a  greater 


202  CATTLE. 

price  in  any  of  our  markets  than  the  pure  long-horn,  whether  it  be  for 
the  grazier  or  the  dairy.' 

Mr.  Harrison  gives  the  following  account  of  the  long-horn,  of  the  pre- 
sent day.  '  The  head  long  and  thick,  with,  a  broad  forehead,  and  the  top 
of  the  head  broad  and  flat;  large  eye;  ratlier  small  ear;  horns  flat  at  the 
base,  becoming  rounder  towards  their  apex,  rather  drooping  from  tlieir 
origin,  and  then  ascending  and  curling  in  various  directions.  The  neck 
and  fore-quarters  tbick  and  heavy,  but  line  in  the  chine;  wide  in  the 
chest,  but  the  sternum  (the  breast-bone)  does  not  extend  so  far  ante- 
riorly nor  so  high  as  in  the  short-horn,  thereby  making  the  neck  appear 
to  issue  low  out  of  the  chest.  Ribs  short,  body  very  circular  and  long  in 
the  sides.  The  horns  are  rather  long,  but  (he  transverse  processes  of  the 
lumbar  vertebrae  are  much  shorter  than  in  the  short-horn;  the  quarters 
are  also  narrow,  owing  to  the  ilium  not  presenting  so  broad  and  horizontal 
a  surface  as  in  the  short- horn — many  of  them  are  also  roughish  about 
the  rump,  from  the  bones  in  the  centre  of  the  liip  (the  sacral  bones.) 
The  thigh  is  generally  rounder  and  larger,  consequently  aflbrding  a  better 
round  of  beef  than  the  short-horn:  the  tail  is  thicker,  and  the  bones  of 
the  leg  are  thicker  and  heavier.  The  long-horn  weighs  heavier  in  propor- 
tion to  his  size  and  measure  than  the  short-horn,  and  his  liide  is  heavier, 
but  it  does  not  handle  so  loose  and  free.  The  colour  varies;  but  a  red  roan 
with  mottled  or  red  legs,  and  a  white  streak  down  the  back,  is  the  prevail- 
ing colour.  'l^heir  average  weight  when  fattened  is  eight  score  per 
quarter,  but  their  value  is  not  so  great  either  for  grazing  or  milking  by 
nearly  or  quite  2/.  per  head.' 

We  have  extracted  this  accurate  account  of  the  best  of  the  present  long- 
horns,  that  the  reader  may  be  enabled  to  compare  them  with  the  old  Bake- 
wellian  breed  already  described,  p.  195.  Crosses  of  all  descriptions  abound 
in  the  centre  of  Lancashire;  one  between  the  long-horn  and  the  Holderness 
or  the  Durham  being  the  most  frequent  and  the  most  valuable;  and  said 
here,  more  particularly,  not  only  to  retain  but  to  possess  in  an  increased 
degree  the  good  qualities  of  both.  They  suit  all  parts  of  the  county. 
They  are  of  a  more  hardy  nature  than  the  short-horn,  and  they  gain  by  the 
cross  an  advantage  of  more  milk  and  butter;  they  are  also  better  graziers 
than  the  long-horns,  fattening  in  less  time  and  arriving  at  maturity  much 
earlier.  They  are  finer  in  the  head  and  neck,  the  ribs  are  longer,  and 
they  still  preserve  their  cylindrical  form.  They  are  wider  also  across  the 
loins  and  quarters.  They  handle  more  freely,  attain  a  greater  weight 
when  fattened,  and  the  hide  is  not  so  heavy.  The  prevailing  colour  of 
this  cross  is  red  and  white. 

This  first  cross  is  excellent,  but  the  produce  is  uncertain;  and  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  the  third  or  fourth  generation  are  long-horns  again,  but 
without  the  good  qualities  of  the  original  stock.  They  are  of  diminished 
size,  they  are  bad  milkers,  and  will  not  graze  kindly ;  in  addition  to 
which,  there  is  much  uncertainty  whether  the  cows  will  hold  to  the  bull. 
Full  one-third  of  the  cows  among  some  of  these  half-breds  fail  of  being 
in  calf. 

Some  breeders,  fully  sensible  of  these  disadvantages,  have  wished  once 
more  to  restore  the  pure  long-horn  breed,  but  there  is  more  difficulty  in 
procuring  good  long-horn  bulls  than  could  be  conceived  to  be  possible  in 
Lancasliire,  the  original  district  of  the  long-horns:  they  have,  therefore, 
been  compelled  to  have  frequent  recourse  to  the  short-horn  bull,  or  their 
cattle  would  become  almost  worthless;  yet  the  cottager,  without  any 
resource  of  this  kind,  often  has  a  half-horn  cow  that  is  invaluable  for  his 
purpose,     Mr.  Harrison,  although,  with  natural  partiality,  he  isunwilhng 


THE  LANCASHIRE  BREED.  203 

to  abandon  his  native  long-horns,  relates  two  experiments  which  termina- 
ted unfavourably  with  regard  to  them.  The  late  Mr.  C4ibson,  of  Quern- 
moor  Park,  near  Lancaster,  tried  an  equal  number  of  long  and  short  horns 
for  twelve  months;  and  on  summing  up  the  profit  and  loss  at  the  expira- 
tion of  the  time,  the  short-horns  had  given  considerably  more  milk:  the 
butler  account  was  also  in  their  favour;  and  they  had  improved  considera- 
bly more  in  condition. 

Mr.  Lamb,  of  Hay  Carr,  having  to  stock  Ashton  Park,  a  seat  belonging 
to  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  wished  to  have  done  so  with  the  long-horns; 
but  not  being  able  to  procure  a  sufficient  number  at  the  fair  to  which  he 
went,  he  was  compelled  to  buy  a  great  number  of  half-bred  ones.  The 
half-breds  fattened  and  were  sold  off  a  considerable  time  before  the  long- 
horns  were  fit  for  the  market. 

Mr.  Bolden  of  Kyning,  and  Mr.  Jackson  of  Bowick  Hall,  are  breeders 
of  short-horn  catde;  Mr.  Allen  Kirk  of  Middleton,  and  Mr.  Cottam  of 
Heaton,  are  almost  the  only  patrons  of  the  long-horns  in  this  district. 

Some  good  cheese  is  made  in  this  district.  The  dairy-farmers  usually 
prefer  the  long-horns;  or,  if  they  permit  any  admixture  of  short-horn 
blood,  they  are  anxious  that  that  of  the  old  Lancashires  shall  decidedly 
prevail.  These  cattle,  when  their  milk  fails,  and  they  are  in  tolerably  fat 
condition,  average  from  thirty-six  to  forty  stones,  imperial  weight.  Their 
summer  food  is  the  native  grass;  their  winter  food,  meadow  hay,  with  cut 
potatoes  (those  which  are  too  small  for  household  purposes)  with  oatmeal 
or  bran,  or  cut  straw;  but  they  are  suffered  to  stand  out  in  the  field  a  great 
part  of  the  day,  although  there  may  be  little  or  no  grass  for  them  to  eat. 
The  calves  are  reared  only  in  the  spring,  and  suckled  by  the  hand 
until  they  are  seven  or  eight  weeks  old,  when  they  are  turned  to  grass, 
but  still  have  a  little  hay  for  some  time,  and  also  hay-tea,  or  some  other 
preparation  in  the  evening. 

Ralph  Thicknesse,  Esq.  of  Beech-hall,  near  Wigan,  will  please  to  ac- 
cept our  thanks  for  his  polite  attention  to  us  respecting  the  cattle  of  this 
district. 

We  have  described  the  north  of  Lancashire  as  being  peculiarly  the  na- 
tive district  of  the  long-horns,  and  there,  although  a  lew  short  and  half 
horns  are  occasionally  seen,  these  are  the  prevailing,  or  only  distinct 
breed:  yet  even  there  they  are  not  what  they  once  were,  and  compara- 
tively few  traces  of  the  Bakewellian  improvement  remain;  nor  do  the 
cattle  generally  appear  to  be  more  valuable  than  when  he  sent  to  the 
borders  of  Westmoreland  for  the  fathers  of  the  improved  Leicester 
breed. 

Within  the  last  few  years,  however,  excited  probably  by  the  improve- 
ment going  forward  in  Westmoreland,  in  the  north,  and  in  all  the  south 
of  Lancashire,  and  jealous  of  the  superiority  of  the  short-horns,  some 
farmers  have  endeavoured,  and  with  considerable  success,  to  renovate 
the  long-horned  breed.  It  is  an  object  worthy  of  their  attention,  for  al- 
though, as  it  regards  the  quantity  of  milk,  the  long-horns  must  ultimately 
be  superseded  by  one  description  of  short-horn  cattle,  and  in  early  matu- 
rity by  another,  yet  it  is  too  valuable  a  breed  to  be  lost,  or  to  be  much 
deteriorated. 

There  are  many  large  dairy-farms  in  this  part  of  the  country;  the  long- 
horned  cow  is  usually  kept.  The  average  produce  is  from  2^  to  3  cwt. 
of  cheese  from  each  cow,  in  a  strict  cheese-dairy  farm,  the  family  being 
also  provided  with  milk  and  a  little  butter. 


20^ 


CATTLE. 


In  the  Survey  of  Lancashire,  we  find  the  following  account  of  a  dairy 
as  usually  conducted  in  this  district. 

£      s.     d.  £           ' 

Cow-grass  for  20  weeks     3  13     6  Cheese,  11  lbs.  weekly  for 

Winter  keep  in  hay       .400  20  weeks,  at  6d.  per  Ih.     5  10  0 

Green  food     ....     0  10     0  Butter,  61bs.  weekly  for  20 

Attendance    set   against  weeks  at  Is,  per  lb.          6     0  0 

manure  Calf        .         .         .         .1 
Profit 


£      s. 

3  13 

4  0 
0   10 

d. 
6 
0 
0 

4  10 

0 

12   13 

6 

12   13  6 


DERBYSHIRE. 

The  Derbyshire  cows  were  originally  long-horns;  and  although  of  a 
somewhat  inferior  breed,  they  were  very  useful  animals,  and  especially  in 
the  dairies  of  this  county,  the  cheese  of  which  has  long  been  admired. 
What  cross  gave  them  their  peculiar  character,  and  especially  their  singu- 
lar horns,  it  is  now  impossible  to  determine.  The  head  was  frequently 
thick  and  heavy,  the  chops  and  neck  foul,  the  bone  too  large,  the  hide 
heavy,  and  the  hair  long;  even  the  bag  was  often  overgrown  and  covered  with 
liair-^a  circumstance  very  objectionable  to  the  dairyman;  they  were  little 
disposed  to  take  on  flesh  and  fat,  for  when  some  of  the  improved  bred 
heifers  had  fattened  for  the  butcher,  the  beasts  of  the  old  sort  would  be 
litde  belter  than  skin  and  bone;  yet  they  were  excellent  dairy  cows. 


[Derby  Cow-I 

The  above  cut  is  a  faithful  portrait  of  one  of  the  best  of  them.  The 
horns  are  altogether  characteristic. 

An  attempt  was  first  made  to  cross  the  Derby  with  the  improved  short- 
horn. The  first  cross  answered  admirably;  but,  as  we  have  said,  when 
speaking  of  Lancashire,  the  progeny  of  this  cross  was  clumsily  shaped, 
and  in  every  respect  inferior  to  its  progenitois. 


THE  CHESHIRE  BREED. 


205 


Some  partial  attempts  were  also  made  to  introduce  a  cross  from  the 
short-horns  and  the  Devons,  hut  it  failed;  for  although  a  considerable 
aptitude  to  fatten  was  thus  obtained,  yet,  as  a  decrease  of  milk  was  the 
consequence,  the  breed  was  removed  from  the  dairy;  although,  for  grazing, 
it  probably  would  have  answered  well. 


{Derby  BuU.^ 
This  cut  gives  a  faithful  representation  of  the  old  Derby  bull.  This 
breed,  however,  has  gradually  died  away,  and  it  is  comparatively  seldom 
that  a  pure  Derby  can  now  be  met  witli.  The  short-horns  have  taken 
possession  of  this  portion  of  the  territory  of  the  long-horns  also.  The  pre- 
judice against  them  as  to  their  want  of  hardiness,  and  the  thinness  of  their 
milk,  has  vanished;  and  there  are  few  dairy  farmers  now,  and  especially 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Derby,  that  have  any  long-horns  in  their  dairy; 
and  yet  it  is  confidently  asserted  that  some  cows  of  the  ancient  stock  have 
yielded  as  much  as  seventeen  pounds  of  butler  in  the  space  of  seven  days. 


CHESHIRE. 


The  short-horn  breed  has  penetrated  into  this  dairy-county,  and  with 
variable  advantage.  Amidst  the  dense  population  of  some  of  the  agricul- 
tural districts  the  short-horn  has  materially  increased  the  quantity  of 
milk,  but  it  is  more  than  doubtful  whether  he  has  not  injured  rather  than 
benefitted  the  cheese  dairy. 

The  Cheshire  was  chiefly  a  long-horned  breed,  of  very  mingled  origin, 
but  which  by  degi-ees  accommodated  itself  to  tlw  climate  and  the  soil. 
It  contained  in  it  a  portion  of  the  blood  of  the  old  Lancashire,  the  Derby- 
shire, the  Shropshire,  the  Staffordshire,  and  the  new  Leicester;  and  this  in 
some  slight  degree  dashed  with  the  Irish  long-horn,  the  Welsh  and  Scotch 
middle-horn,  and  the  Yorkshire  short-horn,  and  from  a  sti-ange  inter- 
mingling of  the  whole  proceeded  the  Cheshire  cow.  She  was  a  rather 
small,  gaunt,  and  ill-shaped  animal;  yet  she  possessed  a  large  tliin-skinned 
19 


206  CATTLE. 

bag,  swelling  milk-veins,  shallow  and  light  fore-quarter,  M'ide  loins,  a 
thin  thigh,  a  white  horn,  a  long  thin  head,  a  brisk  and  lively  eye,  and  a 
fineness  and  cleanness  about  the  cliops  aud  throat.  She  has  been  crossed 
still  more  with  the  Durham.  Slie  has  become  of  larger  size,  handsome 
in  form,  apter  to  fatten;  but  she  has  been  decidedly  injured  as  a  cheese- 
dairy  cow;  her  quantity  of  milli  has  not  been  materially  increased,  and 
the  quantity  of  caseous  matter  produced  from  it  has  been  diminished,  and 
somewhat  deteriorated. 

Mr.  Holland,  following  closely  a  former  report  by  Mr.  Wedge,  and 
before  the  short-horns  were  so  extensively  introduced,  says  that  '  calves 
to  keep  up  the  dairies  are  generally  reared  from  the  best  milkers,  both  as 
it  regards  bull-calves  and  heifers.  Those  -which  are  reared  are  generally 
calved  in  February  or  March,  and  are  kept  on  the  cows  for  about  three 
■weeks.  They  are  afterwards  kept  on  warm  green  whey,  scalded  whey 
and  butter-milk  mixed,  or  hard  Heelings.  Some  give  oatmeal  gi-uel  and 
butter  milk,  with  a  little  skimmed-milk  mixed.  This  is  given  twice  in  the 
day,  until  the  calves  are  turned  to  grass,  and  once  in  the  day  for  three  or 
four  weeks  after  that.  During  tlie  first  and  second  winters  they  are  kept 
in  a  yard  with  an  open  shed,  Avell  foddered,  and  turned  out  as  soon 
as  the  grass  is  ready.  In  the  summer  following,  when  they  are  two- 
years-off,  they  are  put  to  the  bull;  and  during  the  third  winter,  they  are, 
by  the  best  farmers,  tied  up  at  the  same  time  that  the  cows  are:  they  are 
fed  with  straw  night  and  morning,  until  a  month  before  calving;  hay  is 
afterwards  given  as  long  as  they  continue  housed,  and  sometimes  crushed 
oats  when  tliey  calve  early. 

The  cows  are  taken  up  into  the  cow-houses  as  soon  as  the  weather  gets 
bad,  and  are  perinitted  to  go  dry  about  ten  weeks  before  calving.  The 
usual  dry  food  is  wheat,  barley,  and  oat-straw,  hay,  and  crushed  oats. 
The  two  former  kinds  of  straw  are  given  to  those  which  are  expected  to 
calve  early,  on  account  of  a  supposed  tendency  to  dry  the  milk  up  sooner; 
oat-straw,  and  sometimes  hay,  is  given  to  those  that  are  not  expected  to  calve 
until  late  in  the  spring,  hay  is  given  to  all  of  them  three  or  four  weeks 
before  they  are  expected  to  calve.  From  the  time  they  have  calved  until 
they  are  turned  out  to  grass,  crushed  oats  are  given  twice  in  the  day,  and 
at  the  rate  of  three-fourths  of  a  bushel  per  week.  The  cows  are  turned 
into  an  outlet  (a  bare  pasture-field)  near  the  building,  from  nine  or  ten  in 
the  morning,  until  three  or  four  in  the  afternoon,  but  have  no  fodder  in 
the  outlet;  or  if  they  show  a  desire  of  being  taken  up  again,  they  are  let 
into  the  yard  and  housed,  and  this  is  better  than  suflering  them  to  stand 
shivering  with  cold  in  a  field  without  shelter.  The  turning  the  cows  out 
to  grass  in  good  condition  is  a  matter  much  attended  to,  in  order  that 
they  may  start  well;  for  if  a  cow  is  not  in  good  condition  when  turned  out 
to  grass,  or  has  been  too  much  dried  with  barley-straw,  it  is  a  long  time 
before  she  gets  into  full  milk. 

The  introduction  of  green  crops  and  particularly  of  turnips,  and  the 
practice  of  stall-feeding  for  dairy  cows,  has  materially  altered  the  old 
system  of  management.  The  grand  object  with  the  dairy  farmer  is  to 
increase  the  quantity  of  his  milk,  and  to  continue  it  as  long  as  possible. 
This  cannot  be  more  effectually  done  than  by  giving  ^xecw  or  succulent 
food.  The  milk  is  more  abundant,  and  it  may  be  continued  a  mouth 
longer.  The  ox-cabbage  and  the  Swedish  turnips  are  the  kinds  of 
green  food  most  cultivated  in  Cheshire.  The  former  is  given  when  the 
after-grass  is  consumed;  the  latter  are  used  in  the  winter,  when  the 
cattle  are  feeding  on  straw;  and  as  little  cheese  is  then  made,  the  flavour 
which  they  communicate  to  the  milk  is  not  of  so  much  consequence. 


THE  NOTTINGHAMSHIRE  BREED.  207 

The  peculiar  art  of  the  manufacture  of  the  Cheshire  cheese  belongs  to 
our  work  on  '  British  Husbandry,'  generally.  We  have,  at  present,  only  to 
do  with  the  cattle  themselves.  To  that  portion  of  '  The  Farmer's  Series' 
we  beg  to  refer  our  readers,  and  also  to  Holland's  '  General  View  of  the 
Agriculture  of  Cheshire,'  and  xYiton's  '  Treatise  on  Dairy  Husbandry.'* 

There  is,  however,  nothing  singular  in  the  management;  and  Mr. 
Holland  states  it  to  be  the  prevalent  opinion,  that  the  quality  of  the  soil  is 
the  principal  thing  concerned.  The  breed  of  the  catde  has  much  to  do 
with  it,  and  the  new  breed  has  not  yet  identified  itself  with  the  soil. 

Mr.  Fenna  calculates  tlie  number  of  dairy  cows  kept  in  Cheshire  at 
about  92,000;  and  averaging  the  quantity  of  cheese  made  annually  from 
each  cow  at  2i  cwt.,  it  will  appear  that  the  amazing  quantity  of  11,500 
tons  of  cheese  are  made  every  year  in  that  county .t 

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. 

This  county,  fifty  years  ago,  contained  few  cattle  except  long-horns. 
It  has  already  been  stated,  in  page  189,  that  the  females,  from  whom  ulti- 
mately sprung  the  improved  Leicester  breed,  were  from  Nottinghamshii'e. 
The  earliest  breed  of  which  we  have  mention  came  from  Drakelow,  on 
the  borders  of  the  Trent.  The  cows  which  INIr.  Webster  brought  to 
Canley  were  from  the  same  farm;  and  Mr.  Bakewell's  two  heifers,  the 
mothers  of  all  his  stock,  were  purchased  from  Mr.  Webster. 

The  better  kinds  of  cattle,  however,  were  confined  to  the  banks  of  the 
Trent.  In  the  clay  district,  the  beasts  were  poor  and  coarse;  and  in  the 
forest,  few  that  were  valuable  were  bred.  The  short-horns  have  here  also 
completely  superseded  the  old  cattle.  They  first  began  to  appear  in  the 
vale  of  Belvoir,  and  thence  spread  through  the  lime  and  coal  districts  ; 
and  now,  either  in  the  form  of  the  pure  Yorkshire  cow,  or  many  a  varying 
and  mingled  breed,  they  occupy  nearly  the  whole  of  the  county. 

LEICESTER. 

In  this  county,  in  which  the  long-horns  had  been  brought  to  their 
highest  perfection,   it  would  be  imagined  that  the  latest  and  most  obsti- 

*  Fuller,  in  his  'Worthies,'  p.  68,  thus  speaks  of  the  Cheshire  cheese.  'This  county 
doth  afford  the  best  cheese  for  quantity  and  quality,  and  yet  their  cows  are  not,  as  in  other 
shires,  housed  in  the  winter;  so  that  it  may  seem  strange  that  tlie  hardiest  kinc  do  make 
the  tcndcrest  cheese.  Some  essayed  in  vain  to  make  the  like  in  other  places,  though 
from  thence  they  fetched  both  their  kine  and  dairy-maids;  it  seems  they  should  have 
fetched  their  ground  too,  wherein  is  surely  some  occult  excellency  in  this  kind,  or  else  so 
good  cheese  will  not  be  made.  I  hear  not  the  like  commendation  of  the  butter  in  this 
county,  and  perchance  these  two  connnoditics  arc  like  stars  of  a  different  horizon,  so 
that  the  elevation  of  the  one  to  cmincncy  is  the  depression  of  the  other.' 

Dr.  Leigh,  in  liis  '  Natural  History  of  Chesliire,'  and  Dr.  Campbell,  in  his  '  Political 
Survey,*  attribute  the  peculiar  flavour  of  the  Cheshire  cheese  to  tlie  abundance  of  saline 
particles  in  the  soil  of  this  county,  and  tlic  latter  says  that  where  the  brine  springs  most 
abound,  the  cheese  is  esteemed  to  be  of  the  most  superior  quality;  but  this  notion  is  now 
exploded. 

The  places  and  districts  most  celebrated  for  making  the  prime  chesse — are  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Nantwich,  tlie  parisli  of  Over,  the  greater  part  of  the  banks  of  the  river 
Weaver,  and  several  farms  near  Congleton  and  Middlewich. 

+  In  Lyme  Park  is  a  herd  of  upwards  of  twenty  wild  cattle,  of  the  same  sort  as  those 
at  Chillingham,  chiefly  white  with  red  ears.  They  have  been  in  the  Park  beyond  the 
memory  of  any  one  now  living;  and  as  there  is  no  account  of  when  they  were  placed 
there,  the  tradition  is  that  tliey  are  indigenous.  In  hot  weather,  these  cattle  generally 
herd  on  the  hills  and  high  grounds;  and  in  winter  in  the  woody  parts  of  the  park.  In 
severe  weather  they  are  fed  with  hay,  for  wliich,  before  the  hollies  with  which  the  park 
abounded  were  cut  down,  holly -branches  were  substituted.  Two  of  the  cows  are  generally 
sliot  yearly  for  beef. — Lyson's  Magna  Britanica,  Chester,  p.  729. 


208  CATTLE. 

nate  battle  for  supremacy  would  be  fought  between  the  long  and  the 
short-horns.  What  was  the  peculiar  breed  of  Leicester  before  the  time  of 
Bakewell,  it  is  now  impossible  to  ascertain.  Probably  tliere  was  not 
any  distinct  one;  at  least  we  have  no  record  of  it,  and  it  Avas  altogether 
neglected  by  Bakewell,  throughout  the  whole  of  his  experiments. 

The  Leicestershire  grazing  grounds  were  always  occupied  by  a  strange 
variety  of  beasts  from  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  Wales,  and  from  Stafford- 
shire and  Shropshire,  and  Herefordshire  and  Lancashire,  and  every 
neighbouring  county.  It  was  one  of  the  recognised  feeding  districts  for 
the  metropolitan  market,  and  its  own  breed  was  made  up  of  a  mixture  of 
all  the  sojourners. 

Bakewell,  however,  created  a  breed  for  this  county,  the  name  and  recol- 
lection of  which  will  never  be  lost,  notwithstanding  the  breed  itself  has  so 
compfctely  passed  away.  Although,  however,  the  improved  Leicester 
long-horns  have  disappeared,  it  was  from  no  fault  of  theirs — Bakewell's 
was  decidedly  an  improved  breed,  the  coarser  parts  of  the  animal  were 
lessened,  and  the  more  valuable  were  increased;  but  they  gradually 
yielded  to  the  superior  claims  of  a  race  of  catde  at  that  time  scarcely 
known. 

Where  a  few  of  tiie  long-horns  do  linger,  the  improved  Leicesters  are 
gone;  they  are  the  old  breed  of  the  country  retained  or  returned.  For 
grazing,  and  for  early  maturity,  the  long-horns  must  yield  to  the  Durhams; 
and  it  is  only  their  adaptation  for  particular  localities,  and  the  peculiar 
quality  of  their  smaller  quantity  of  milk,  in  the  production  of  certain 
varieties  of  dairy  produce,  that  enable  tliem  anywhere  to  maintain  the  con- 
test. Thus  they  remain  in  Cheshire,  in  despite  of  the  somewhat  injudi- 
cious attempts  to  displace  them,  and  the  stock  of  few  of  the  dairy  farms 
of  this  and  the  neighbouring  counties.  About  Hinchley,  Bosworth,  Ap- 
pleby, and  Snarestown,  a  few  of  the  farms  are  supplied  by  the  long-horns, 
and  more  by  a  mixed  breed  between  the  Lancashire  and  the  Durham. 
More  than  1500  tons  of  cheese  are  made  in  Leicester  every  year,  and  it  is 
said  that  .5000  tons  are  annually  sent  down  the  Trent  from  this  and  the 
neighbouring  counties.* 

RUTLANDSHIRE. 

This  little  county  could  never  make  pretensions  to  a  peculiar  breed. 
Grazing  was  always  the  pi'incipal  object  here,  and  the  Irish  and  small 
Scotch  were  most  in  request.  Marshall,  in  his  '  Agriculture  of  the  ^Midland 
Counties,'  says  that  in  his  time,  the  Irish  had  not  long  been  known  in  Rut- 
landshire; but  that  they  were  then  bought  in  preference  to  the  Welsh, 
and  Shropshire,  and  large  Scotch,  which  had  been  previously  grazed. 
After  one  summer's  grass,  they  were  usually  sent  to  London,  stall-feeding 
being  little  practised;  and  occasionally  hay  was  given  in  the  fields  to 
someof  the  best  of  them,  to  keep  them  until  after  Christmas,     Many  of 

*  The  celebrated  Stilton  cheese  was  first  made  at  VVimondham,  in  the  Melton  quarter 
of  Leicestcrsliire.  Mr.  Marshall  gives  the  followinfr  account  of  it: — '  Mr.  Paukt,  uho 
resided  at  VVimondham,  a  relation  of  Cooper  Thornhill,  who  formerly  kept  tlie  Bell  at 
Stilton,  in  Hunting-donshire,  on  the  great  north  road  fi-om  London  to  Edinburgh,  fur- 
nished his  house  with  cream-cheese,  which,  being  of  a  singularly  fine  quality,  was  coveted 
by  his  customers;  and  through  the  assistance  of  Mr.  P.,  his  customers  were  gratified  at 
the  expense  of  half  a  crown  a  pound.  In  wliat  country  this  cheese  was  maimfacturcd 
was  not  publicl}'  known,  and  hence  it  obtained  the  name  of  Stilton  cheese.  At  length 
the  place  of  producing  it  was  discovered,  and  the  art  of  producing  it  learned  by  other 
dairy-women  of  tlie  neighbourhood.  Dalby  first  took  the  lead,  but  it  soon  made  its  way 
in  almost  every  village  in  tliat  quarter  of  Leicestershire,  as  well  as  in  the  neighbouring 
villages  of  Rutlandshire.     Many  tons  of  it  are  made  every  year.' 


THE  NORTHAMPTONSHIRE  BREED.  209 

the  short-horn  cattle,  however,  are  now  grazed  in  Rutland.  The  heifers 
are  bought  in  at  two  years  old,  and  sold  in  calf  at  three  years  old  to  the 
Jobbers,  who  take  them  to  the  dairy  counties,  or  to  London. 

HUNTINGDONSHIRE. 

In  the  statistical  account  of  it,  it  is  stated  that  the  county  contained 
'  9245  head  of  catde,  almost  all  of  a  mixed  breed,  and  of  a  very  inferior 
one  too'  Parkinson  in  his  '  Survey'  of  this  county  adds,  that  they  were 
'  of  all  kinds,  but  good  ones:'  yet  he  confesses  that  they  were  beginning 
to  improve  on  the  side  of  Bedfordshire  and  Northamptonshire.  Stone 
says,  that  they  are  for  the  most  part  purchased  at  distant  fairs,  and  are 
the  refuse  of  the  Lancashire,  Leicestershire,  and  Derbyshire  breeds,  or 
are  bred  from  these  sorts  without  any  particular  care  in  selecting  them. 
They  have  very  materially  improved.  The  mongrel  long-horned  breed  of 
the  county  has  disappeared,  and  a  great  many  pure  short-horns  are  now 
found,  or  a  cross  between  them  and  the  Derbyshire.  The  cross  between 
the  two  is  gradually  disappearing,  and  the  short-horns  are  taking  undis- 
puted possession  of  the  district. 

CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 

The  native  breed  of  this  county  was  a  long-horn  one;  but  now  the 
short-horns  prevail  in  every  dairy  where  the  land  is  tolerably  good,  and 
on  poorer  land  there  is  a  smaller  half-horn  breed,  which  yields  more  and 
better  milk  than  its  appearance  would  indicate,  but  is  slow  and  unprofit- 
able to  fatten.  The  Rev.  ^Ir.  Gooch,  in  his  '  Survey  of  Cambridgeshire,' 
tells  us  that  Cambridgeshire  having  been  a  dairy  country  from  time  imme- 
morial, among  other  good  milking  stock  attempted  to  be  introduced,  were 
the  polled  cattle,  from  the  neighbouring  county  of  Suffolk.  Mr.  Fuller 
purchased  a  dairy  of  them,  but  they  began  speedily  to  decline,  when  he 
re-sold  them  to  their  former  owner,  who  took  them  back  to  their  native 
situation,  in  which  they  were  speedily  restored  to  their  original  health. 

It  is  true  that  the  Suffolks  have  never  extensively  established  themselves 
in  Cambridgeshire;  but  we  know  some  dairies  of  them  which  answer 
exceedingly  well. 

Few  parts  of  England  produce  better  butter  than  Cambridgeshire.  It 
is  curiously  rolled  up  in  pieces  of  more  than  a  foot  in  length,  and  not  two 
inches  in  diameter,  for  the  convenience  of  the  collegians,  to  whose  table  it 
is  sent  in  slices,  called  pats.  A  great  deal  of  butter  is  likewise  sent  to  the 
London  market,  but  there  is  not  much  cheese  made,  except  at  Sohan  and 
Cottenham.  A  great  many  bullocks  are  grazed,  consisting  chiefly  of  the 
country  stock,  the  Norfolks  and  Suffolks,  and  the  Galloway  Scots.  The 
most  profitable  method  of  grazing  is  to  buy  them  about  autumn,  and  sell 
them  at  the  succeeding  autumn;  keeping  them  on  hay  and  grass  in  the 
winter,  and  finishing  them  off  on  grass.  On  the  grazing  grounds  about 
the  fens,  many  Devon  catde  are  now  prepared  for  the  markets. 

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 

Northamptonshire  is  not  a  breeding  district,  but  cattle  are  brought  from 
other  districts  and  purchased  for  the  London  market,  and  they  as  usual 
consist  of  a  great  variety  of  breeds.  An  Agricultural  Society  has,  how- 
ever, been  established  in  this  county,  and  is  conducted  with  much  spirit; 
and  in  consequence  of  this,  the  short-horns  are  now  diligently  cultivated 
by  many  intelligent  farmers.* 

•  Marshall,  in  his '  Agriculture  of  the  Midland  Counties,'  and  quoting  from  '  Donald- 
son's  Survey  of  Northamptonshire,'  says,  '  Very  few  cattle  are  reared  in  this  county; 
19* 


210  CATTLE. 

Tlio  soil  of  Northamptonshire  varies  from  a  cold  clay  to  a  red  loam. 
The  cattle  are  first  grazed  in  the  old  pastures,  and  those  that  have  not 
been  made  fat  at  grass  are  afterwards  stall  fed.  In  the  red  loamy  soils 
■which  are  adapted  for  turnips,  stall-feeding  on  them,  with  an  addition  ot 
seed-hay,  is  generally  adopted. 

No  cattle  are  used  in  husbandry. 

It  has  been  remarked  to  us  by  an  eminent  Northamptonshire  breeder, 
thnt  the  quarter  evil,  or  black  leg  (inflammatory  fever)  is  rarely  known 
among  young  cattle  in  this  county.  If  this  be  true,  it  is  an  important  fact, 
for  there  is  nothing  peculiar  in  the  management  of  cattle  here,  and  it  would 
seem  to  connect  the  disease  in  some  measure  with  the  climate  or  the  soil, 
and  its  productions.  Observations  on  the  districts  where  this  disease  is 
most  prevalent,  or  rarely  found,  and  the  management  of  soil  and  produce 
of  those  districts,  might  lead  to  some  useful  conclusions  as  to  the  cause  of 
so  generally  prevalent  and  fatal  a  disease. 

BEDFORDSHIRE. 

In  Bedfordshire,  also,  the  long-horns,  the  old  cattle  of  the  county,  have 
altogether  disappeared.  There  is  not  a  single  farmer  who  breeds  them 
in  their  pure  state.  Some  half-horn  cattle  are  to  be  found  among  the 
small  farmers,  and  the  cow  of  the  cottager  is  here,  as  in  so  many  other 
districts,  the  produce  of  the  old  long-honi  and  the  Yorkshire,  crossed  in 
every  possible  way,  and  retaining  the  milking  properties  of  the  one,  and 
the  hardihood  of  the  other,  and  tlierefore  fitted  to  become  the  poor  man's 
cow. 

With  this  exception,  there  is  no  distinguishing  breed  belonging  to  the 
county.  A  few  gentlemen  have  the  Devons — more  prefer  the  Ilerefords. 
and  still  more  the  short-horns;  the  short-horns,  indeed,  are  here,  as  every- 
where else,  superseding  the  rest. 

Bedfordshire  contributes  much  to  the  supply  of  the  dairy  cattle  of  the 
metropolis.  Many  heifers  are  brought  from  the  north,  and  having  been 
delayed  for  a  while  in  this  county,  and  become  heavy  in  calf,  are  sent 
forward  to  the  metropolis.  By  some  farmers,  and  in  this  respect  we  ima- 
gine foolishly  over-reaching  themselves,  they  arc  detained  longer;  they 
are  milked  for  one  or  two  years,  and  then  despatched  to  tlie  metropolis. 

a  few  only  in  tlif!  open  field  (Irrdships  excepted,)  and  tliese  are  so  crossed  and  mixed 
with  tlie  breeds  of  other  counties,  which  arc  often  improperly  chosen,  and  so  stinted  in 
their  food,  as  to  render  them  eoniparativcly  of  little  value. 

'  In  a  tew  instances  where  attention  is  paid  to  the  breed  of  cattle  on  the  inclosed  farmiv 
the  long-hums  arc  the  kind  most  preferred,  raid  ai'C  far  superior  to  the  original  breed  of 
the  county,  botli  in  size  and  sliapc,  and  cxtraordhiary  disposition  to  fatten. 

'  The  dairy  farmers  in  the  sonth-wcst  part  of  the  county,  however,  prefer  the  short- 
horn Yorkshire  cows,  from  which  county  tiiey  are  principally  supplied;  and  as  they  never 
rear  any  calves,  tliey  sell  them  when  a  lew  days  old  to  a  set  of  meia  who  make  a  trade- 
of  currying  them  to  the  markets  of  Buckingliam  and  other  places,  where  they  are  pur- 
chased by  dairy  farmers  from  Essex,  to  be  tatted  for  veal  for  the  London  markets. 

'Soon  after  Lady-day,  the  farmer  begins  to  purchase  bullocks,  and  the  breeds  of 
Shropshire  and  Herefordshire  are  preferred.  In  the  course  of  the  summer,  some  Scotch 
and  Welsh  cattle  arc  bought  in — he  begins  selling  off  in  September,  and  by  the  begin- 
ning of  February  the  whole  are  disposed  of. 

'  The  manner  of  transporting  the  calves  used  to  be  both  absurd  and  cruel.  The  jobber 
had  often  a  long  round  to  take  to  complete  his  purchases;  and  after  that,  he  had  to 
travel  70  or  80  miles  before  he  reached  his  abode  or  place  of  sale  in  Essex.  Sometimes 
twelve  or  sixteen  calves  were  put  into  one  cart,  and  laid  on  their  backs  in  the  ntraw, 
with  their  feet  tied  together;  and  if  the  journey  occupied  seven  or  eight  days,  they  had 
rarely  anything  to  eat  but  wheat-flour  and  gin  mixed  together,  well  known  in  that  line 
of  country  by  the  name  of  gin-ball,  and  thus  the  calves  were  kept  in  a  state  of  stupidity 
or  intoxication  during  the  whole  of  the  time.' 


THE  BEDFORDSHIRE  BREED,  211 

Very  few  short-horns  are  bred  in  Bedfordshire,  and  indeed,  very  few  of 
any  other  breed,  except  by  two  or  three  spirited  agricuhurists,  at  tlie  head 
of  whom  stands  the  Duke  of  Bedford. 

Francis,  Duke  of  Bedford,  began  to  devote  himself  to  agricuhural  pur- 
suits in  the  year  1795  or  1796.  The  chief  object  of  his  attention  was  the 
improvement  of  the  breed  of  sheep;  and  of  the  spirit  with  which  he  en- 
tered into  this,  and  the  extent  to  which  the  country  is  indebted  to  him, 
and  of  those  interesting  and  princely  meetings,  the  annual  sheep-shearings 
and  the  exhibition  of  stock,  we  shall  speak  in  our  volume  on  Sheep.  In 
other  parts  of  the  '  Farmer's  Series,'  and  particularly  in  the  treatise  on 
'British  Husbandry,'  justice  will  be  attempted  to  be  done  to  the  labours 
of  this  patriotic  nobleman  in  every  department  of  agricultural  science. 
I'here  were  few  breeds  of  cattle  whose  relative  qualities  and  value  were 
not  put  fairly  to  the  test  at  Woburn,  and  ofie  breed  after  another  was 
abandoned,  until  at  his  decease  in  1802,  he  was  balancing  between  the 
North  Devons  and  the  Herefords. 

His  brother,  the  present  Duke  of  Bedford,  (1833,)  to  whom  we  are 
indebted  for  permission  to  view  every  part  of  his  farm,  and  for  much 
valuable  information  besides,  gave  the  preference  to  the  Herefords;  and 
they,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  Ayrshire  and  Yorkshire  cows,  to  pro- 
vide milk  for  the  calves  and  for  the  houses  and  always  a  succession  of 
West  Highlanders  to  graze,  constitute  the  whole  of  his  stock.  •■  Although 
he  abandoned  the  North  Devons,  he  still  considered  them  to  be  an  ad- 
mirable breed  of  cattle,  and  only  inferior  to  the  Herefords,  as  not  suiting 
the  soil  of  Woburn  quite  so  well.  A  few  North  Devons  are  still  kept  for 
farm  work,  but  they  are  not  the  true  Bidcford  breed,  but  of  the  some- 
what heavier,  but  still  more  useful  variety,  most  prevalent  on  the  borders 
of  Somersetshire. 

The  pasture  at  Woburn  is  somewhat  inferior  to  that  of  Herefordshire 
generally,  and  the  cattle  selected,  and  having  much  in  them  in  the  blood 
or  Messrs.  Tulley's  and  Tomkin's  and  Price's  stock,  are  not  so  large  as 
those  which  are  principally  met  with  on  their  native  soil;  and  they  are 
not  the  worse  for  this.  They  lose  much  of  the  heaviness  and  coarseness 
of  the  shoulder  which  has  sometimes  been  objected  to  in  the  Herefords, 
and  they  retain  all  the  length  of  quarter,  and  much  of  the  wideness  and 
roundness  of  hip,  and  fullness  of  thigh,  which  have  been  esteemed  the 
peculiar  excellences  of  the  Herefords.  A  few  of  them  might  in  their 
fore-quarters  be  mistaken  for  Devonshires;  but  Avith  a  broadness  of 
chine  and  weight  behind  which  tlie  Devons  have  rarely  attained.  There 
is  litde  that  is  unusual  in  tlie  feeding  of  these  beasts.  The  calf  lies  with 
the  mother  for  about  a  week,  and  is  then  taken  away,  and  fed  at  first  with 
milk  from  the  dairy,  and,  afterwards,  with  skim-milk.  It  then  runs  on  the 
ordinary  pastures  until  two  years  old,  when  it  is  put  on  better  keep;  it 
passes  the  third  summer  at  grass,  is  stall-fed  in  the  winter,  and  ready  for 
market  at  three  years  of  age,  and  will  attain  the  average  weight  of  ninety 
or  ninety-five  stones.  His  Grace  has  often  exhibited  cattle  at  Smithfield 
of  a  far  superior  weight. 

His  present  stock  consists  of  from  thirty  to  forty  cows.  The  bull-calves 
are  fattened;  the  best  of  the  females  are  retained  for  breeding;  and  other 
beasts  being   boHght  in  in  the  summer  and  autumn,  seventy  or  eighty 

*  No  polled  cattle  arc  now  grazed  on  the  Woburn  estate.  After  many  trials,  and 
sonic  of  tliem  on  a  large  scale,  the  Duke  of  Bedford  gives  a  decided  prelerencc  to  the 
horned  breeds.  When  the  polled  cattle  were  grazed  there,  the  Galloways  had  gradually 
given  way  to  the  Angus,  and  Mr.  Todd  expressed  to  us  his  decided  opinion,  that  they  fed 
taster  tlian  the  Galloways,  and  afforded  meat  equally  as  good. 


212  CATTLE. 

are  usually  stall-fed  every  winter.  A  new  range  of  cattle-sheds  and  pig- 
geries has  been  lately  erected;  a  water-mill  in  the  yard  is  fed  by  a  con- 
cealed stream;  the  straw-yards  are  excellently  contrived;  and  every  pos- 
sible convenience,  of  a  simple  and  unostentatious  form,  but  in  the  structure 
of  which  neither  expense  nor  ground  has  been  spared,  is  to  be  found 
on  the  premises.  Although  the  Herelbrds  are  now  established  at  AVoburn, 
the  spirited  proprietor  of  the  abbey  has  not  discontinued  the  experiments 
Avhich  were  instituted  by  his  brother,  in  order  to  determine  the  compara- 
tive value  of  other  breeds.  Mr.  Todd,  the  very  intelligent  bailiff  of  his 
Grace,  permitted  us  to  have  access  to  many  of  the  records  of  these  expe- 
riments. Our  readers  will  not  object  to  the  transcription  of  one  or  two 
of  them. 

'  1819,  May  20th,  four  Pembroke  spayed  heifers  in  good  store  con- 
dition, bought  April  the  29th,  at  16/.  5s.  each,  and  four  polled  Galloway 
spayed  heifers,  bought  December  22nd,  1818,  at  11/.  lis.  each,  in  store 
order,  but  rather  fresher  than  the  above,  having  been  wintei'ed  on  the 
farm  with  very  refuse  bad  hay,  were  put  to  grass  in  the  same  field,  and 
kept  there  until  October  2l3t,  being  a  period  of  five  months. 

Ton.    Cwt.    qrs. 
The  Pembrokes  weighed  on  May  20  .  .  .         1     12     0 

On  October  21st  they  weighed  .  .  .        1     19     2 

Gained  in  weight  in  the  five  months.     . 

The  Scots  weighed  in  May 

Ditto  in  October  .... 

Having  gained  .  .       ,     .  .  .081 

And  being  an  excess  of  weight  gained  above  that  of  the  ,*  r,       ^     q 
Pembrokes  of  .  .  .  .  >U       U     d 

£.  £.  s.  .  £      s. 

The  Pembrokes  sold  at  84  Cost.  65  0  Gained  by  grazing    19     0 

The  Scots  .         .     74  Cost  16  4  Gained      .         .         27  16 


0 

7     2 

1 
1 

10     1 

18    2 

Excess  of  gain  in  favour  of  the  Scots      .  .  ,  .         .  8  16 

From  which,  however,  is  to  be  deducted  the  value  of  the  refuse  hay 
which  they  ate. 

'Twenty  Devons  and  twenty  Scots  were  bought  in  in  October,  1822, 
and  wintered. 

'  Ten  of  each  sort  were  fed  in  a  warm  straw-yard  upon  straw  alone,  but 
with  liberty  to  run  out  upon  the  moor. 

'  Ten  were  fed  in  a  meadow,  having  hay  twice  every  day  until  Christmas. 

'  They  afterwards  lay  in  the  farm-yard,  and  had  oat-straw  and  hay,  cut 
together  into  chaff.  They  were  then  grazed  in  different  fields,  equal  pro- 
portions of  each  sort  being  put  into  the  same  field. 

'  Those  that  lay  in  the  warm  straw-yard  with  straw  only,  were  ready  as 
soon  as  the  others,  although  the  others  had  an  allowance  of  hay  during 
the  winter. 

'  Sixteen  of  each  were  sold  at  different  times;  March  24th,  1824 
being  the  last  sale.  The  Scots  were  ready  first,  and  disposed  of  before 
the  Devons. 

The  Scots  cost  11.  12s.  lOfZ.  each,  amounting  to  122Z.  5s.  4d.;  they  sold  for  £  s.  d. 
235Z.  18s.  &d.     Gain  by  grazing 113     13     2 

The  Devons  cost  11.  Gs.  &d.  each,  amounting  to  117/.  4s.,  and  they  sold  for 
250L;  but  not  being  ready,  on  the  average,  until  between  six  and  seven  weeks 
after  the  Scots,  and  estimating  tiieir  keep  at  3s.  6rf.  per  week  each,  amounting 
to  18Z.  14s.  6(/.,  and  this  being  substractcd  from  230/.,  there  will  remain  as  the 
sum  actually  obtained  for  them  211/.  5s.  6c/.     Gain  .         .         .         .    94       1     6 

Making  a  balance  in  favour  of  the  Scots fl9     11     8 


THE  BEDFORDSHIRE  BREED.  213 

The  remaining  fonr  of  each  breed  were  kept  and  stall-fed  on  turnips 
and  hay.  The  Scots  sold  at  75/.,  and  the  Devons  at  84/.,  the  account  of 
Avhich  will  be  as  follows: — 

£.  s.  d. 

Four  Devons  at  7/.  6s.  Gd.,  cost  29/.  6s.;  they  sold  for  84Z ;  leaving  gain  by 
stall-fcedina  54  14  0 

Four  Scots  at  11  12s.  10(7.,  cost  30Z.   lis.  -id.;  they  sold  for  75Z.;  leaving 
gain  by  stall-feeding 44     88 

Making  balance  in  favour  of  Devons  10     54 

Or  total  balance  in  favour  of  Scots        -         -         -         --         -         -964 

This  experiment  seemed  to  establish  the  superiority  of  the  Scots  for 
grazing-,  and  the  Devons  for  stall-feediug.  But  as  the  gain  by  the  four 
stall-fed  Devons  was  half  as  much  as  that  by  the  sixteen  Scots  at  straw- 
yard,  it  was  determined  that  another  experiment  should  be  made,  in  which 
the  whole  should  be  fed  alike,  both  at  grass  and  in  the  stall. 

Twenty  Scots  and  twenty  Devons  were  again  bought  in  in  October, 
and  sold  at  different  times,  but  always  an  equal  number  of  each  at  each 
time,  the  last  sale  taking  place  in  March. 

The  twenty  Devons  co-st  1S9Z.  9s.;  they  sold  for  370Z.  17s.  lOrf.;  leaving  £.  s.  d. 
for    feeding -  -  -       181     8  10 

The  twenty  Scots  cost  212Z.  .3s.:  they  sold  for  374Z.  5s.  Hd.;  leaving  for 
feeding '  -  -  162     1     U 

Balance  in  favour  of  tho  Devons       ....  -         ^£19       g  gj 

Two  experiments,  on  tlie  fattening  properties  of  different  kinds  of 
food,  will  not  be  unacceptable  to  our  readers. 

Six  Scots,  previously  grazed  togellier,  in  the  same  field,  were  taken  up 
and  stall-fed  on  the  6th  of  January,  1823,  and  the  feeding  was  continued 
until  the  14th  of  April.     They  were  divided  into  pairs. 

To  each  of  one  and  two  were  given  daily,  one  bushel  of  mangel-wurzel, 
two  quarts  of  bean  and  barley  flour  mixed,  and  as  much  hay  as  they 
would  eat. 

Three  and  four  had  one  busliel  of  Swedes  each,  with  the  bean  and 
barley  flour,  and  hay. 

Five  and  six  had  three  pecks  and  a  half  of  potatoes,  with  the  bean 
and  barley  flour,  and  potatoes. 

£.    s.  d.  £.    s.  d. 

One  and  two  consumed  18  cwt.  1  qr.  of  hay 
at  3Z.  amounting  to  2Z.  14s.  9(Z.;  l^qr  of  flour  at 
3s.  IZ.  16s.;  and  196  bushels  of  mangel-wurzel  at 
9<Z,  7Z.  7s.  amounting   to  -  -  -     11  17  9 

They  gained  3  cwt.  1  qr.  7  lb.  at  5s.  Ad.  per 
stone  at  that  time  -  -  -  12     7  4  Gained  by  feeding     0     9  7 

Three  and  four  consumed  20  cwt.  2  qrs.  of 
hay  at  3Z.,  3Z.  Gs.;  bean  flour  IZ.  16s..  and  196 
bushels  of  Swedes  at  *^d.,  11.  Is.  amounting  to      12     9  0 

They  gained  3  cwt.  2  qrs.  21  lb.  at  5s.  id.         13  15  4    Gained  by  feeding   16  6 

Five  and  six  consumed  23  cwt.  of  hay  at  3Z., 
3?.  9s.;  bean  flour  IZ.  16s.;  78  bushels  of  potatoes 
at  Is.  l(Z.,4Z.4s.6<Z 9     9  0 

They  gained  2  cwt.  3  qrs.  71b.  at  5s.  4d.  10    0  0  Gained  by  feeding     0  11  0 

We  will  condense  our  account  of  the  second  experiment.  Two  Scots 
were  fed  on  English  linseed  cakes;  two  Devons  on  unboiled  linseed; 
two  others  on  boiled  linseed,  and  another  pair  of  Devons  on  foreign,  all 
of  them  having  as  much  hay  and  chaff"  as  they  could  eat.  It  was  a  losing 
concern  in  everj'  case;  the  value  of  the  manure  was  not  equal  to  the 
difference  of  the  cost  and  the  selling  prices,  and  strange  as  it  may  appear, 
the  greatest  loss  was  sustained  when  the  beasts  were  fed  on  oil  cake;  the 


214  CAITLE. 

next  when  foreign  cake  was  used,  the  next  when  boiled  linseed  was  used, 
and  the  least  of  all  when  the  simple  unboiled  linseed  was  given.* 

We  might  make  many  more  extracts,  but  these  will  show  the  spirit 
with  which  this  noble  agricultural  concern  was  conducted,  and  give  us 
some  idea  of  the  value  of  those  who  will  devote  their  time  and  their  pro- 
perty to  such  pursuits. 

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 

This  county,  once  inhabited  by  the  long-horns,  has  now  no  distinct 
breed  of  its  own.  The  greater  part  of  the  cows  and  grazing  stock  is 
bought  in.  It  consists  almost  uniformly  of  the  short-horns  for  both 
purposes;  many  of  the  Lincolns  are  selected  for  grazing,  and  the  York- 
shire milch  cow  for  the  dairy. 

Mr.  Marshall  truly  says,  that  with  the  exception  of  Pevensey  Level  and 
Romney  Marsh,  there  is  no  land  in  the  kingdom  better  adapted  for 
grazing  than  the  vale  of  Aylesbury.  Its  amazing  fertility  soon  makes  a 
visible  alteiation  in  the  appearance  of  every  beast,  and  causes  them  to 
attain  to  an  extraordinary  size — these  are  proofs  of  the  qualities  of  the 
land.  The  cattle  arc  grazed  about  ten  months,  and  do  not  often  require 
any  additional  care  than  a  supply  of  hay  in  the  field  during  winter. 

Vast  quantities  of  excellent  butter  are  sent  from  the  vale  of  Aylesbury 
to  the  metropolis.  The  butter  merchants  contract  for  it  at  different  prices, 
varying  with  the  season  of  the  year;  and  the  carrier  contracts  for  the 
transport  of  it,  at  a  certain  charge  for  each  dozen  pounds,  finding  cloths, 
baskets,  &c.  He  fetches  it  from  the  dairyman  and  delivers  it  to  the 
merchant. 

BERKSHIRE. 

The  long-horns  had  penetrated  as  far  south,  as  this  county,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century  fully  occupied  it.  They  bore  much  resemblance 
to  the  cattle  of  Oxfordshire  and  Warwickshire.  The  diflerent  breeds  of 
the  Yorkshire  cattle  have  now,  however,  completely  superseded  them.  A 
long-horn  beast  is  now  rarely  seen,  and  even  the  half-horns  are  disap- 
pearing. Mr.  Tomkins,  of  Abingdon,  and  Mr.  Webb,  of  Oakingham,. 
were  particularly  distinguished  by  their  early  introduction  of  this  breed. 

In  the  forest  districts  of  Berkshire,  many  Welsh  and  Scotch  cattle  are 
grazed,  and  heavier  cattle  occupy  the  more  fertile  pastures. 

A  considerable  quantity  of  butter  is  made  on  the  borders  of  Oxford- 
shire, and  a  part  of  the  Vale  of  the  White-horn  is  celebrated  for  its  cheese. 
It  is  principally  sold  in  London  under  the  name  of  single  Gloucester 
cheese,  and  is  formed  in  the  press  into  a  variety  of  curious  shapes.  Mr. 
Mavor  conjectures  that  '  they  sell  more  dearly  than  other  cheese,  partly 
on  account  of  their  shape,  and  partly  because  the  best  cheese  is  supposed 
to  ba  thus  honoured.'  These  pine-apple  cheeses  are  made  without  any 
pressure  from  a  machine:  they  are  suspended  in  nets  which  gives  them 
the  curious  indentations  which  they  present.  From  the  wharf  of  Barcot, 
in  Oxfordshire,  nearly  three  thousand  tons  of  cheese  are  sent  down  the 
Thames  for  metropolitan  consumption,  partly  collected  from  neighbouring 
parishes  in  other  counties,  but  principally  from  Berkshire. 

*  To  many  records  of  experiments  on  the  comparative  fattening  qualities  of  the 
Hereford  and  Durham  cattle  we  will  not  now  refer.  One,  although  not  then  assigned  to 
its  proper  author,  the  present  Duke  of  Bedford,  was  detailed  at  page  34  of  this  work. 
We  will  content  ourselves  with  referring  to  that.  The  patrons  of  the  short-horns,  how- 
ever, have  not  considered  it  as  altogether  satisfactory  in  its  details. 


THE  HAMPSHIRE  BREED.  815 

HA5IPSHIRE. 

Hither  also  the  long-horns  penetrated,  and  were  the  prevailing  breed, 
but  they  may  be  said  to  have  perfectly  disappeared.  They  have  given 
way  to  the  Devons,  and  indeed  to  breeds  of  every  sort,  and,  more  particu- 
larly near  the  coast  to  the  Alderney,  or  smaller  breed  of  Norman  cows. 

The  latter  are  the  favourites  in  consequence  of  the  greater  quantity  of  milk 
which  they  yield  in  proportion  to  the  food  which  they  consume.  Good 
meadow  land,  hov/ever,  is  not  plentiful  in  this  district,  and  is  very  dear;  the 
dairy,  therefore,  is  comparatively  neglected  on  too  many  farms,  and  little 
more  butter  is  manufactured  than  is  necessary  for  the  consumption  of  the 
county.  The  short-horns  are  beginning  to  find  their  way  into  Hampshire, 
and  where  the  soil  is  productive  they  are  profitable,  but  much  of  the 
county  is  incapable  of  supporting  so  large  an  animal.  Our  friend,  Mr. 
Moulden,  informs  ns,  that  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Winchester,  the 
Norman  is  often  crossed  with  the  Hereford;  the  Norman  is  not  injured 
as  a  milker,  while  she  is  impi'oved  in  size  and  disposition  to  fatten. 
About  Southampton,  the  Alderney  is  the  prevalent  breed.  There  are 
many  facilities  for  obtaining  her  from  the  contiguous  islands  of  Guernsey 
and  Jersey.  In  this  part  of  the  county,  the  Alderney  has  been  crossed  with 
the  forest  breed,  and  also  with  the  Suffolk.  The  forester  has  improved,  and 
the  Norman  has  deteriorated  in  consequence  of  the  first  cross,  and  the 
second  has  been  attended  with  doubtful  success.  Next  to  the  Alderneys, 
the  Suffolks  are  most  in  favour  on  the  coast  of  Hampshire. 

Mr.  Gawler,  in  his  '  report  of  a  North  Hampshire  Farm,'  (Farmer's 
Series,  No.  vii.  p.  15,)  states  that  the  '  stock  in  general  best  adapted  to 
this  soil  are  the  Alderney,  and  the  smaller  race  of  Norman  cows.  The 
Devonshire  and  larger  breeds  require  richer  pasture;  and  although  they 
may  be  kept  in  condition,  the  milk  they  give  is  by  no  means  in  proportion 
to  the  bulk  of  food  they  consume.  Mr.  Gawler's  dairy  stock  was  in  the 
proportion  of  one  cow  of  the  Devonshii-e  breed  to  three  of  the  Alderney 
or  Norman,  and  the  milk  was  mixed  on  the  presumption  that,  being  thus 
diluted,  it  produced  better  butter,  and  a  larger  quantity  of    it.' 

Sir  Richard  Simeon  has  favoured  us  with  a  description  of  the  cattle  in 
the  Isle  of  Wight.  They  are  a  small  mixed  kind  without  any  of  those 
peculiarities  which  would  mark  them  as  distinct  breeds.  Scarcely  any 
oxen  are  bred  from  them;  cow-calves  are  saved  for  the  purpose  of  keep- 
ing up  the  dairy;  invariably  from  the  best  milkers,  and  not  with  any  view 
to  their  aptitude  to  fatten. 

The  dairy  stock  has  been  occasionally  mixed  with  the  Guernsey  or 
Alderney  cattle,  and  with  success  so  far  as  the  quantity  and  quality  of  milk 
go.  Some  attempts  have  been  made  to  introduce  the  short-horns,  and 
in  some  instances  the  cattle  of  the  island  have  been  improved  in  size  and 
appearance;  but,  looking  to  the  general  capabilities  of  the  island  for  the 
maintenance  of  large  stock,  and  fitting  them  for  the  purpose  of  the  butcher, 
it  may  be  doubtful  whether  the  smaller  and  rougher  kind  of  catde  may 
not  be  a  safer  description  of  stock,  and  likely  to  produce  a  better  result  to 
the  farmer.  The  Alderney  is  a  favourite  breed — a  cross  between  the 
Devon  has  produced  some  very  good  cows  here,  well  adapted  for  the 
dairy,  and  not  unprofitable  for  the  butcher. 

The  value  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  cattle  depends  almost  exclusively  upon 
their  being  good  milkers:  for  the  purposes  of  the  butcher,  many  of  them 
are  of  little  value,  on  account  of  the  generally  received  opinion,  that  a 
cow  which  has  an  aptitude  to  fatten  is  a  bad  milker.  The  farmers  rarely 
breed  from  a  cow  which  has  good  points  for  grazing. 


216  CATTLE. 

The  smallest  farmer  in  the  Isle  of  Wight  has  a  dairy,  and  the  contrast 
is  very  striking  to  an  inhabitant  of  the  island  who  visits  the  neighbourhood 
of  Winchester,  in  the  same  county,  where  he  may  ride  many  a  mile 
without  seeing  a  cow,  because  it  is  the  custom  to  keep  bullocks  on  that 
land  only  that  will  not  do  for  sheep. 

Mr.  li.  C4.  Kirkpatrick  has  informed  us,  that  the  only  farms  that  are 
calculated  for  grazing  lie  along  tlie  streams  that  run  through  the  valley 
on  the  South  side  of  the  Chalk  Downs,  and  chiefly  on  the  Brading  stream. 
Lord  Yarborough,  at  Appeldurcombe,  is  one  of  the  most  extensive 
graziers  in  the  island.  He  annually  imports  forty  or  lifty  head  of  cattle 
from  liis  estates  in  Lincolnshire  and  from  Scotland.  The  other  graziers 
attend  the  different  markets  in  the  south  and  west  of  England,  and 
buy  chiefly  Sussex,  W^elsh,  Devonshire,  and  other  west  country  cattle. 
The  whole  importation  amounts  to  about  500  annually,  besides  which 
there  are  about  100  west  country  calves  brought  into  the  island  a  little 
before  midsummer.  These  are  partly  taken  into  the  dairies  and  partly 
kept  for  fattening.  One  of  the  finest  dairies  in  the  island  belongs  to 
Sir  Richard  Simeon.  His  cows  are  of  a  larger  sort  than  are  generally 
seen  here,  and  crossed  with  the  Durham.  He  has  devoted  a  great  deal  of 
time  and  expense  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  first  introduced  mangel- 
Avurzel  and  Swedish  turnips  into  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

Oxen  are  not  much  used  in  husbandry  labour;  and  the  few  ox- 
teams  which  we  see  on  the  south  side  of  the  Downs  are  generally  brought 
from  the  west  of  England.  They  are  used  in  field  labour,  but  not  on  the 
road,  from  the  notion  that  their  feet  would  suffer,  and  that  they  are  not 
so  well  adapted  as  horses  for  this  kind  of  work.  They  are  found  to  work 
in  the  field  nearly  as  fast  and  as  well  as  horses^  and  are  kept  at  much 
less  expense. 

WILTSHIRE. 

The  whole  of  Wiltshire,  but  particularly  the  northern  division  of  it 
surrounded  by  the  counties  of  Gloucestershire  and  Berkshire,  was,  at  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  chiefly   occupied    by  the    long-horns.* 

They  are  described  by  Mr.  Baden,  of  Day-house,  (to  wliom  we  are  in- 
debted for  much  information  respecting  this  district,)  as  '  a  fine,  healthy 
sort,  good  for  the  dairy  and  for  feeding,  and  with  immense  spreading 
horns.  Those,  iiowever,  which  were  formerly  most  approved  of  for  the 
dairy,  had  smaller  horns,  bending  towards  the  mouth,  but  they  were  not 
favourites  witli  the  grazier  or  butcher,  because  their  flesh  was  sometimes 
tough.  They  used  to  average  from  thirty-six  to  forty-eight  scores.'  Mr. 
Baden  has  raised  them  to  fifty  scores,  and  a  relative  of  his  has  carried 
them  on  to  sixty  scores,  confining  them  to  grass  and  hay  alone.  Many 
scientific  agriculturists  used  to  object  to  these  long-horned  cattle.  They 
were  said  to  be  too  heavy — tiiey  injuriously  poached  a  land,  the  great 
fault  of  which  was,  that  it  \vas  already  too  cold  and  wet — they  did  not 

*  '  It  docs  not  appear  what  was  the  original  kind  of  cow  kept  in  this  district,  i)ro- 
bably  the  old  Gloucestershire  cow,  a  sort  now  almost  lost,  or,  perhaps,  as  is  tlie  case  in 
Somersetsliirc,  a  mixture  of  all  sorts:  but  theuinversal  rage  for  upwards  of  twenty  years 
past  has  been  for  the  long-horns,  or,  as  they  arc  called,  the  '  North  country  cows,'  and 
at  this  time,  pcrliaps,  nine-tenths  of  the  dairies  in  tliis  district  arc  entirely  of  that  kind. 
The  reasons  given  for  the  general  introduction  of  that  sort  are  tiic  nearness  of  their 
situation  to  the  north  country  breeders,  but  perhaps  the  real  reason  is  that  '  pride  of 
stock,'  which  operating  like'  the  pride  of  sheep  and  horses,'  in  South  Wiltshire,  has 
gradually  led  the  farmers  to  an  emulation  in  beauty  and  size  more  than  in  usefulness 
and  profit,  and  which  pride  the  breeders  have  not  been  wanting  in  using  every  artifice  to 
create  and  promote.' 


THE  WILTSHIRE  BREED.  217 

come  to  perfection  until  tliey  were  at  least  two  years  older  than  the  com- 
mon cattle  of  the  country,  (Bakewell's  improvements  were  then  unknown;) 
and,  comparing  bulk  for  bulk,  they  did  not  yield  a  proportionate  quantity 
of  milk,  nor  equal  to  the  additional  quantity  of  food  which  they  consume. 
Some  strenuous  efibrts  were  made  to  replace  them  by  the  Devons,  smaller 
in  size,  and  being  less  liable  to  tread  and  poach  the  wet  lands — ripe  at  an 
earlier  age  than  the  long-horned  cow,  and  fattening  more  speedily,  but 
there  seemed  to  be  these  objections,  that  they  were  deficient  in  milk;  that 
milk  was  good,  but  not  better  than  the  milk  of  the  long-horn,  and  conse- 
quently the  same  quantity  of  cheese  was  not  produced,  and  they  were  not 
sufficiently  hardy  for  the  cold  and  wet  grounds  on  which  they  were  placed: 
they  therefore  never  obtained  any  firm  footing  in  Wilts. 

The  long-horns  are  nov/,  however,  almost  extinct.  Although  they  were 
really  valuable,  they  seemed  to  retreat  before  the  short-horns,  even  more 
rapidly  than  the  other  varieties  of  the  old  long-horns.  A  cross  of  them 
with  the  short-horns  remains,  and  are  excellent  dairy  cattle.  They  yield 
daily  from  four  to  five  gallons  of  milk,  during  the  height  of  tlie  season. 
They  are  an  improved  breed,  for  they  retain  the  hardihood  of  the  old  long- 
horns  and  good  quality  of  the  milk,  with  the  early  maturity  and  quantity 
of  milk  of  the  short-horn. 

This  cross-breed,  however,  must  be  carefully  watched,  for  it  is  exceed- 
ingly apt  to  degenerate.  Frequent  recurrence  must  be  had  to  the  short- 
horn bull,  and  the  bull  must  often  be  changed.  There  are,  however,  in 
various  parts  of  North  Wilts,  and  particularly  in  the  hands  of  the  cotta- 
gers, as  various  and  inexplicable  crosses  as  are  to  be  met  with  in  any  part 
of  the  kingdom,  and  some  of  them  exceedingly  useful  beasts.  It  should  be 
contrived  that  the  cows  shall  calve  from  Christmas  to  Lady-day  on  a  warm, 
early  soil,  but  not  until  three  weeks  later  on  a  backward,  cold  land. 

Mr.  Baden  recommends  that  warm  water  should  be  given  to  the  cow 
after  calving,  especially  if  she  has  not  cleansed,  for  cold  water  will  often 
retard  or  prevent  the  expulsion  of  the  after-birth,  and  particularly  not  to 
draw  all  the  milk  from  the  teats  for  the  first  twelve  hours. 

If  the  calf  is  strong  and  healthy,  the  best  time  for  weaning  is  at  the 
expiration  of  the  third  week;  it  should  be  put  into  a  cow-house,  and 
served  from  a  pail:  it  will  drink  readily  after  being  kept  one  meal  from 
the  mother.  One  quart  of  skimmed  milk,  added  to  one  Avarm  from  the 
cow,  is  deemed  a  sufficient  meal,  and  good  hay  should  be  placed  before 
them,  for  they  will  eat  earlier  than  has  been  imagined;  they  should  be  fed 
as  nearly  as  possible  at  the  same  hour  morning  and  evening;  and  as  soon 
as  the  grass  appears,  they  should  be  turned  out  into  a  meadow  during  the 
day,  and  the  milk  by  degrees  left  offi  In  the  month  of  October,  they 
should  be  put  into  a  house  and  bled,  and  three  ounces  of  Glauber's  salts 
should  be  given  on  three  alternate  mornings,  to  prevent  the  murrain:  in 
winter,  a  warm  pen,  or  dry  pasture,  should  be  allowed.  If  they  are  to 
liave  calves  at  two  years  old,  they  should  be  weaned  in  February,  and  they 
should  not  calve  before  May.  If  they  are  to  calve  at  three  years  old,  time 
and  feed  are  not  material.* 

The   cast-off  cows   and  the  steers  are  fatted  sometimes  on  grass  and 

*  In  many  parts  of  this  district,  the  calves  are  seldom  reared.  The  farmers  say  that 
tbey  can  generally  buy  them  cheaper  than  they  can  rear  them  on  land  that  is  generally 
too  good  tor  the  purpose,  and  rented  too  dear;  and  that  calves  will  pay  belter  to  be  sold 
as  veal,  thnn  to  be  kept  for  stock.  There  is  one  thing,  however,  of  which  tlie  dairy- 
man everywhere  does  not  seem  to  be  sufficiently  aware,  that  few  cows  will  settle  tso 
well  on  a  farm,  or  turn  out  so  profitable,  as  those  that  have  been  reared  on  it. 

20 


218  CATTLE. 

liay,  sometimes  on  hay  and  meal,  or  liay  and  Swedish  turnips;  the  latter 
is  preferable  when  the  hay  i-s  old  and  good, 

AVe  have  given  this  account  somewhat  at  length,  as  embodying  the 
management  of  cattle  by  the  best  farmers  in  IVortii  Wilts.  There  is  a 
very  great  proportion  of  grass  to  arable  land  through  the  whole  of  this 
division  of  Wiltshire,  and  very  much  of  the  grass  land  is  heavy  and  wet: 
hence  the  necessity  for  more  (tattle  than  arc  usually  lound  on  such  extent 
of  ground,  and  custom,  old  as  the  memory  of  man,  has  made  it  a  district 
for  the  production  of  cheese.  The  North  W^illshire  cheese  is  known  in 
every  part  of  the  kingdom.  It  was  at  first  an  humble  imitation  of  the 
Gloucester,  but  it  is  now  equal  tu  the  best  from  that  county,  and  even  from 
the  Vale  of  Berkeley  itself. 

Mr.  Davis,  in  his  Survey  of  Wiltshire,  gives  an  opinion,  that  is  to  a 
very  considerable  extent  Avell  founded,  and  from  which  dairymen  every 
where  might  derive  instruction.  'One  circumstance,'  says  he,  '  goes  a 
great  way  to  explain  the  goodness  of  the  Noith  Wiltshire  cheese,  viz., 
the  convenient  situation  of  most  of  the  farm-houses  in  the  centre  of  the 
farm,  so  that  all  the  cows  can  be  driven  home  to  milk,  and  all  the  milk 
can  be  put  together-,  of  an  equal  temperature,  and,  by  beginning  their  work 
earlv.  the  dairymen  can  make  cheese  twice  in  the  day.  W  here  servants 
,  are  sent  to  milk  in  detached  and  extensive  pastures,  this  cannot  be  done. 
Bad  cheese  can  generally  be  traced  to  some  fundamental  fault  in  the  art 
of  making  it,  and  particularly  in  that  essential  article,  the  rennet.'  We 
thus  far  agree  with  the  author  of  the  '  Survey;'  tliat  a  great  deal  is  to  be 
attributed  to  bad  management,  but  we  are  inclined  to  think  fully  as  much, 
or  even  more,  is  connected  with  soil  and  pasture. 

The  quantity  of  cheese  that  is  made  from  each  cow  in  this  district  was 
greater  than  is  common  in  any  other  cheese-making  connli) ;  sometimes 
as  much  as  4^  cwt.  or  5  cwt.  per  cow,  seldom  lower  than  3  cwt.  Perhaps 
3|-  cwt.  is  a  fair  average  in  a  good  cheese-making  year  on  every  cow  that 
calves  in  proper  time.* 

South  Wilts  is  a  very  different  country.  A  considerable  portion  of  it 
is  occupied  by  extensive  and  open  plains  where  sheep  only  will  thrive. 
There  are,  therefore,  comparatively  few  cattle  ktipt  in  this  district,  and 
there  would  be  still  fewer  were  there  not  much  wet  and  boggy  ground 
in  the  valleys  between  the  dillcrent  elevations  of  Salisbnry  plain,  and 
where  sheep  could  not  live.t     The  old  Wiltshires  never  com])letely  occu- 

*  The  produce  of  cheese  is,  iiowcver,  inatcrially  influenced  by  the  season;  Mr.  Mar- 
shall gives  an  illustration  of  tliis  in  liis  '  Eeononi}'  of  tlie  Midland  Counties.'  '  (Jne 
year  t\vent_y  cows  produced  four  tons  of  factor's  cheese,  besides  tiic  exjienditurc  of  the 
family,  making  allogcthcr  upwards  of  4  cwt.  per  cow;  yet  in  flie  nest  3-ear  tlie  sr.me 
,  -  cows,  with  the  addition  of  tour  or  tive  more  cows  to  tlie  dairy,  did  not  produce  so  much 
*  cheese' 

'  The  first  summer  was  warm  and  moderately  wel;  neither  loo  v/ct  nor  too  dry;  a 
happy  mixture  of  warmtii  and  nioistiire.  The  pastujes  were  eaten  level  even  to  a  tie- 
gree  "of  bareness,  yet  always  wore  a  freshness,  and  the  cows  tliroughout  the  summer 
fooked  sleek  and  healtliy.    "^The  next  was  a  wet  summer-' 

t  A  vv'riter  in  tlie  Bath  Society  Papers,  vol.  vii.  p.  170,  very  properly  says,  that  '  the 
great  cri"or  in  this  stoclv  is  the  smaliness  of  tlie  quantity  kept,  the  rage  lor  fine  sheep 
having  almost  driven  the  cow  stock  out  of  the  district.  South  Wiltshire  farms  arc  not 
calculated  to  keep  many  cows,  but  the  greater  partof  llieni  would  keep  more  than  they 
do.  Where  there  are  water  meadows  cows  are  indispensably  necessary  to  eat  the  alkr 
grass,  &nd  in  winter  they  are  always  so  to  eat  the  barley-straw,  and  make  dung.  There 
is  always  as  much  distant  land  on  a  South  Wiltshire  farm  as  the  sheep-fold  can  man- 
ure; the  home  land  should  be  manured  with  hot  dung,  and  particularly  when  in  pre- 
paration for  a  turnip  croj).  If  cows  were  formerly  thought  so  useful  as  to  be  indispen- 
sable on  the  farms  of  tiiis  district,  they  must  certainly  be  much  more  so  now  when 
their  produce  is  worth  one-third  more.' 


THE  OXFORDSHIRE  BREED.  219 

pied  the  cow  pastures  of  South  AVilts.     They   were  long-horns,  but  little 
care  was  taken  about  the  breed. 

Tlie  cows  are  here  as  uniformly  devoted  to  the  production  of  butter,  as 
those  of  North  Wilts  are  to  that  of  cheese,  and  with  almost  equal  success, 
for  the  butler  of  South  Wilts  is  in  high  repute.  There  is  no  particular 
description  of  cow  in  t!ie  one  to  produce  butter  only,  and  in  the  other  to 
produce  cheese,  for  the  old  breed  in  both  is  nearly  gone.  The  short- 
horns have  bee!i  introduced,  and  they  remain  in  some  cases  pure,  in  others 
crossed  in  various  ways  with  the  native  breed.*  Mr.  Davis  accounts  for 
tliis  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner;  '  perhaps  it  is  custom  or  prejudice, 
and  these  producing  greater  skill  in  the  manufacture  of  each  in  the  re- 
spective districts.' 

OXFORDSHIRE. 

The  improved  short-horns  lingered  longer  in  Oxfordshire  than  in  most 
of  the  districts  which  they  had  occupied.  It  has  been  stated,  that  Mr. 
Fowler,  of  Holl  Wright,  derived -his  breed  immediately  from  Mr.  Bakewell 
and  carried  the  improvement  of  the  long-horn  cattle  to  a  greater  extent 
than  Mr.  Bakeuell  did.  His  bull,  Shakspeare,  has  been  already  described 
as  the  best  stock-getter  that  the  long- horn  breed  ever  had.  After  Mr. 
Bakewell  died,  his  stock  began  to  lose  its  high  character  under  the 
management  of  his  nephew,  Mr.  Honeybourn;  Mr.  Fowler's  cattle 
maintained  their  reputation  for  many  years,  until  they,  too,  gradually 
yielded  to  the  superior  claims  of  die  short-horns. 

Before  Mr.  Fouler's  time,  Oxfordshire  could  not  he  said  to  have  any 
peculiar  breed,  but  the  improved  long-horns  bred  and  patronised  by  him, 
speadily  became  the  prevaUing  stock  of  the  county.  A  few  long-horns, 
but  somewhat  deteriorated,  are  yet  to  be  found  in  Oxfordshire;  the  short- 
horn, or  the  half-horn,  or  a  mixture  between  the  short  and  the  supposed 
native  cow,  principally  prevail. 

Sir  C.  Willoughby  was  one  of  the  first  who  introduced  the  short-horn. 
He  had  a  dairy  of  19  cows  of  that  breed.  The  very  intelligent  Secretary 
to  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  the  Rev.  Arthur  Young,  (in  his  Survey  of 
Oxfordshire,  published  in  1809,)  could  not  quite  reconcile  himself  to  this 
intrusion,  and  speaks  pointedly  of  the  necessity  of  their  being  well  fed 
and  taken  care  of  in  the  Avinter.     This  was  a  grand  objection  when  they 

*'  Few  reasons  need  be  adduced  to  prove  that  the  best  kind  of  cow  for  this  district 
is  that  which  will  bear  hard  keeping  best,  and  particularly  that  kind  which  will  best  bear 
wintering  in  a  straw-yard.' — Bath  Papers,  vol.  vii.  p.  170. 

The  cow-commons,  or  cow-downs  that  used  to  be  described  by  every  statistical  writer, 
and  which  were  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  the  South  Wiltsliire  and  Hampshire  Downs, 
are  diminished  in  number,  and  in  many  parts  of  these  districts  they  arc  no  longer 
known.  These  commons  were  on  the  best  and  most  level  parts  of  the  down  lands. 
Mr.  Marshall  gives  the  following  account  of  them.  '  The  cattle  are  collected  in  one  com- 
mon herd,  each  township  or  hamlet  having  their  cow-herd,  who  drives  them  to  the  downs, 
tends  them  there,  and  brings  them  back  in  the  evening  to  be  milked,  distributing  them 
among  their  respective  owners,  who  take  the  charge  of  them  during  the  night.  The 
herdsman  collects  them  again  in  the  morning,  by  sound  of  horn,  a  custom  probably  of 
many  centuries  standing.  I  have  seen  a  hundred  head  at  least  in  one  of  these  town 
lierds.  In  summer,  when  the  weather  is  sultry,  the  cows  remain  in  the  house,  or  yard, 
and  arc  fed  tliere  with  grass  and  weeds  collected  for  them,  or  are  suffered  to  drop  their 
dung  unprofitably  in  lanes,  and  other  shady  places,  and  are  driven  to  the  downs  in  the 
cool  of  the  evening.' 

The  stubble-fields  being  opened,  they  took  possession  of  them  also  in  common  with 
the  sheep.  If  there  are  common  meadows,  they  have  no  exclusive  right  to  feed  on  them 
until  St.  Martin's-day,  when  the  owners  take  them  home  to  the  straw-yard.  After  the 
cows  leave  the  cow-down  to  go  into  the  stubble-field,  it  becomes  common  for  the  sheep- 
flock  during  all,  or  a  certain  part  of  the  season,  when  it  is  again  laid  up  for  the  cows. 


220  CATTLE. 

were  first  brought  into  notice,  but  it  was  perfectly  groundless,  for  they 
have  thriven  where  many  other  breeds  would  have  failed,  and  they  are 
now  finding  tlieir  way  into  Scotland,  to  contend  with  the  northern  cattle 
on  their  own  ground.* 

WARWICKSHIRE. 

We  have  recorded  the  name  of  Webster  of  Canley,  in  this  county,  as 
one  of  the  earliest  improvers  of  the  long-horns.  The  prevailing  breed  of 
Warwickshire  was,  before  his  time,  long-horned,  and  from  the  shape  and 
size  of  the  beasts,  seemed  to  have  been  originally  brought  from  Lan- 
cashire. Webster,  however,  began  to  work  upon  a  better  stock,  for  he 
obtained  some  cows  from  the  banks  of  the  Trent,  at  that  time  celebrated 
for  the  value  of  the  cattle  produced  tliere.  After  Bakewell  had  travei-sed 
every  part  of  the  kingdom  in  order  to  select  subjects  on  which  to  com- 
mence his  experiments,  he  selected  two  heifers  from  Mr.  Webster's  dairy 
as  the  foundation  of  his  future  stock. 

Mr.  (jJibbs,  of  Blackford,  soon  afterwards  emulated  the  example  of 
Webster,  and  produced  a  superior  breed  of  cattle,  hardy,  short-legged, 
and  wide  and  deep  in  their  frame.  He  first  hired  bulls  from  Mr.  Bake- 
well,  and  then  bred  from  his  own  stock  until  he  bought  a  bull  that  was 
bred  by  Mr.  Meeks,  after  which  he  still  further  improved  his  cattle  by  cross- 
ing with  Mr.  Prince's  long-horns. 

Other  breeders  pursued  the  same  laudable  course,  and  the  consequence 
was  that  the  Warwickshire  cattle  would  not  yield  to  the  improved  Leices- 
ters  in  any  valuable  point,  but  were  acknowledged  as  genuine  branches 
of  the  same  stock.  They  also  retained  a  considerable  portion  of  all  their 
sterling  value  when  Mr.  Honeybourn's  stock  had  dwindled  into'jaiere 
shadows  of  what  they  once  were. 

At  the  present  day,  some  long-horns  are  to  be  met  with  in  Warwick- 
shire, and  the  most  valuable  dairy  breed  is  at  least  a  mixture  of  the  long- 
with  the  short-horn.  The  shoit-horn  is,  however,  gaining  ground. 
Lord  Clonmell  had  a  fine  breed  of  pure  Durhams  at  his  seat  Chateau- 
Margeaux,  some  of  which  were  afterwards  purchased  by  Mr.  King,  then 
living  at  Amberslade  House,  in  this  county .t 

*  The  Secretary  to  the  Board  was  always  partial  to  the  use  of  cxen  at  the  plough, 
and  on  the  road.  The  advantage  and  disadvantage  to  be  derived  from  using  them  vvas 
in  few  places  put  more  to  the  test  of  experience  tlian  in  Oxfordsiiire,  and  the  consequence 
was,  that  many  farmers  who  had  tried  both  the  Devons  and  the  Hereford,  returned 
again  to  tlic  use  of  the  horse.  Mr.  Young,  however,  gives  an  account  of  the  experience 
of  others  on  the  contrary  side  of  the  question,  so  interesting,  that  we  are  induced  to  quote 
a  few  paragraphs.  '  Mr.  Thomas  Latham,  of  Clifton,  had  a  team  of  four  oxen  tliat  drew 
with  case  10  quarters  of  wheal  in  a  waggon;  and  which  were  far  beyond  horses  for 
limber  carting.  They  were  Scotch  beasts.  He  worked  them  three  years,  and  sold  ihcin 
lean  for  481.  They  ploughed  as  well  and  as  much  as  horses,  and  did  not  cost  nearly  so 
much.  Mr.  Foster,  of  Bignal,  worked  a  team  of  five  spayed  heifers  in  harness.  He 
began  to  plough  with  them  at  Iwo  years  old;  lliey  were  in  full  work  at  tliree;  and  fat- 
tened at  seven.  He  had  sold  them  as  high  as  lOQl.  per  pair.  They  were  not  shod,  and 
although  on  this  stone-brash  surface,  tiicy  worked  as  well  as  horses, 

t  Mr.  Murray,  who  published  a '  Survey  of  Warwickshire,'  in  1813,  gives  the  following 
estimate  of  the  profit  per  acre,  on  different  kinds  of  farms  and  differently  managed. 

'  Tiiin  clay  land,  under  tlie  rotation  of  fallow,  wheat,  beans,  barley,  clover,  £.  s.  d. 
and  oats  per  acre    ......  Loss.     016 

'Good  clay  land,  on  marl  or  limestone  rock,  same  rotation  Gain.     2  14     1) 

'Light,  poor,  sandy   soil  under  the  rotation  of  turnip,  fallow;  from  turf, 
turnips  eaten  off  by  sheep,  barley  and  seeds,  clover  eaten  ofFby  sheep     Gain     0     5     0 

'  Red  sandy  loam  under  rotation  of  wheat,  after  leys,  and  the  other  crops, 
as  in  the  last  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    2     8     2^ 

'A  grazing  faini  .  .  .  .  .  .  .340 

'  Dairy  farm        .  .  .  .  .  ..  .490 


THE  WORCESTERSHIRE  BREED.  221 


WORCESTERSHIRE. 

This  county  cannot  be  said  to  have  possessed  any  distinguishuig  breed 
of  cattle.  It  was  surrounded  by  breeding  districts,  but  its  own  pasture 
was  too  good  for  the  rearing  of  young  stock,  therefore  it  purchased  from 
all  around  it,  whether  Herefords,  or  Shropshire,  or  Staffordshire,  or  Welsh. 
The  few  that  are  bred  in  the  county  are  of  a  mixed  character,  or  there  is 
rarely  any  particular  object  of  improvement  in  their  selection,  but  chiefly 
to  procure  milk  and  butter  and  cheese  for  the  supply  of  the  district,  and 
scarcely  sufiicient  of  either  of  them.  The  native  cattle,  however,  are 
evidendy  long-horns,  and  are  very  fair  mdkers.  In  some  of  the  dairies, 
there  is  a  cross  between  them  and  the  Holderness,  and  in  a  very  consider- 
able part  of  the  county  the  pure  short-horn  is  found,  and  begins  to  pre- 
dominate as  a  dairy  cow.  The  Herefords  and  the  Durhams  are  strug- 
gling for  superiority  on  the  grazing  lands,  and  are  the  prevailing  breeds 
there,  although  the  old  Statfordshire  is  sometimes  seen,  and  although 
much  improved  by  a  mixture  of  Herefordshire  or  Durham  blood,  yet 
not  able  to  compete  with  either  the  Herefords  or  the  Durhams.  The 
pure  Herefords  are  no  where  superior  to  what  we  find  them  on  the  pas- 
tures of  Worcestershire.  The  most  valuable  cross  is  between  the  Here- 
ford and  the  Durham,  and  the  produce  is  equally  good  for  the  dairy  and 
for  grazing. 

There  is  nothing  peculiar  in  the  management  of  catde  in  Worcester- 
shire. The  calves  are  principally  reared  with  skim  milk,  in  some  cases  a 
little  oil  cake  and  linseed  being  added  until  the  animal  is  three  months 
old,  when  it  is  fed  altogether  upon  grass.  In  summer,  the  cattle  are  fed  in 
the  usual  way  upon  grass,  and  in^winter  on  meadow  hay,  Swedish  turnips 
and  oil  cake.  We  owe  many  thanks  to  Mr.  Herbert,  who,  at  the  request 
of  the  Earl  of  Coventry  favoured  us  with  some  valuable  observations  on 
the  Worcestershire  catde. 

Approaching  nearer  to  the  borders  of  Staffordshire,  while  we  still  have 
the  Herefords  and  the  Durhams,  the  old  Staffordshire  long-horns  in- 
crease in  number,  and  rise  in  favour  with  the  grazier.  The  Staffordshire 
and  the  Durham  are  also  crossed  for  the  dairy,  and  with  so  much  good 
effect,  that  they  are  the  prevailing  breed  for  that  purpose,  but  the  Here- 
ford is  here  supposed  to  bear  off  the  palm  as  a  grazing  beast,  and  will 
always  obtain  a  greater  price  than  either  the  Durham,  or  Staffordshire,  or 
any  cross  between  them.  To  our  friend  Mr.  Rushton  of  Dudley,  we  are 
indebted  for  the  suggestion  of  these  hints. 

The  items  of  the  two  last  are  as  follows: — 

'Rent  ....... 

'  Tithe,  poor-rates,  road  duty,  &c.       . 

•  Proportional  expense  of  a  man         ..... 

*  Keep  of  six  large  sheep,  at  25s.         .... 
■  For  interest  of  stock  and  risk  .  .  .  . 


£.  s. 

d. 

3    3 

0 

0  18 

0 

0    5 

0 

4    6 

0 

7  10 

0 

3    4 

0 

4    6 

0 

8  15 

0 

*  If  used  as  dairy  expense  as  above    .... 
'  Produce  2^  cwt.  of  cheese  per  acre,  at  70s.  ... 

^  Which  leaves  4     9     0 

'  The  butter  and  refuse  of  milk  is  supposed  to  pay  all  other  charges.' 
20* 


222  CATTLE. 


STAFFORDSHIRE. 

The  old  Staflbrd  cattle  were  a  somewhat  coarse  kind  of  lono^-honis  of 
middle  size,  of  various  colours,  thick  about  the  head,  bad  handlers,  with 
no  great  aptitude  to  fatten,  but  excellent  for  the  dairy.  A  few  of  them, 
and  with  very  litde  improvement,  are  yet  to  be  seen  in  the  possession  of 
the  cottager  and  small  farmer.  The  first  attempt  at  improving  them  was 
the  introduction  of  the  Dishley  breed;  and  when  Mr.  Bakewell's  cattle 
were  most  in  repute  crosses  between  the  old  Staffordshire  and  the  im- 
proved Leicester  were  carried  to  a  very  considerable  extent.  The  size  of 
the  animal  was  increased,  his  form  materially  improved,  and  a  disposition 
to  fatten,  before  unknown,  was  given  to  him.  It  was,  however,  asserted 
by  those  of  the  old  school,  that  these  improvements  were  purchased  at 
the  expense  of  other  qualities,  even  more  valuable  in  a  dairy  country;  the 
milk  was  probably  enriched,  but  it  was  materially  diminished  in  quantity, 
and  the  same  weight  of  cheese  was  not  obtained;  and,  therefore,  they 
bred  back  again  to  a  certain  degree ;  the  milking  properties  of  the 
native  cattle  were  restored,  while  superior  form,  and  size,  and  grazing 
properties,  were  to  a  considerable  extent  retained. 

The  Slaffurdshires  had  now  become  an  exceedinly  valuable  breed;  they 
were  mhch  prized  in  the  neighbouring  counties,  and  great  numbers  of 
them  were  annually  sent  to  supply  the  dairies  of  North  Wiltshire.  On 
the  borders  of  Cheshire,  cheese  was  produced  equal  to  the  finest  of  that 
county;  and  on  the  Derbyshire  side,  the  production  of  that  district  was 
fairly  rivalled,  while  the  cows,  the  dairy  work  being  done,  were  superior 
to  those  of  the  former  county,  and  not  inferior  lo  those  of  the  latter,  in  the 
tendency  to  fatten.* 

Some  of  them,  abetter  kind  of  cattle  than  the  long-horn  of  the  cottager 
just  described,  but  still  under  the  name  of  the  '  old  Staffordshire  long- 
horns,'  continue  to  be  bred  in  some  parts  of  the  county.  Among  others. 
Mr.  R.  Wood,  of  Old  W^ood,  near  Rudgely;  Mr.  Parton,  Bromley-Hurst 
near  do.;  Mr.  Holland,  Lee-Lane,  near  do.;  Mr.  Bakewell  Oak-Fields, 
near  do.;  Mr.  Brown,  Farewell,  near  Litchfield;  Mr.  Ashmell,  do.;  all 
breed  exclusively  from  the  long-horns.  JNIr.  Bakewell  is  President  of  the 
Rudgely  Agricultural  Society. 

Mr.  Friend,  V.  S.,  of  Walsal  has  favoured  us  with  the  following  account 
of  these  old  Staffordshires  of  the  present  day.  '  The  prevailing  colours 
of  the  long-horns  are    gi-izzlcd   or  brindled  with  an    irregular  broadish 

*  Mr.  Marshall  gives  a  singular  account  of  tlie  mctliod  of  rearing  calves  in  liis  time, 
in  this  district.  '  Calves  are  here  fatted  at  the  teat,  and  in  the  early  part  of  the  season 
are  kept  to  a  good  age;  but  chcesc-niaking  once  begun,  they  are  butchered  as  they  drop, 
at  not  more  perhaps  than  three  or  four  days  old,  nor  at  more  perhaps  than  three  or  four 
shillings  price.  The  market,  the  manufacturing  towns  and  the  collieries  of  Stafford- 
shire. 

'  The  only  circumstance  relative  to  the  management  of  fatting  calves  which  requires 
notice,  is  an  expedient  used  by  some  individuals — but  not,  I  believe,  in  universal  prac- 
tice— to  make  them  be  quiet,  and  more  especially  during  the  temporary  scarcity  of  milk 
which  will  sometimes  take  place.  In  this  case,  balls  macfe  of  wheat  flour,  and  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  gin  to  form  it  into  a  paste,  are  given  them;  three  balls  about  the  size  of  wal- 
nuts being  given  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  each  meal.  Tiie  effect  is,  that  instead 
of  wasting  themselves  by  incessant  bawling,  they  lie  quiet,  sleeping  a  principal  part  of* 
their  time.  By  a  little  custom,  the  calves  get  fond  of  these  paste-balls;  eating  them 
freely  out  of  the  hand — a.  proof  of  their  being  acceptable  to  their  stomachs.  As  an  ex- 
pedi.  nt  they  are  evidently  eligible,  and  may  be  of  service  to  a  restless  calf  even  when 
milk  is  plentiful.' — Midland  Counties,  vol  .i.  p.  350. 

i    Oi  the  use  of  this  paste  or  gin-ball  when  calves  are  taken  a  long  way  from  one  mar- 
ket to  another,  we  have  already  spoken,  in  the  account  of  Nortiiamptonshire. 


THE  STAFFORDSHIRE  BREED.  223 

slfeak  of  white  runningr  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  back;  ^nd  even  in 
those  that  differ  from  this  description,  there  is  an  irregularity  and  broken- 
ness  in  the  colours,  and  it  is  very  rare  indeed  to  see  one  with  the  plain 
and  somewhat  uniform  patches  of  colour,  so  common  in  the  short-horned 
cattle  of  the  Durham  breed.  "NV hole-coloured  ones  also  are  very  scarce. 
The  horns  are  very  long  and  wide  apart,  and  from  the  setting  on  of  them, 
ihey  run  back  some  considerable  way  before  projecting  forward  to  form 
the  curve.  In  addition  to  this,  the  eye  is  small  and  deep  in  the  socket, 
the  arch  of  the  orbit  is  very  broad  and  prominent,  giving  altogether  a 
peculiar  look  of  width  and  plainness  to  the  countenance;  certainly  not 
pleasing  at  first  sight,  yet  mingled  in  most  instances  with  something  of 
gentleness  and  meekness  very  characteristic  of  the  animal. 

'  They  are  short  and  coarse  on  the  leg,  rough  in  the  hide,  and  not  gene- 
rally good  handlers;  though  the  hide,  from  its  thickness  and  Aveight,  is 
valuable  to  the  butcher  and  tanner.  As  feeders,  they  do  not  average 
srreat  weights,  varying  from  about  40  to  70  stones  of  14  lbs.  to  the  stone. 
They  are  deep  in  the  brisket,  and  the  fore-quarters  weigh  heavy.  They 
are,  generally  speaking,  very  quiet  and  docile,  not  disposed  to  break  pas- 
ture, and  kept  in  bounds  by  small  fences.  The  milk  is  rich  in  quality, 
and  will  make  proportionably  more  butter  and  cheese,  though  it  is  acknow- 
ledged they  will  not  give  so  much  in  quantity  as  the  short-horns  will, 
both  living  well  alike.  They  are  said  to  require  a  less  quantity  of  food, 
though  1  am  convinced  they  will  not  do  on  that  of  a  Avorse  quality  than 
the  others,  from  what  I  saw  at  Lord  Bagot's,  at  Blylhfield  Park.  He 
had  a  number  of  long-horned  and  Hereford  cows,  each  good  of  their  kind, 
tied  up  in  the  same  range  of  building,  and  the  bailiff  informed  me  that 
the  Herefords  had  been  eating  hay  inferior  to  that  eaten  by  the  long-horns, 
and  yet  the  Herefords  beat  them  decidedly  in  condition.  They  work  a 
number  of  bullocks  on  the  farm;  and  he  told  me  also,  that  he  had  tried 
the  long-horns  for  this  purpose,  but  found  them  not  at  all  equal  to  the  Here- 
fords, either  in  pace  or  in  capability  of  enduring  fatigue.  The  long-honis 
are  still  very  hardy  in  constitution,  and,  from  the  coarseness  of  their  hides, 
are  calculated  to  bear  inclement  weather  better  than  the  short-horns,  and 
this,  added  to  the  shortness  of  their  legs,  gives  them  the  decided  advan- 
tage in  rough  weather  and  a  bare  pasture.' 

At  length  the  short-horn,  in  the  course  of  its  triumphant  career,  reached 
the  borders  of  Staffordshire,  and  some  spirited  breeders  immediately  put 
Uieir  boasted  value  to  the  test.  Some  of  the  best  short-horn  bulls  were 
procured,  and  the  Staffordshire  cow  was  crossed  by  them.  Various  de- 
grees of  success  attended  these  crossings,  according  to  the  skill  with  which 
they  were  conducted,  and,  on  the  whole,  the  symmetry  of  the  animal  was 
considerably  increased;  the  weight  and  disposition  to  fatten  were  increased 
too;  a  twelvemonth  was  gained  in  point  of  ripeness  for  the  butcher,  the 
quantity  of  milk  was  greater,  and  to  an  extent  which  rendered  it  more 
profitable  to  dairymen,  although  it  might  be  somewhat  diminished  in  qual- 
ity, and  a  very  profitable  breed  this  seemed  to  be. 

It  may,  however,  be  imagined  that  the  Staffordshire  farmers  \teTe  a  little 
jealous  of  this  innovation,  and  many  of  them  clung  tenaciously  to  their 
tavourite  breed;  but,  at  length  experience  convinced  them  that  greater  im- 
provement was  effected  in  their  cattle  by  the  introduction  of  the  short- 
liorns,  than  the  Leicesters  of  Bakewell  had  ever  been  able  to  effect;  so 
that  the  improved  Slaffordshires  soon  became  even  more  rare  than  the  old 
natives,  and  a  cross  between  the  long-horn  and  the  short  prevailed  in  most 
of  the  dairies  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county. 

It  was,  however,  necessary  to  have  frequent  recurrence  to  the  short- 


'^24  CATTLE. 

horn  bull,  in  order  to  preserve  the  full  advantage  of  the  cross,  for  other- 
wise the  long-horn  gradually  returned,  and  deprived  of  some  of  his  ex- 
cellent points. 

In  the  south  of  Staffordshire,  therefore,  this  breed  might  have  been 
considerfl  as  fully  established,  had  not  some  enterprising  agriculturists, 
induced  by  the  advantage  which  a  mixture  with  the  short-horn  seemed  to 
bestow,  introduced  the  pure  short-horn  breed.  The  common  Yorkshire 
milch  cow,  with  a  little  admixture  of  the  new  Durham  blood,  was 
tried,  and  especially  upon  good  land.  There  she  perfectly  answered  the 
farmer's  purpose,  and  on  the  better  kind  of  pastures  she  is  rapidly  gain- 
ing ground;  but  on  the  poorer  soils,  the  long-horns,  or  the  half-horns,  are 
most  profitable,  and  continue  to  be  retained.  Sir  John  Wrottesley  has  a 
dairy  of  t^venty-five  cows  at  Wrottesley  Park,  of  the  Holderness  breed, 
with  Durham  bulls;*  other  breeds  have  been  tried,  and  have  their 
patrons. 

Lord  Bagot  still  retains  the  long-horns,  and  in  their  purest  state. 

The  late  Lord  Anson  had  a  fine  breed  of  Avhite  cows,  which  he  changed 
for  the  Staffordshires  improved  by  the  Leicesters,  and  which  he  after- 
wards parted  with,  and  adopted  the  Devons.  Mr.  ToUett,  of  Bedey,  had 
also  Devons,  and  so  had  Mr.  Childe,  who  selected  them  with  great  care, 
and  sold  them  for  very  high  prices  at  an  annual  fair.  Sir  George  Pigott 
has  a  dairy  of  Galloways  at  Pateshall,  and  farther  in  the  north.  Lord  Talbot 
has  a  noble  stock  of  Herefords. 

Sir  John  Wrottesley  once  crossed  his  heifers  with  a  French  bull.  The 
produce  was  very  beautiful,  and  fattened  very  quickly  and  well,  but  when 
slaughtered,  the  meat  was  of  a  bad  colour. 

Towards  the  north  of  the  county,  the  long-horns  continue  to  maintain 
their  ground,  and  particularly  on  the  banks  of  the  Dove  and  the  Trent 
which  separate  Staffordshire  from  Derbyshire.  A  cross  between  the 
Derby  and  Staffordshire  cattle  there  prevails.  The  fore-end  is  fine,  long, 
and  standing  low.  The  head  small,  the  neck  thin,  but  deep  according  to 
the  depth  of  the  bosom.  The  shoulders  fine,  the  rib  full  and  the  loin 
broad.  The  thighs  remarkably  thin  below,  as  if  to  give  room  for  the  bag, 
which  is  large,  clean,  and  bladder-like,  with  long  teats,  and  remarkably 
large  and  elastic  milk  veins.  The  leg  short,  with  the  bone  fine.  The 
flesh  good.  The  hide  of  a  middle  thickness.  The  colour  of  a  brindled 
mottle,  with  a  fine  back  and  white  legs.  Li  temper  very  gentle,  a  quality 
of  considerable  value  in  a  cow  intended  for  the  pail. 

The  principal  difference  between  this  and  the  improved  long-horn  is, 
that  the  former  is  more  roomy  and  better  let  down  in  the  chest;  the  latter, 
better  topped,  fuller  on  the  chine  and  loin,  and  generally  fuller  on  the  thigh. 
Both  are  clean  in  the  fore-end  and  shoulder;  the  bone  of  both  is  fine  and 
the  flesh  good;  but  the  one  loses  her  milk  a  few^  months  after  calving,  the 
other  will  milk  all  the  year  round. 

There  is  no  peculiarity  of  management  in  Staffordshire,  as  it  regards 
either  the  calf  or  the  adult  animal.  We  beg  leave  to  return  our  acknow- 
ledgments to  the  Earl  Talbot,  and  Sir  John  Wrottesley,  for  the  kindness 
with  which  they  furnished  us  with  information  on  several  important  points. 

*  For  this  mixture  of  the  Durliam  with  the  Holderness,  he  very  satisfactorily  accounts, 
in  a  letter  which  we  have  had  the  honour  to  receive  from  him.  '  I  do  not  believe,' 
he  says,  '  that  a  very  good  milker  will  have  the  same  disposition  to  fatten  as  a  bad  one, 
;ind  vice  versa;  added  to  which,  the  heifers  that  have  a  great  disposition  to  feed  are  in- 
disposed to  breed.  This  circumstance  has  induced  me  not  to  covet  very  high-bred 
animals,  and  to  sacrifice  a  small  portion  of  the  milk  to  assist  in  feeding,  when  too  old 
to  continue  in  the  dairy.' 


THE  SHROPSHIRE  BREED. 


226 


Mr.  Careless,  Mr.  Ford,  of  Synnerton,  and  Mr.  Myer,  of  Newcastle,  will 
also  receive  our  thanks. 

SHROPSHIRE. 

The  old  Shropshire  cattle,  with  a  cut  of  one  of  which  we  are  enabled 
to  present  our  readers,  was  of  a  long-horn  hardy  kind — of  all  colours, 
hut  generally  brown  mixed  with  bay  and  white,  and  with  a  streak  of 
white  running  along  the  back  and  under  the  belly.  They  were  raw- 
boned,  cow-legged,  and  far  from  being  handsome;  bearing  a  general 
resemblance  to  the  cattle  scattered  through  Warwickshire  and  Stafford- 
shire.    They  were,  however,  good  milkers  and  fit  for  the  dairy. 


[77te  Old  Shropshire.  Oct.] 

Very  few  of  the  old  sort  are  now  left,  but  a  cross  between  the  Shrop- 
shire and  the  Holderness  has  been  established,  by  which  increase  of  size 
has  been  obtained,  hardihood,  and  a  greater  quantity  of  milk.  They  are 
very  docile;  and  when  red  or  spotted  they  are  in  great  request:  the  spotted 
are  accounted  the  most  valuable.  This  cross,  however,  should  be  kept  on 
good  sound  land ;  on  wet  marshy  land  the  old  Shropshires  are  the  best. 
The  cows  sell  well  in  spring,  having  calved,  or  being  near  to  the  calving 
time.  The  price  of  one  of  average  goodness  will  be  from  14/.  to  18/., 
while  a  cow  of  the  old  Sin-opshire  kind,  and  of  the  same  age  and  size, 
would  not  bring  more  than  from  9/.  to  12/.  They  are  more  profitable  for 
the  butcher.     They  feed  quickly  on  good  pasture,  and  the  beef  is  good. 

The  Herefords  are  established  through  the  whole  of  Shropshire ;  they 
are  occasionally  seen  in  the  dairy,  and  they  occupy  the  greater  part  of 
the  grazing  grounds. 

A  few  Montgomeries  with  smoky  faces,  and  also  some  other  Welsh 
breeds,  are  kept  in  some  parts  of  Shropshire,  but  they  are  generally  in  the 
hands  of  cottagers  and  small  farmers,  who  purchase  them  because  they 


226  CATTLE. 

are  hardy,  and  will  weather  the  winter  on  inferior  keep  belter  than  most 
other  breeds.  Great  numbers  of  them  pass  through  Shropshire  in  their 
way  to  the  southern  counties.  The  short-horns,  and  principally  the  Hol- 
derness  with  a  slight  cross  of  the  Durham,  arc  now  to  be  found  in  various 
parts  of  Shropshire;  and  the  prejudice  against  their  tenderness,  and  the 
poverty  of  their  milk,  is  wearing  away. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  SHORT-HORNS. 


For  every  portion  of  the  text  in  this  excellent  account  of  the  Short-Horns, 
we  are  indebted  to  the  Rev.  Henry  Berry,  than  whom  there  are  few  more 
zealous  breeders  of  cattle,  while  tliere  is  no  better  judge  of  them. 

Whatsoever  diflerences  of  opinion  may  prevail  respecting  the  compara- 
tive merits  of  our  several  breeds  of  cattle,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
short-horns  present  themselves  to  notice  under  circumstances  of  peculiar 
interest.  Possessing  in  an  eminent  degree  a  combination  of  qualities 
which  have  generally  been  considered  incompatible,  and  rendered  irre- 
sistibly attractive  to  the  eye  by  their  splendid  frames,  and  beautiluUy  varied 
colours,  it  is  not  surprising  that  they  have  become  objects  of  public  cu- 
riosity ;  that  they  have  realized  for  their  breeders  enormous  sums  of 
money ;  and  that,  throughout  our  own  island,  and  in  every  foreign  coun- 
try where  agriculture  is  attended  to,  they  are  in  increasing  request. 

It  might  tend  to  throw  much  light  on  the  science  of  breeding,  could 
these  animals  be  traced,  in  the  progress  of  their  improvement,  to  an  earlier 
period  than  has  hitherto  been  found  possible.  Of  the  extent  of  that  im- 
provement we  may,  however,  form  an  estimate,  by  placing  together  one 
of  the  improved,  and  one  of  the  unimproved  race.  We  should,  in  such  a 
case,  discover  resemblance  just  sufficient  to  support  the  belief  in  a  very 
lemote  alliance,  but  there  all  similarity  would  pease. 

From  the  earliest  periods  as  to  which  we  have  any  accounts  of  our 
breeds  of  cattle,  the  counties  of  Durham  and  York  have  been  celebrated 
for  their  short-horns,  but  principally,  in  the  first  instance,  on  account  of 
their  reputation  as  extraordinary  milkers.*  To  recite  their  recorded 
feats  at  the  pail  would  be  to  invite  incredulity;  but  it  may  be  asserted, 
on  the  best  evidence,  that,  taken  as  a  breed,  they  have  never  in  this  par- 

*  Before  this  a  large  and  valuable  description -of  c,altle  had  existed  on  tlie  western 
coast  of  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  extcndinp^  from  Denmark  to  tlie  confines  of 
France.  They  were  celebrated  for  the  great  quantities  of  milk  which  thc^  3'ielded,  and 
some  of  them  exhibited  an  extraordinar}'  aptitude  to  fatten.  At  wiiat  particular  time 
they  found  their  way  to  England,  or  by  whom  they  were  imported,  is  unknown;  but 
there  is  a  tradition  that,  towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  a  bull  and  some 
cows  were  introduced  into  Holderness. 

In  external  form,  there  appeared  to  be  very  little  to  recommend  them,  for  they  had 
larg^e  shoulders  and  coarse  necks;  the  sides  were  flat,  and  the  head  was  thick;  all  the 
coarse  parts  were  bulky,  and  the  prime  ones  were  reduced  in  size,  and  they  were 
almost  the  reverse  of  what  the  agriculturist  would  select:  they  were,  however,  bulkier 
than  the  native  breeds,  and  they  were  l)etter  milkers  than  the  generality  of  the  cattle 
of  that  day.  They  would,  by  dint  of  feeding,  grow  to  an  enormous  size,  but  they  had 
not  the  aptitude  to  fatten,  nor  the  early  maturity,  to  which  they  have  been  since  in- 
debted for  the  triumph  over  every  other  breed. — JEdit. 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  227 

ticvilar  been  equalled.  The  cattle  so  distinguished  were  always,  as  now, 
very  different  from  the  improved  race.  They  were  generally  of  large 
size,  thin  skinned,  sleek-haired,  bad  handlers,  rather  delicate  in  consti- 
tution, coarse  in  the  offal,  and  strikingly  defective  in  the  substance  of 
girth  in  the  .  fore-quarters.  As  milkers,  they  were  most  excellent,  but 
when  put  to  fatten,  as  the  foregoing  description  will  indicate;  Avere  found 
slow  feeders;  producing  an  inferior  quality  of  meat,  not  marbled  or  mixed 
as  to  fat  and  lean,  and  in  some  cases,  the  latter  was  found  of  a  particu- 
larly dark  hue.  Such,  also,  are  the  unimproved  short-horns  of  the  pre- 
sent day,  and  the  distinction  cannot  be  too  frequently  asserted,  because 
they  are,  in  many  cases,  considered  as  specimens  of  the  improved  breed, 
and  have  actually  been  resorted  to  in  trials  as  to  the  comparative  aptitude 
of  animals  to  fallen — trials  which  it  is  evident  they  could  not  successfully 
sustain. 

A  period  of  more  than  eighty  years  has  now  elapsed,  since  the  short- 
horns, on  the  banks  of  the  river  Tees,  hence  called  the  Teeswater  breed, 
had  assumed  a  very  different  character  to  that  contained  in  the  foregoing 
description.  In  colour,  they  resembled  the  improved  short-horns,  being 
occasionally  red,  red  and  while,  and  roan,  though  the  last-named  colour 
was  not  then  so  prevalent  as  now.  They  possessed  a  fine  mellow  skin 
and  flesh,  good  hair,  and  light  offal,  particularly  wide  carcasses,  and  fore- 
quarters  of  extraordinary  depth  and  capacity.  Perhaps  no  closer  modern 
resemblance  can  be  found  to  the  above  description  of  the  Teeswater 
breed  than  Mr.  Berry's  bull  presents,  the  portrait  of  which  accompanies 
this  account.  His  dam  was  purchased  by  Mr.  B.  on  account  of  the 
very  few  crosses  that  intervened  between  her  and  some  of  the  best  of  the 
Teeswater  cattle,  to  which  he  was  desirous  to  go  back  on  account  of  the 
extent  to  which  breeding  in  and  in  has  been  carried.  When  slaughtered, 
their  proof  was  extraordinary',  and  many  instances  are  recorded  of  the 
wonderful  weisfht  of  their  inside  fat. 


[I'orfralf  of  Rev.  Henry  Berry's  Bull.'] 


228  CATTLE. 

The  remarkable  difference  which  existed  between  the  Teeswater  and 
the  old  unimproved  short-horns  may,  with  propriety,  be  ascribed  to  a 
spirit  of  improvement  which  had  some  time  manifested  itself  among  the 
breeders  on  the  banks  of  the  Tees,  whose  laudable  efforts  were  well  se- 
conded by  the  very  superior  land  in  the  vicinity  of  that  river.  No  reason- 
able doubts  can  be  entertained  that  they  proceeded  on  a  judicious  system 
of  crossing  with  other  breeds,  because  it  was  utterly  impossible  to  raise 
such  a  stock  as  the  Teeswater  from  pure  short-horn  blood.  One  cross  to 
which  they  referred  was,  in  all  probability,  the  white  wild  breed;  and  if 
this  conjecture  be  well-founded,  it  will  be  apparent  whence  the  short-horns 
derived  a  colour  so  prevalent  among  them. 

It  is  also  asserted  that,  about  the  period  in  question,  Sir  William  St. 
Quintin,  of  Scampston,  imported  bulls  and  cows  from  Holland,  which 
■were  crossed  with  the  stock  of  the  country.  It  would  tend  to  little  ad- 
vantage to  proceed  with  conjectures,  as  to  what  other  breeds  were  resorted 
to,  if  any:  this  much  is  certain,  that  great  improvement  was  soon  mani- 
fested, and  a  valuable  variety  established,  as  the  two  following  instances 
■will  prove. 

Mr.  ISIilbank,  of  Barmingham,  one  of  the  leading  improvers,  bred  and 
slaughtered  an  ox,  which,  at  five  years  old,  weighed  four  quarters,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  stones,  of  fourteen  pounds  to  the  stone,  producing  six- 
teen stones  of  tallow;  and  a  cow  bred  from  his  stock,  slaughtered  by  Mr. 
Sharter,  of  Chilton,  at  twelve  years  old,  weighed  upwards  of  one  hundred 
and  ten  stones. 

From  Mr.  Milbank's  time,  the  Tecowater  cattle  continued  to  sustain 
their  excellence  and  celebrity  in  various  hands,  until  Mr.  Charles  Colling 
adopted  them,  when  he  manifested  a  superiority  of  skill  as  a  breeder, 
which,  in  a  very  brief  period,  secured  him  an  ample  fortune. 

Whatever  had  been  tlie  merits  of  the  Teeswater  cattle,  it  is  certain  Mr. 
Colling  greatly  improved  them;  and  though  it  has  been  asserted  that  his 
success  was  the  result  of  chance,  arising  from  the  possession  of  an  animal, 
with  the  merits  of  which,  it  is  supposed,  he  was  at  one  period  unac- 
quainted, the  writer  of  this  article  is  of  opinion  that  Mr.  CoUing's  success 
resulted  fiom  a  deliberate  and  well-considered  plan.  He  found  the  Tees- 
water, like  all  other  extravagantly  large  cattle,  frequently  of  loose  make 
and  disproportion.  He  was  sensible,  also,  of  the  difficulty  of  breeding, 
with  anything  like  certainty,  large  good  animals;  and  though  he  has  de- 
clined on  all  occasions  to  throw  any  light  on  his  views  and  proceedings, 
the  writer  thinks  he  can  detect,  in  the  very  outset,  and  through  the  pro- 
gress of  his  practice,  a  resolution  to  reduce  the  size  of  this  breed,  and  at 
tl'.e  same  time,  and  by  that  means,  to  improve  its  form.  This  he  is  sup- 
posed to  have  effected  in  the  first  instance,  through  the  medium  of  a  bull, 
called  '  Ilubback,''  an  animal  respecting  which  there  has  been  much 
controversy,  principally  touching  the  purity  of  his  blood,  a  question  now 
of  little  importance,  because  it  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  Mr.  Colling 
adopted  another  cross,  which  prevails  in  a  majority  of  superior  short-horns 
of  the  present  day.  It  may,  notwithstanding,  be  matter  of  interest  to 
state  a  few  particulars  respecting  this  bull. 

Without  entering  on  an  inquiry  by  what  circumstances  Ilubback's  title 
to  be  considered  of  pure  blood  is  supported  or  weakened,  it  may  suffice  to 
observe,  that  it  appears  probable  he  possessed  on  one  side  the  imported 
blood.  The  possessor  of  his  dam  was  a  person  in  indigent  circumstances, 
and  grazed  his  cow  in  the  highways.  When  afterwards  she  was  removed 
to  good  land,  near  Darlington,  she  became  so  fat  that  she  did  not  again 
breed;  and  her  son,  having  the  same  feeding  propensity  in  a  liigh  do- 


s. 

d. 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  229 

gree,  was  useful  as  a  bull  during  a  very  short  period.  The  quality  of 
his  flesh,  hide,  and  hair,  are  supposed  to  have  been  seldom  equalled  ;  and 
as  he  was  smaller  than  the  Teeswater  cattle,  he  was  eminently  calculated 
to  forward  Mr.  Colling's  views. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  we  have  at  present  no  superior  horse  on  the 
turf,  Avhich  does  not  boast  the  blood  of  the  Godolphin  Arabian ;  so  it  may 
be  asserted  that  we  have  no  superior  short-horns  which  do  not  claim 
descent  nearly,  or  remotely,  from  Hubback.* 

After  the  use  of  this  bull,  Mr.  Charles  Colling  proceeded  with  singular 
success  to  produce,  from  time  to  time,  superior  animals  ;  and  the  number 
of  bulls  he  disposed  of  by  letting  was  highly  encouraging.  But  the  cir- 
cumstance which  brought  the  improved  short-horns  into  most  extensive 
notice  was  the  production  of  the  '  Durham  Ox,'  an  animal  which  speaks 
volumes  in  favour  of  even  a  single  cross  of  this  blood ;  for  the  ox  was  the 
produce  of  a  common  cow,  which  had  been  put  to  '■Favourite.^  At  five 
years  old,  the  Durham  ox  was  sold  to  Mr.  Bulmer,  of  Harmby,  near 
Bedale,  for  public  exhibition,  at  the  price  of  140/. :  this  was  in  February, 
1801.  He  was  at  that  time  computed  to  weigh  168  stones,  of  141b.,  his 
live  weight  being  216  stones,  and  this  extraordinary  weight  did  not 
arise  from  his  superior  size,  but  from  the  excessive  ripeness  of  his  points. 
Mr.  Bulmer  having  obtained  a  carriage  for  his  conveyance,  travelled  with 
him  five  weeks,  and  then  sold  him  and  the  carriage,  at  Rotherham,  to 
Mr.  John  Day,  on  the  14th  May,  1801,  for  250/. 

On  the  14th  of  May,  Mr.  Day  could  have     £. 
sold  him  for       ....         525 

On  the  13th  of  June,  for  .        .  1000 

On  the  8th  of  July,  for         .        .         .       2000 

Mr.  Day  travelled  with  him  nearly  six  years,  through  the  principal 

parts  of  England  and  Scotland,   till  at  Oxford,   on    the    19th  February, 

1807,  the  ox  dislocated  his  hip-bone,  and  continued  in  that  state  till  the 

15th  April,  when  he  was  obliged  to  be  slaughtered,  and,  notwithstanding 

*  This  is  true,  because  Hubback  was  the  sire  of  the  dam  of  Mr.  Charles  Colling's 
bull,  Foljanibc,  who  was  the  grand  sire  of  Favourite ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
there  has  not  been  for  many  years  any  superior  short-horn  who  was  not  descended  from 
Favourite.  Mr.  Charles  Colling  is  said  to  have  considered  that  the  bull,  Foljambe,  was 
the  one  who  did  his  stock  the  greatest  good ;  and  this  is  not  improbable,  as  Foljambe 
was  the  sire  both  of  the  sire  and  dam  of  Favourite.  Hubback,  however,  must  have 
been  a  remarkably  good  animal,  and  considering  the  short  time  during  which  he  was 
used  as  a  bull,  proved  himself  a  first-rate  stock-getter. 

The  following  account  of 'Hubback'  we  Jiad  from  Mr.  Waistell,  of  Alihill,  who, 
although  his  name  does  not  appear  conspicuously  in  the  '  ShortHorned  Herd  Book,' 
deserves  much  credit  for  his  discrimination  here.  He  used  to  admire  this  calf,  as  he 
rode  almost  daily  by  the  meadow  in  which  it  grazed ;  and  at  length  he  attempted  to 
purchase  it  from  the  owner.  The  price  asked,  Ql.  seemed  much  for  a  calf  not  a  year 
old  ;  and  the  reputation  of  the  short-horns  not  being  yet  established,  the  bargain  was  not 
struck.  Still  he  longed  for  tlie  young  beast ;  and  happening  to  meet  Mr.  Robert  Colling 
near  the  place,  he  asked  his  opinion  of  the  animal.  Mr.  Colling  acknoweledged  that 
there  were  some  good  points  about  him  ;  but  there  was  something  in  his  manner  of 
acknowledging  this,  which  induced  Mr.  Waistell  to  suspect  that  Mr.  Colling  thought 
somewliat  more  highly  of  the  calf  than  his  language  expressed,  and,  therefore,  he 
hastened  the  next  morning,  concluded  the  bargain,  and  paid  the  money.  He  had 
scarcely  done  so  before  Mr.  R.  Colling  arrived  for  the  same  purpose,  and  as  the  two 
farmers  rode  home  together,  they  agreed  that  it  should  be  a  joint  speculation. 

Some  months  passed  by,  and  either  Mr.  Waistell's  admiration  of  the  calf  a  little  cooled, 
or  his  partner  did  not  express  himself  very  warmly  about  the  excellences  of  the  animal, 
and  Messrs.  Waistell  and  R.  Colling  transferred  young  Hubback  to  Mr.  C.  Colling ; 
who,  with  the  quick  eje  of  an  experienced  breeder,  saw  the  value  of  the  little  beast.  Mr. 
Waistell  cxpressde  to  us  (October,  1832)  his  regret  (natural  enough)  at  having  been 
induced  to  part  with  the  sire  of  the  short-horns,  and  bis  extreme  disappointment  that 
when  Hubback  began  to  cover,  Mr.  Charles  Colling  confined  him  to  his  own  stock, 
and  would  not  let  him  serve  even  one  of  Mr.  Waistell's  cows. — Edit. 
21 


230  CATTLE. 

he  must  have  lost  considerably  in  weight,  during  these  eight  weeks  of 
illness,  his  carcass  weighed — 

Imp.-stones.      lbs. 

Four  quarters  .         .         .         .  165         12 

Tallow 11  2 

Hide 10  2 

This  was  his  weight  at  eleven  years  old,  under  all  the  disadvantages  of 
travelling  in  a  jolting  carriage,  and  eight  weeks  of  painful  illness.  Had 
he  been  kept  quietly  at  Kelton,  and  fed  till  seven  years  old,  there  is  little 
doubt  but  he  would  have  weighed  more  than  he  did  at  ten  years  old,  at 
which  age  Mr.  Day  stated  his  live  weight  to  have  been  nearly  thirty-four 
hundred  weight,  or  two  hundred  and  seventy  stones,  from  which,  if  fifty 
be  taken  for  offal,  it  leaves  the  weight  of  the  carcass  two  hundred  and 
twenty  stones. 

It  is  a  well-ascertained  fact,  that,  during  his  career  as  a  breeder,  Mr. 
Colling  tried  several  experiments  in  crossing,  and  the  breeds  to  which  he 
resorted  on  these  occasions,  being  very  considerably  smaller  than  the  short- 
horns, this  circumstance  tends  to  corroborate  the  writer's  opinion  that  he 
considered  it  desirable  to  reduce  their  size.  The  cross  with  the  Kyloe  led 
to  no  results  worthy  enumeration,  but  that  with  the  polled  Gcdloivay  must 
not  be  passed  over  without  comment.  Before  stating  the  circumstances 
attending  this  experiment,  it  may  be  proper  to  observe  that  no  breed  of 
cattle  promised  so  successful  a  cross  with  the  short-horns  as  the  Galloway. 
They  were  calculated,  by  their  deep  massive  frames  and  short  legs,  to 
bring  the  shon-horns  nearer  the  ground,  and  to  dispose  their  weight  in  a 
more  compact  manner:  their  hardy  habits  would  be  essentially  useful,  and 
the  quality  of  their  flesh  and  hair  were  such  as  to  render  the  experiment 
still  more  safe.  Add  to  this,  that  they  could  be  obtained  of  a  red  colour ; 
and  we  are  prepared  to  admit,  even  without  the  sanction  of  a  successful 
experiment,  that  they  were  admirably  adapted  to  cross  with  the  short- 
horn, standing  frequently  too  high  from  the  ground,  not  very  well  ribbed 
home,  and  not  seldom  of  loose,  disjointed  frame. 

To  this  breed  Mr.  Colling  resolved  to  resort ;  and  though  at  the  time 
when  he  did  so,  the  event  was  regarded  with  some  degree  of  ridicule  by 
the  pure-blood  advocates,  and  comments  passed  which  would  have  de- 
terred ordinary  men  from  the  exercise  of  their  judgment,  Mr.  Colling 
persisted. 

He  Avas  much  favored  by  circumstances  in  promoting  his  object,  which 
was  to  take  one  cross,  and  then  breed  back  to  the  short-horn — the  only 
course,  by  the  way,  in  which  crossing  can  be  successfully  adopted.  To 
breed  from  the  produce  of  a  cross  directly  among  themselves  will  lead  to 
the  results  which  have  induced  many  persons,  without  due  consideration, 
to  believe  conclusive  against  crossing;  but  to  take  one  cross,  and  then 
return  and  adhere  to  one  breed,  will,  in  the  course  of  a  few  generations, 
be  found  to  stamp  a  variety  with  sufficient  certainty. 

Mr.  CoUing's  short-horned  bull  Bolingbroke  was  put  to  a  beautiful 
red-polled  Galloway  cow,  and  the  produce,  being  a  bull-calf,  was,  in  due 
time,  put  to  Johanna,  a  pure  short-horn — she  also  produced  a  bull-calf. 
This  grandson  of  Bolingbroke  was  the  sire  of  the  cow.  Lady,  by  another 
pure  short-horned  dam,  and  from  Lady  has  sprung  the  highly  valuable 
family  of  improveil  short-horns,  termed,  in  reproach,  the  alloy.  How  far 
the  alloy  was  derogatory,  let  facts  testify.* 

*Thc  dam  of  Lady  was  also  the  dam  of  tlie  bull  Favourite  ;  and  as  Hie  grandson  of 
Bolingbroke  is  not  known  to  liave  been  tiie  sire  of  any  other  remarkably  good  animal,  it 
is  most  probable  that  the  unquestionable  merit  of  Lady  and  her  descendants  is  to  be 
attributed  more  to  her  dam  than  to  her  sire. — Edit. 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  231 

It  will  probably  be  admitted  that  the  prejudice  against  this  cross  was 
at  the  highest  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Charles  Colling's  sale.  The  blood  had 
then  been  little,  if  at  all,  introduced  to  other  stocks,  and  it  was  manifestly 
the  interest,  whatever  might  be  the  inclination,  of  the  many  breeders  who 
had  it  not,  to  assume  high  ground  for  the  pure  blood,  and  to  depreciate 
the  alloy.  Under  these  untoward  circumstances  for  the  alloy,  what  said 
public  opinion,  unequivocally  certified  by  the  stroke  of  the  auctioneer's 
hammer?  Lady,  before-mentioned,  at  fourteen  years  old,  sold  for  two 
hundred  and  six  guineas.  Countess,  her  daughter,  nine  years  old,  for 
four  hundred  guineas.  Laura,  another  daughter,  four  years  old,  for  two 
hundred  and  ten  guineas.  Major  and  George,  two  of  her  sons,  the  for- 
mer three  years  old,  the  latter  a  calf,  for  two  hundred  guineas,  and  one 
hundred  and  thirty;  besides  a  number  of  others,  more  remotely  descended 
from  Lady,  which  all  sold  at  high  prices — in  fact,  in  a  sale  of  forty-eight 
lots,  realizing  £7115  17s.  Lady  and  her  descendants  sold  for  a  larger 
sum  than  any  other  family  obtained.* 

*  The  whole  particulars  of  this  first  grand  sale  of  short-horn  stock  ought  to  be  pre- 
served.   We  extract  it  from  Mr.  Bailey's  Survey  of  Durham. 

'A  Catalogue  of  Mr.  C.  CoUincr's  Sale  of  improved  Short-Horned  Cattle, 
October  U^A,  1810. 

COWS. 

Sold 
Names.  Out  of  Got  by  Cow's    Bulled  by  for.  Bought  by 

Age.  Os. 

C  J.   D.    Nesham,   Esq., 
Cherry  .  .  .    Old  Cherry  .  Favourite  .  .     11  Comet  .  .    83-?     Houghton-le-Spring, 

/      Durham. 
T'  .  „        ^  .  -,,     J  ^        o-SMr.     Hunt,     Morton, 

Kate Comet  ....       4  Mayduke     3o  j      Durham. 

r.  ^i  T^  -x  r  /-.        .         •■  -rn  S  Major  Rudd,  Marton, 

rccress .  .  .     Cherry  .  .  .     favourite  .  .       5  Comet  .  .  170  <      Yorkshire 

Countess  .  .     Lady  ....    Cupid  ....      2     Do.  ...  400  Do. 

f  Sir  H.  Ibbetson,  Bart., 
Celina    .  .  .     Countess  .  .     Favourite  .  .      5  Petrarch    200  ^      Denton  Park,  York- 

^      shire. 
_,                     ,,                           ^  in  ,  on  N  H.Witham,  Esq.,  Cliff 

Johanna  .  .     Johanna  .  .  Do 4       Do.  .  .  130  <      „  m  Yorkshire. 

r^^^^^       •    S  "^ //^"^^o  "  ?    i ,  r^        .        onR  5  C.Wright,  Esq., Cleas- 
Lady  ....     OldPhosnix^    ofLordBo- >    14  Comet.     .206  <      .      Yorkshire 
^    lingbroke    3  C        J'  • 

r^  .^    V  S  "^  rfu"^^*®' Kx-    1  ■   _  o       t.  ,..  5  G.  Parker,  Esq.,  near 

Catheline.j     ofthejam  UVashington         8       Do.    .  .  loO  ^       Malton,  Yorkshire. 

Laura  ....  Lady  ....      Favourite  .  .      4      Do.  .  .  210      Mr.  Grant,  Wyham. 

T  1                    T-i  •  i^        .  o  nr     J   1       .,n  ^  Major  Rudd,  Lincoki- 

Lily Daisy Comet  ....       3  Mayduke  410  <      J  ■ 

Dais,  ....  Old  Daisy     \  „*,|-J»»  (      6  Co„,et  .  .  140     ^K^S^f'- 

^  r,       ^  V  ■.  J   T>  ..        I,       7n  >  G.  Johnson,  Esq.,  near 

Cora Countess  .  .     lavounte  .  .  .     4  Petrarch        iO  <      Scarborouo-h 

Beauty  .  .    ^  ^*|jf„t J^^^'  I  Marsh     ....     4  Comet  .  .  120     C.  Wright,  Esq. 

Red  Rose  .  .   Eliza Comet 4  Mayduke     45  ^  ''\^:^  Doncaster^"^" 

Flora Do 3       Do.  .  .    70     Earl  of  Lonsdale. 

.    .            ev     1  ^  O.    (Jascoigne,     Esq., 

Miss  Peggy >  Asonotta-  ^  3  ^       ^    .  .  60^      Parington,      York- 

SSy                          )      vourite       i  )      ^,ji^^^ 

Magdalene)  A  heif.  by  ^  3     Do.  .  .  ._m  |  —  SXt"' ^^'^•' 


232 


CATTLE. 


As  a  specimen  of  the  alloy,  the  reader  is  referred  to  this  portrait  of  Mr. 
Berry's  cow.     It  was  taken  three  days  before  she  calved,  and  exhibits  her 

BULLS. 


Names. 
Comet  .  . 


Age.    Out  of 
6  Phoenix 


Yarborou2h 


Major 
Maydiike 


3  Lady 
3  Clicrry 


Petrarch 2  Old  Venus 

2     .  .  .  , 


Northumberland 
Alfred 

Duke 

Alexander  .  .  .  . 
Oisian 


1  Duchess 

1  Cora    .  . 
1   Majrdalcne 


Harold 1  Red  Rose 


Got  by 
Favourite 

Do.  .  . 

Comet  .  . 
Do.  .  .  . 
Do.  .  .  . 


Favourite 

Comet   .  . 

Do.  .  .  . 


Do.  .  .  . 

Favourite 


1000 


55 

200 
145 
365 


80 


Bouglil  by 
f  Messrs.    Wethcrill,    Trotter, 
^      Wright,  and  Charge,  near 
I      Darlington. 

X  A.  Gregson,  Esq.,   Lowlinn, 
^      Northumberland. 

Mr.  Grant,  Wyham. 

Smithson,  Esq. 

Major  Rudd. 

Mr.   Buston,  Coatham,   Dur- 
ham. 

Mr.  Robinson,  Acklam,  York- 


105 

63 

70 

50 
2249 


shire. 
A.  Compton,  Esq.,  Carham, 

Northumberland. 
Mr.  Fenton. 
Earl  of  Lonsdale. 
I  Sir  C  Loraine,  Northumba"- 

land. 


BULL-CALVES,  UNDER  ONE  YEAR  OLD. 


Names.  Out  of 

Ketton Cherry    . 

Young  Favoiurite  Countess 

Geerse Lady    . 

Sir  Dimple    .  .  .  Daisy  . 

Narcissus    ....  Flora    . 

Albion Beauty 

Cecil Peeress 


Got  by 
Comet  . 

Do..  . 

Do..  . 
Do.  .  . 
Do..  . 
Do..  . 

Do. .  . 


Price. 
Os. 

50 

140   j 

130 
90 
15 
60 

170    ' 


Bought  by 
Major  Bower. 
Skipworth,  Esq.,  Ltncofo- 

shire. 

Walker,  Esq.,  Rotherham. 

T.  Lax,  Esq.,  Ravensworth. 

Mr.  Wright. 

T.  Booth,  Esq.,  Catterick. 

H.  Strickland,  Esq.,  Boynton, 

Yorksliire. 


HEIFERS. 


Names.  Ase.  Out  of 

Phoebe 3  Dam  by  Favourite  , 


Young  Laura  .  . 
Young  Countess 

Lucv 

Charlotte     .... 


Got  by 
Comet 


Young  Duchess      2         Do Do.       183 


2  Laura 

2  Countess 

2  Dam  by  Washington 
1  Catheline 


Johanna  1  Johanna . 


Gs.  Bought  by 

105     Sir  H.  Ibbetson. 

T.  Bates,  Esq.,  Halton  Gas- 
tie,  Northumberland. 
Do.       10  r  Earl  of  Lonsdale. 
Do.      206     Sir  H-  Ibbetson. 
Do.       132     Mr.  Wright. 
Do.       136     Mr.  R.  Colling. 
Do.         35     G.  Johnson,  Esq. 


808 
HEIFER-CALVES,  UNDER  ONE   YEAR  OLD. 


N.nm 
Lucilla 


Out  of 
Laura  . 


Calista Cora  , 


White  Rose 


•ny 


Got  by 
Comet  . 

Do..  . 

Yarbro' 
Do..  . 


Ruby Red  Rose  . 

Cowslip Comet 


Os. 

106 
50 

75 

50 
25 

306 


Bought  by 
Mr.  Grant. 

Sir  H.V.  Tempest,  Bart.,  Win- 
yard,  Durham. 
Mr.  Strickland. 
Major  Bower. 
Earl  of  Lonsdale. 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED. 


233 


usual    condition.     She  gives    a  moderate    quantity  of   particularly  rich 
milk. 


{Tte  Rev.  H.  Berry's  Cow.'\ 
It  would  answer  no  useful  purpose,  and  would  certainly  be  an  objec- 
tionable course,  to  bring  under  particular  notice  any  one  or  more  of  the 
highly  valuable  stocks  of  improved  short-horns  of  the  present  day.  To 
enumerate  all  would  be  impossible;  and  the  writer  of  this  account  would 
most  studiously  avoid  any  partial  or  invidious  comparison.  The  same 
objection  does  not  however  exist  as  to  a  remote  period;  and  it  is  but 
justice  to  state  that  Mr.  Robert  Colling,  brother  of  Mr,  Charles,  (who 
certainly  was  the  leader,  and  surpassed  all  competitors  in  the  improve- 
ment of  the  short-horns,*)  Mr.  Charge  of  Mewton,  near  Darlington,  and 

From  the  above  it  appears  that 

17  cows  were  sold  for 
11  bulls    . 

7  bull-calves    . 

7  heifers 

5  heifer-calves 

In  all  47  were  sold  for        .         .         .         .         7115  17     0 
*  Mr.  Robert  Colling's  stock  was  not  sold  off  until  the  29th  September  181S,  when  the 
following-  great  prices  were  obtained  for  some  of  his  cattle,  a  sufficient  proof  of  the  esti- 
raation  in  which  they  were  held: — 

One  2-year  old  cow  .  .  sold  for  .  .  331  guineas 
One  4-year  old  cow  ..."  ...  300  " 
One  .5-year  old  cow  ..."  ...  370  " 
One  1-year  old  bull-calf  .."...  270  « 
One  4-year  old  bull  ..."...  621  " 
It  appears  by  the  catalogue,  with  printed  prices  affixed,  that 

34  cows sold  for      .     .     4141  guineas. 

17  heifers "      ...     1287       " 

6  bulls "      ...     1343      " 

4  bull  calves "...       713       " 


£.         8. 

d. 

2802  9 

0 

2361  9 

0 

687  15 

0 

942  18 

0 

321  6 

» 

61  head  of  cattle  ....      -•      ...     7484       " 
Ten  days  afterwards.  General  Simson's  stock  of  the  same  breed  were  sold  at  his  seat 
21* 


234  CATTLE. 

Mr.  Mason,  of  Chilton,  in  the  county  of  Durham,  were  only  second  to 
Mr.  Charles  Colling  in  his  interesting  and  useful  pursuit.  Mr.  Mason 
started  early  with  animals  derived,  it  is  believed,  from  Mr,  Colling,  in  the 
very  commencement  of  his  career;  and  Mr.  Cliarge,  who  had  long  possessed 
a  most  valuable  stock  of  Teeswater  cattle,  had  at  an  early  period  crossed 
them  with  Mr.  Colling's  best  bulls,  and  was  one  of  the  spirited  purchasers 
of  Comet,  at  a  tiiousand  guineas.  Mr.  Mason's  late  successful  sale  suffi- 
ciently stamps  the  value  of  his  stock  at  that  period,  but,  it  is  generally 
admitted,  the  system  of  crossing  with  other  herds,  which  he  had  of  late 
years  judiciously  adopted,  proved  highly  instrumental  in  restoring  those 
qualities  in  his  own,  which  too  close  breeding  had  in  some  degree  threat- 
ened to  deprive  them  of. 

It  would  be  unfair,  on  this  occasion,  to  omit  mention  of  a  veteran 
breeder,  to  whom  the  advocates  for  the  preservation  of  pedigree  are  in- 
debted for  the  '  Short-horn  Herd  Book' — Mr.  George  Coales.  He  is 
now  one  of  the  oldest  authorities  on  the  subject  in  existence,  and  was 
once  the  possessor  of  a  very  superior  race  of  short-horns,  though  some- 
what coarse.  Portraits  have  been  preserved  of  some  very  fine  animals 
bred  by  him  ;  and  he  had  the  solid  satisfaction  to  dispose  of  his  bull 
Patriot  for  five  hundred  guineas. 

Mr.  Coates  fell  into  an  error,  but  too  common,  and  generally  equally 
fatal:  he  fancied  his  own  stock  the  best,  and  disdained  to  cross  them  with 
Mr.  Colling's;  which,  as  others  afterwards  proved,  would  have  been  a 
most  judicious  proceeding.  The  consequence  was,  Mr.  Colling's  sale 
having  settled  the  public  judgment  and  taste,  Mr.  Coates's  stock  fell  into 
disrepute.  If  an  apology  be  requisite  for  this  statement  of  an  undeniable 
fact,  it  will  be  found  in  the  utility  of  holding  up  such  an  example  as  a 
caution  to  those  who  may  be  in  danger  of  falling  into  a  similar  error. 

It  is  considered  that  the  specimens  already  appealed  to,  and  the  fine 
animals  M'hose  portraits  accompany  this  account,  the  property  of  the  noble 
President  of  the  Smithfield  Club,  will  -render  superfluous  any  attempt 
more  particularly  to  describe  the  short-horns.  Of  course  they  will  be 
found  to  vary  greatly;  but  sufficient  may  be  collected  from  what  is  pre- 
sented to  the  reader  to  inform  him  as  to  the  character  of  this  superior 
breed  of  cattle.*  The  next  object,  then  will  be  to  show  their  capabilities 
to  make  a  return  for  food  consumed,  and  the  unparalleled  early  period  at 
which  such  return  may  be  made.  Indeed,  curly  maturity  is  the  grand 
and  elevating  characteristic  of  the  short-horns,  and  their  capacity  to  con- 
tinue growing,  and  at  the  same  time  attaining  an  unexampled  ripeness  of 
condition  at  an  early  age,  has  excited  the  wonder,  and  obtained  the  appro- 
bation, of  every  looker-on  not  blinded  by  prejudice. 

In  order  to  do  justice  to  the  subject,  and  to  show  that  these  properties  are 
not  all  of  recent  acquirement,  but  were  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree  by 
the  Teeswater  cattle,  as  well -as  the  improved  short-horns,  it  will  be  requi- 
site to  return  to  the  former  for  a  few  facts  in  evidence. 

About  fifty  years  ago.  Sir  Henry  Grey  (of  Howick)  bred  two  oxen, 
Avhich  were  fed  by  Mr.  Waistell,  and  when  six  years  old  weighed  130  stones 
each,  141b.  to  the  stone;  their  inside  fat  being  most  extraordinary. 

A  heifer,  three  years  old,  bred  by  Miss  Allen  (of  Grange),  fed  on  hay 
and  grass  alone,  weighed  90  stones. 

at  Pitcorthie,  Fifeshire.  As  a  proof  of  the  established  reputation  of  the  short-horns,  even 
so  far  north,  and  the  degree  to  which  they  wouhl  even  then  thrive,  in  a  climate  so  diifc- 
rent  from  their  native  one,  it  may  be  stated  that  12  cows,  5  two  year  old  heifers  3  bull- 
calves,  7  bulls,  4  one-yeax  old  heifers,  and  6  quey  calves,  37  in  all,  sold  for  1388  guineas, 
or  nearly  40Z.  per  head. 

*  For  portraits  of  Lord  Althorp's  cow  and  heifer,  sec  pp.  236,  237, 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  235 

Two  three  years'-okl  steers,  bred  by  the  same  lady,  and  similarly  fed, 
weig^hed  respectively  92  and  96  stones. 

Mr.  Waistell's  four  years'-old  ox,  by  the  bull  supposed  to  be  the  grand- 
sire  of  Hubback,  weighed  110  stones. 

A  four  years'-old  ox,  bred  by  Mr.  Simpson  (of  AyclifTe,)  fed  on  hay  and 
turnips  only,  weighed  135  stones. 

About  the  same  period,  a  five  years'-old  heifer,  bred  by  a  bishop  of 
Durham,  weighed  110  stones. 

A  cow  of  Mr.  Hill's,  slaughtered  in  Northumberland,  weighed  127 
stones. 

Mr.  George  Coates,  before-mentioned,  slaughtered  a  heifer,  by  the  sup- 
posed sire  of  Hubback,  which,  fed  on  turnips  and  hay,  weighed,  at  two 
years  and  two  months  old,  68  stones. 

An  ox  and  heifer,  bred  by  Mr.  Watson  (of  Manfield,)  weighed,  at 
four  years  old,  within  a  few  pounds,  110  stones  each. 

A  sister  to  Mr.  G.  Coates's  Budsworth,  having  run  with  her  dam,  and 
fared  as  she  did,  without  cake  or  corn,  met  with  an  accident,  and  died 
when  seven  mouths  old;  she  weighed  34  stones. 

A  steer,  by  a  brother  to  the  above  heifer,  three  years  and  two  months 
old,  weighed  105  stones;  and  another  steer,  by  the  same  bull,  exactly 
three  years  old,  weighed  95  stones.  Both  were  kept  as  store-beasts  till 
two  years  old. 

An  ox,  bn^d  by  JMr.  Hill  (of  Blackwell,)  slaughtered  at  six  years  old, 
weighed  151  stones,  lOlbs.;  tallow,  11  stones. 

The  Kowick  red  ox,  seven  years  old,  weighed  152  stones,  91b.;  tallow, 
16  stones,  71b. 

Mr.  Charge's  ox,  seven  years  old,  weighed  168  stones,  lOlb,;  tallow, 
13  stones. 

The  foregoing  instances  of  weight  and  proof  satisfactorily  show,  that  in 
the  Teeswater  cattle,  Mr.  Charles  Collins  had  pretty  good  materials  with 
which  to  commence  operations.  Let  us  now  refer  to  a  later  period,  and 
state  some  particulars  respecting  their  descendants,  the  improved  short- 
horns. 

In  the  year  1808,  Mr.  Bailey,  the  agricultural  historian  of  Durham,  in- 
forms us,  he  saw,  at  Mr.  Mason's  (of  Chilton,)  a  cow,  not  less  remarkable 
in  point  of  fat  than  the  Durham  ox.  At  that  time,  the  depth  of  fat,  from 
the  rump  to  the  hips,  in  a  perpendicular  position,  was  not  less  than  twelve 
inches;  and  the  shoulder  score,  at  least  nine  inches  thick. 

Mr.  Robert  Colling's  haifer,  which,  like  the  Durham  ox,  was  exhibited 
as  a  curiosity,  was  estimated,  at  four  years  old,  to  weigh  130  stones. 

The  same  gentleman  sold,  in  Darlington  Market,  on  the  18th  of  AprU, 
1808,  a  two  years'-old  steer  for  22/.;  the  price  of  fat  stock  being  at  that 
time  seven  shillings  per  stone. 

At  Mr.  Nesham's  (of  Houghton-le-Spring,)  Mr.  Bailey  saw  a  steer,  25 
months  old,  completely  covered  with  fat  over  the  whole  carcass,  and  sup- 
posed to  be  the  fattest  steer  of  his  age  ever  seen.  Butchers  estimated  him 
to  weigh  75  stones.  Neither  of  the  last-mentioned  were  of  large  size,  and 
would  not  have  weighed  above  40  stones  had  they  been  no  fatter  than 
those  usually  slaughtered. 

Mr.  WetheriJl  (of  Field  House)  sold  at  the  fair  in  Darlington,  in  March, 
1810,  two  steers,  under  three  years  old,  for  47/.  lOs.  each.  The  price  of 
cattle  at  that  fair,  10s.  per  stone.* 

*  Mr.  Bailey  observes,  that  the  common  practice  among  the  breeders  of  the  improved 
sliort-horns,  and  whic-ii  he  first  observed  at  ]\Ir.  Wetherill's,  was  to  put  the  year-old  heifers 
to  the  ball  the  beginning  of  July,  so  as  to  ca-lve  not  later  than  the  rnidale  of  May.  The 


236 


CATTLE. 


Mr.  Arrowsmith  (of  Ferryhill,)  who  fed  off  his  short-horns  at  two 
years  old,  furnished  the  following  particulars  of  the  prices  he  obtained 
from  the  butchers:  viz. 

In  1801,  sold  four  for  25/.  each;  two  steers,  and  two  heifers. 

1802,  six  for  17/.  10s,  each;  three  steers,  and  three  heifers. 

1803,  four  for  17/.  each. 

1804,  six  for  18/.  10s.  each. 

1805,  six  for  17/.  10s.  each;  two  steers,  and  four  heifers. 

1806,  four  for  16/.  each. 

1807,  eight  for  18/.  each. 

1808,  eight  for  19/.  each. 

The  time  of  selling,  from  the  beginning  to  the  latter  end  of  May. 
Management. — In  the  first  winter  they  got  straw  in  a  fold-yard,  M'ilh 
nearly  as  many  turnips  as  they  could  consume;  in  May  they  went  to 
grass;  in  November  put  to  turnips  through  the  winter,  and  turned  to  grass 
the  first  week  in  May. 

A  twin  heifer,  belonging  to  Mr.  Arrowsmith,  calved  the  last  week  in 
April,  being  kept  the  first  year  as  the  store-stock,  was  entered  for  a 
sweepstakes,  to  be  shown  in  June,  at  which  time  she  would  be  two  years 
old.  She  was  immediately  turned  to  grass  in  the  usual  pasture.  In  No- 
calves  ran  with  and  sucked  their  dams  until  August.  The  cows  were  then  put  upon  foy, 
fed  tUrougli  the  winter  with  turnips,  and  sold  to  the  butchers  in  May  or  June  following, 
for  251.  on  an  average,  which,  with  the  value  of  the  calf,  could  not  be  reckoned  at  less 
than  30Z.  tor  a  tlirec  year-old  heifer. 


The  following  are  portraits  of  a  cow  and  heifer  belonging  to  Lord  Althorp:- 


[Lord  Althorp's  Cow 


The  cow,  marked  in  his  lordship's  herd- book  by  the  figures  25,  is  particularly  distin- 
guished by  the  excellence  of  her  crop,  plates,  and  loins. 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED. 


vember  she  was  estimated  to  weigh  28  stones;  when  she  was  put  to  the 
ruta  baga,  and  hay,  and  oil-cake,  of  which  she  ate  4cwt.,  with  2  bush, 
bean-meal,  and  1  bush,  barley.  She  went  to  grass  again  on  tlie  first  of 
May,  and  from  that  period  had  neither  cake  nor  corn.  On  the  23d  of 
July,  it  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  best  judges  that  she  weighed  58 
or  60  stones;  having  gained  30  stones  in  30  weeks. 

In  April,  1808,  Mr.  Bailey  saw,  at  Mr.  Arrowsmith's,  eight  yearlings, 
intended  for  the  course  of  feeding  described  as  adopted  by  that  gentleinan; 
whose  sales,  from  1801  to  1808  inclusive,  have  been  already  particularized. 
They  were  very  lean,  not  more  than  15  stones  each;  and  had  they  been 
offered  for  sale  in  a  fair,  no  person,  unacquainted  with  the  breed,  would 
have  given  more  for  them  than  4/.  10s.  or  5/.  per  head. 

Mr.  Walton  (of  Middleton  in  Teesdale)  had  been,  in  1808,  in  the  habit 
of  selling  his  steers,  at  two  years  and  a  quarter  old,  at  from  20/.  to  30/. 
each;  their  weight  being  50  to  54  stones,  fed  solely  on  vegetable  food. 
He  often,  for  the  sake  of  experiment,  bought  in  calves  of  the  improved,  or 
old  breed  of  the  county,  and  he  uniformly  found  that  his  own  at  two  years 
old  got  fatter,  and  fitter  for  the  butcher,  than  the  others  did  at  three, 
although  fed  and  kept  exactly  alike. 

Mr.  Mason  (of  Chilton,)  in  the  course  of  an  experiment  to  ascertain  the 
weight  of  beef  gained  b)^  the  food  given  (turnips,)  found  three  steers, 
under  three  years  old,  to  have  gained  20  stones  each  in  20  weeks.  The 
three  steers  averaged  70  stones  each. 

In  1816,  Mr.  Nesham's  steer,  three  years  and  a  half  old,  obtained  the 
premium  offered  by  the  Durham  Agricultural  Society;  his  weight  was, 
4  quarters,  96  stones,  Hlb.;  tallow,  11  stones,  7lb.;  hide,  8  stones. 


\_Lura  .iilhorjj  c  Jricijcr.] 

The  heifer,  called  Clarion — a  daughter  of  the  opposite — is  equal  to  her  dam  in  these 
points,  and  far  superior  in  some  others;  particularly  in  her  rump  and  hips.  She  is  a 
very  fine  specimen  of  the  short-horn  heifer. — Edit. 


238  CATTLE. 

Major  Rudd  (of  Marion  in  Cleveland)  obtained  the  premium  offered  by 
the  Cleveland  Agricultural  Society  in  1811,  for  the  best  steer,  under  three 
years  old,  and  fed  on  vegetable  food.  The  steer  was  sold  to  the  butcher 
for  10s.  per  stone,  and  slaughtered  when  three  years  and  thirteen  days 
old;  the  weight  of  his  four  quarters  was  96  stones. 

The  late  Mr,  Robertson  (of  Ladykirk,  near  Berwick-upon-Tweed)  fur- 
nished the  writer  with  the  following  particulars  of  short-horns,  bred  by 
him,  and  fed,  with  few  exceptions,  on  vegetable  food: — 
1794. — An  ox,  four  years,  ten  months  old;  four  quarters,  145  stones,  31b.; 
tallow,  24  stones,  7lb. 
A  steer,  under  four  years  old;  four  quarters,    106  stones;  tallow 
19  stones,  7lb. 
1814. — A  steer,  three  years,  nine  months  old;  four  quarters,   101  stones; 

tallow,  15  stones. 
1815. — A  steer,  three  years,  eleven  months  old;  four  quarters,  112  stones, 
7lb,;  tallow,  26  stones. 
A  heifer,  three  years,  eight  months  old;  four  quarters,  89  stones. 
1817. — A  steer,  three  years,  two  months  old;  four  quarters,   95  stones, 

101b.;  tallow,  17  stones,  101b. 
1822. — An  ox,  four  years  and  a  half  old;  four  quarters,   135  stones;  tal- 
low, 21  stones. 
Own  brother  to  the  foregoing,   three   years  and  a  half  old;  four 

quarters,  133  stones;  tallow,  21  stones. 
A  steer,  three  years,  ten  months  old;  four  quarters,  124  stones; 

tallow,  17  stones. 
A  steer,  three  years,  eight  months  old;  four  quarters,  112   stones; 
tallow  not  weighed. 

A  steer,  bred  by  Col.  Cooke  (of  Ouston,  near  Doncaster,)  fed  on  pota- 
toes and  straw,  was  slaughtered  when  two  years  and  twenty-two  days  old; 
his  four  quarters  weiglied  72  stones. 

Mr.  John  Rennie  (of  Phantassie)  produced,  at  the  East  Lothian  Agri- 
cultural Society's  meeting,  in  November,  1823,  a  steer,  from  eighteen  to 
twenty  months  old;  the  four  quarters  of  which  weighed  118  stones,  lib. 
Smithfield-weight. 

The  same  gentleman  produced  before  the  Highland  Society  of  Scotland 
a  steer,  aged  two  years,  four  months,  whose  four  quarters  weighed  153 
stones,  7lb.:  also  a  steer,  aged  three  years,  six  months,  whose  four  quar- 
ters weighed  169  stones,  7lb.;  tallow,  30  stones,  lib. 

Except  in  the  three  last  instances,  all  the  weights  given  have  been  by 
the  stone  of  141b.* 

Should  the  foregoing  statement  be  considered  to  have  been  unreason- 
ably extended,  it  is  presumed  it  will,  at  least,  be  admitted,  that  its  ample 
detail,  if  attended  to,  will  establish  the  credit  of  the  short-horns  as  an  in- 
valuable breed  to  the  grazier. 

In  the  commencement  of  this  account,  however,  it  was  stated  that  they 
possess  a  combination  of  qualities,  hitherto  considered  incompatible.  It 
will  be  obvious  that  the  disposition  to  feed  rapidly,  in  union  with  dairy 
qualifications,  is  here  intended. 

*  That  extraordinary  animal,  wliich  was  lately  exhibited  under  the  name  of  the  Lin- 
colnshire Ox,'  although  fed  in  that  county  by  Lord  Yarborough,  was  a  pure  short,  both 
on  the  side  of  the  sire  and  the  dam.  He  measured  five  feet  six  inches  in  height  at  the 
shoulders,  eleven  feet  ten  inches  from  the  nose  to  the  settmg  on  of  the  tail,  eleven  feet 
one  inch  in  girth,  and  three  feet  three  inches  across  the  hips,  shoulders,  and  middle  of 
tlie  back.  His  breast  was  only  fourteen  inches  from  the  ground,  and  he  stood  one  foot 
ten  inches  between  the  fore  legs.— Edit, 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  239 

It  might  have  the  appearance  of  an  intention  to  depreciate  other  breeds 
of  cattle,  were  an  inquiry  instituted  how  the  very  general  inpression  came 
to  be  entertained  that  animals  disposed  to  fatten  rapidly  seldom  give  much 
milk.  It  is  unquestionably  true,  that  every  perfection  in  cattle — whether 
it  be  one  of  form,  of  quality  of  flesh,  of  disposition  to  fatten,  or  to  yield 
milk — can  be  promoted  and  retained  solely  by  the  breeder's  devoted 
attention  to  his  particular  object;  and  if  one  object  be  allowed  a  para- 
mount importance  in  the  breeder's  estimation  and  practice,  other  objects 
will  suffer,  in  proportion  as  they  are  neglected. 

The  improvement  in  the  carcass  of  the  short-horns  has  been  so  sur- 
prising, and  so  justly  valued,  that  many  persons  have  allowed  that  com- 
pletely to  occupy  their  attention,  and  the  dairy  has  been  disregarded.  In 
such  a  state  of  things,  every  advance  towards  one  point  has  been  tanta- 
mount to  receding  from  another;  because  the  same  proceeding  which 
tends  to  enhance  a  particular  quality,  will  also  enhance  a  defect,  provided 
such  defect  was  of  previous  existence. 

This  may  be  rendered  more  intelligible  by  a  short  illustration: — Suppose 
half  a  dozen  animals  to  be  selected  in  consequence  of  their  possessing  a 
particular  quality;  which  quality  it  is  proposed,  on  a  certain  established 
principle  of  breedmg,  to  increase  and  render  almost  permanent  by  their 
union.  Suppose  the  animals  so  selected  to  come  from  the  hands  of 
breeders  who  have  neglected  the  milking  property;  the  certain  conse- 
quence will  be,  that  the  very  union  which  developes  and  secures  the 
desired  object  will  tend,  on  the  same  principle,  to  increase  the  defect  as  to 
milk.  In  short,  it  will  render  it  habitual  in  the  produce.  But  this  illus- 
tration, by  a  selection,  is  supposing  too  much  for  the  probable  state  of  the 
case.  The  objections  which  exist  among  breeders  for  various  and  some 
cogent  reasons,  against  crossing  whh  the  stocks  of  each  other,  unavoidably 
lead  to  the  practice  of  breeding  in  and  in;  which  in  case  of  any  original 
deficiency  of  the  milking  property,  must  unquestionably  go  on  to  render 
that  deficiency  greater.  It  is  hence  evident  that  bad  milking,  in  a  breed 
of  animals  which  were  ever  distinguished  as  good  milkers,  is  not  a  neces- 
sary consequence  of  improvement  in  the  animal  in  other  respects,  but  a 
consequence  of  the  manner  in  which  such  improvement  is  pursued.  This 
the  wiiter  considers  to  be  the  reasoning  properly  appUcable  to  the  subject; 
which  happily  also  admits  of  a  satisfactory  appeal  to  facts;  and  he  is 
stricdy  justified  in  asserting  that  improved  short-horns,  inferior  to  none 
for  the  grazier,  may  always  be  selected  and  bred  with  the  most  valuable 
dairy  properties.  Perhaps  a  more  plentiful  and  steady  milker  than  the 
dam  of  Mr.  Berry's  bull,  whose  portrait  has  been  given,  never  stood  over 
a  pail,  and  few  such  carcasses  of  beef  have  been  exhibited  as  hers,  when 
an  accident  rendered  it  requisite  to  only  half  feed  her.  The  bull  himself 
has  an  extraordinary  disposition  to  carry  flesh,  and  his  calves  are  let  down 
in  the  udders  like  miniature  cows.  In  fact,  all  the  bull's  family  are  excel- 
lent for  the  pail,  and  the  quickest  possible  feeders.  The  writer  has  known 
many  instances  of  the  highest  bred  short-horns  giving  upwards  of  four 
gallons  (wine  measure)  of  mUk  night  and  morning;  and  it  is  certain  that 
attention  only  is  requisite,  on  the  part  of  the  breeder,  to  perpetuate  this 
quality  in  any  desirable  extent.  While  on  this  subject,  it  is  proper  to  ob- 
serve, that  the  excessive  quantities  of  milk  obtained  from  the  unimproved 
short-horns  are  seldom  or  ever  obtained  from  the  improved;  but  a 
moderately  good  milker  of  the  latter  kind  will  be  found  to  yield  as  much 
butter  in  the  week  as  one  of  the  former;  the  milk  being  unquestionably  of 
very  superior  quality;  and,  indeed,  it  was  likely  such  should  be  the  case, 
and  that  the  artificial  change  in  the  animal  economy,  which  leads  to  an 


240  CATTLE. 

excessive  secretion  of  flesh  and  fal,  should  also  be  productive  of  other  rich 
secretions.  Within  the  last  tliree  or  four  years,  affidavits  were  sworn  be- 
fore a  magistrate  in  America,  that  an  improved  short-horned  cow  imported 
thither,  produced  after  the  rate  of  20lb.  of  butter  per  week. 

Wherever  the  improved  short-liorns  have  been  crossed  with  other  cattle, 
their  superiority  is  equally  manifest,  in  respect  of  dairy  qualifications,  as  in 
every  other.  On  this  subject  the  writer  is  able  to  avail  himself  of  the  evi- 
dence of  a  gentleman  who  has  addressed  a  communication  on  the  subject 
to  the  Conductor  of  the  British  Farmer'' s  Magazine,  which  is  so  pertinent 
to  the  present  subject  that  the  temptation  to  take  an  extract  is  irresistible. 
It  is  as  follows: — '  In  the  27th  number  of  your  valuable  Magizine,  when 
giving  an  account  of  my  two  years'-old  steer,  you  also  give  an  extract  from 
my  letter  on  the  advantages  of  crossing  cows  of  difierent  breeds  with  im- 
proved short-horn  bulls;  and  in  confirmation  of  this  opinion  (not  hastily 
adopted,  but  the  result  of  several  years'  practical  experience,  and  a  close  at- 
tention to  the  experiments  of  several  friends  during  the  last  seventeen  years,) 
I  send  you  the  portrait  and  a  short  account  of  a  two-year  old  Durham  and 
Devon  heifer  of  mine,  lately  slaughtered  by  Mr.  William  Daniel  (of  Aber- 
gavenny,) and  accompany  it  with  a  few  brief  statements  of  the  advantages 
derived  from  this  system  by  several  of  my  own  personal  friends. 

'  This  heifer  was  the  second  cross,  and  was  of  a  light  gray  colour.  She 
weighed  35  scores  and  81b.;  rough  Ait,  981b,;  slie  was  allowed  to  be  the 
fattest  and  best  beast  of  her  age,  in  all  points,  ever  seen  in  Abergavenny. 
She  had  a  dead  calf  about  six  weeks  before  Christmas;  was  dried  the  17th 
of  January,  and  killed  the  10th  of  June.     She  sold  for  19/.  3.s.  &d. 

lbs. 

'  Her  live  weight,  on  the  8th  of  June,  was      .      1233 

Ditto,  on  the  17th  January  .  .         .        840 

Increase  in  140  days  ....        392 

'  Being  aware  that  strong  prejudice  and  much  incredulity  existed  on 
the  subject  of  crossing,  I  courted  the  attention  of  all  the  respectable 
farmers j  breeders,  and  feeders  in  this  neighbourhood.  Many  came  to  see 
her  when  first  put  up,  and  repeatedly  afterwards  during  the  five  months 
she  was  feeding;  and  they  all  concurred  in  saying  she  went  on  faster  than 
any  beast  they  had  ever  seen.     She  never  had  any  oil-cake. 

'  I  have  seen  many  excellent  beasts  bred  from  improved  short-horn 
bulls  and  long  horn  cows:  indeed,  I  never  knew  one  of  these  bulls  put  to 
any  cow,  where  the  produce  was  not  superior  to  the  dam;  but  the  cross 
which  I  advocate,  and  with  whicli  I  am  best  acquainted,  is  that  with  the 
Devon  cow.  I  have  uniformly  remarked,  that  each  succeeding  cross  was 
attended  with  a  proportionate  improvement  in  size,  quality  of  flesh,  and 
aptitude  to  fatten.  In  every  instance  they  have  shown  themselves  superior 
milkers,  and  stand  to  the  pail  till  within  six  or  eight  weeks  of  calving;  and 
several  instances  have  come  under  my  own  knowledge  where  they  have 
never  been  dry  since  they  first  calved;  and  so  highly  are  they  prized  as 
milkers,  that  a  friend  of  mine,  wbo  hired  out  dairies,  informed  me  tliat  the 
dairymen  gave  him  nearly  2/.  per  cow  per  year  more  for  the  half  and 
three-quarter  breeds  than  they  would  give  for  cows  of  other  breeds. 

'  A  friend  of  mine  had  about  a  dozen  North  Devon  cows,  small  in  size, 
but  nice  in  quality,  and  from  these  he  commenced,  about  twenty  years 
since,  breeding  widi  short-horn  bulls.  He  has  since  invariably  used  those 
bulls.  With  each  succeeding  cross  the  stock  have  rapidly  improved  in 
every  essential,  and  the  only  trace  of  the  Devons  which  I  could  perceive 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  241 

when  I  last  saw  them,  about  two  years  since,  was  a  peculiar  richness  in 
their  colour.  He  breeds  about  thirty  annually,  and  generally  sells  his 
three  years-old,  in  the  autumn,  at  17/.  to  22/.;  and  I  have  known  him. 
sell  in-calf  heifers  to  jobbers  in  fairs  as  high  as  30  guineas  each.  All  his 
stock  are  superior  milkers.  Here  we  have  twenty  years'  experiment,  and 
continued  improvement. 

'  Within  the  last  eight  years  I  have  sent  many  North  Devon  heifers  to 
Ireland,  to  friends  residing  in  different  counties,  and  some  of  them  occu- 
pying land  of  very  inferior  quality.  I  also  sent  over  two  young  Durham 
bulls,  from  the  stock  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Berry,  to  cross  them  with.  They 
have  all  crossed  them  with  short-horn  bulls  at  my  recommendation,  and 
the  accounts  they  give  are  most  satisfactory.  They  say  the  two  years'old 
half-breds  are  as  good  as  the  three  years'-old  Devons,  and  are  all  good 
milkers.  One  of  these  bulls,  by  Mr.  Berry's  Mynheer,  has  been  four 
times  exhibited  in  three  different  counties,  and  has  each  time  taken  the 
first  prize.  He  was  last  year  sold  for  60  guineas,  and  is  now  serving 
cows  at  I/,  each. 

*  Brynderry,  near  Mergavenny.  C.  H.  Bolton. 

An  opinion  generally  prevails  that  the  short-horns  are  unfitted  for  work; 
and  in  some  respects  it  is  admitted  they  are  so:  but  the  correct  reason 
has  not  been  assigned,  and  the  question  may  fairly  come  briefly  under 
notice.  That  they  are  willing  and  able  to  woi'k,  the  writer  knows,  from 
one  in  particular  among  many  instances.  He  has  now  a  team  of  two 
years-old  steers,  working  constantly  nine  hours  a  day;  a  system  he  would 
by  no  means  recommend,  and  forced  on  him  by  circumstances  connected 
with  entrance  on  a  new  farm,  at  present  ill  adapted  to  grazing  cattle. 
They  work  admirably;  but  surely  cattle  which,  as  the  preceding  account 
proves,  will  go  as  profitably  to  the  butcher  at  two  years  old  as  any  other 
breed  at  three,  and  as  many  even  at  four,  ought  never,  as  a  general  rule, 
to  be  placed  in  the  yoke.  No  beast,  in  the  present  advanced  state  of 
breeding,  ought  to  be  put  upon  a  system  which  arose  out  of  the  necessity 
of  obtaining  compensation  by  work  for  the  loss  attending  a  tardy  maturity. 
But  where  it  may  be  convenient,  the  short-horns,  particularly  the  bulls, 
work  admirably,  as  their  great  docility  promises:  and  there  are  many 
operations  going  on  in  every  farm  which  a  bull  would  be  judiciously  em- 
ployed in  performing.  And  as  the  bulls  of  this  breed  are  apt  to  become 
useless,  from  acquiring  too  much  flesh  in  a  state  of  confinement,  moderate 
work  might,  in  most  cases,  prove  beneficial  for  such  as  are  intended  for 
use  at  home. 

As  was  before  observed,  the  specimens  which  accompany  this  account 
will  render  little  comment  necessary  on  their  form.  With  deference,  how- 
ever, it  is  submitted  to  the  breeders  of  short-horns  that  they  should  avoid 
breeding  from  too  close  affinities,  and,  while  they  steer  clear  of  coarseness, 
should  require  a  sufficiency  of  masculine  character  in  their  males.*  The 
portrait  of  Lord  Althorp's  bull  Firby  evinces  this  requisite  in  a  proper 
degree.  He  has  also — but,  indeed,  it  is  only  part  of  the  other;  for  with- 
out it  good  masculine  character  cannot  exist — an  excellent  loin.     This 

*Lord  Althorp  first  adopted  the  short-Iiorns  in  1818,  when  he  purchased  the  bull 
Regent,  at  Mr.  R.  Colling's  sale,  with  several  of  that  gentleman's  cows;  and  since  that 
time  his  lordship  has  been  unremitting  in  his  attempts  to  improve  the  breed.  The  bull 
Fiiby  is  good  in  almost  every  point.  His  flanks,  loins,  hips,  and  bosom  are  excellent. 
His  only  failing  is  in  the  crop;  yet  we  are  told  by  his  lordship's  very  intelligent  steward 
(Mr.  Hall,)  and  we  had  proof  of  the  accuracy  of  the  observation,  when  we  had  the 
pleasure  of  looking  over  the  Wiseton  herd,  that,  after  using  him  six  years,  very  few  of 
his  stock  have  inherited  tliis  imperfection.— £rfj7. 
22 


243 


CATTLE. 


is  a  point  in  Avhich  many  sliort-horns  are  rather  defective,  and  it  is  one 
of  infinite  importance.  Add  to  this,  that  if,  in  many  instances,  the 
length  of  the  carcass  were  abated,  as  well  as  that  of  the  legs,  a  hardier 
animal,  with  equal  size  and  on  a  more  profitable  scale,  would  be  pro- 
duced. The  facilities  for  making  this  improvement  are  sufliciently  nu- 
merous, the  short-horns  being  now  more  generally  diffused.  That  wider 
difliusion  also  multiplies  the  means  of  selecting  for  milk;  a  quality  which 
should  not  be  lost  sight  of:  for  it  is  the  combination  of  perfections  which 
has  conferred,  and  will  perpetuate,  the  superiority  of  this  breed  of  cattle. 


[Lord  Alihorp's  Bull.] 

The  colours  of  the  improved  short-horns  are  red  or  white,  or  a  mixture 
of  the  two,  combining  in  endless  variety,  and  producing,  very  frequently, 
most  brilliant  effect.  The  white,  it  is  very  probable,  they  obtained  from 
an  early  cross  with  the  wild  breed;  and  Avhenever  this  colour  shows 
itself,  it  is  accompanied,  more  or  less,  with  a  red  tinge  on  the  extremity  of 
the  ear:  a  distinctive  character,  also,  of  the  wild  cattle.  No  pure  improved 
short-horns  are  found  of  any  colours  but  those  above  named.  There  is  a 
large  coarse  short-horn,  prevailing  particularly  in  Lincolnshire,  denomi- 
nated in  the  quotations  of  the  Smithfield  markets  'Lincolns,'  and  gene- 
rally suld  at  prices  below  those  of  any  other  catde.  These  are  frequently 
black,  black  and  white,  blue,  and  dun;  but  they  have  no  further  afhnity 
with  the  improved  short-horns  than  as  the  latter  have  been  referred  to  for 
their  improvement,  which  has  been  accomplished  to  a  considerable  degree. 
A  similar  description  of  large,  coarse  short-horns,  of  these  objectionable 
colours — for  they  generally  accompany  a  bad  quality  of  flesh — prevails  in 
some  of  the  midland  counties.  They  are  great  consumers  of  food,  gutty, 
and  particularly  low  and  bad  in  the  loins,  with  excessively  heavy  shoulder- 
blades.  The  owners  of  this  stock,  however,  are  crossing  with  the  im- 
proved breed;  but  the  dairy-farmers  of  Gloucestershire  are  so  much  alive 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  243 

to  the  superiority  of  the  short-horns,  that  they  lay  hold  with  avidity  of  any 
thing  which  approaches  them  in  colour,  or  is  called  by  the  name.  Indeed 
should  this  breed  continue  to  obtain  the  requisite  attention,  to  maintain  it 
in  its  present  excellence,  it  is  not  too  much  to  suppose  that  it  will,  before 
long,  alter  the  character  of  the  cattle  in  most  of  the  great  breeding  districts. 
It  would  have  been  thought  incredible  some  years  ago,  but  is  nevertheless 
the  fact,  that  they  are  treading  closely  on  the  strongholds  even  of  the 
Herefords;  and  an  observing  traveller,  who  sees  their  colours  starting  to 
view  in  very  unwonted  situations,  must  pronounce  them  universal  in- 
truders. 

Thus  far  JNIr.  Berry,  whose  admirable  account  of  the  improved  short- 
horn cattle  our  readers  will  duly  estimate.  There  is  no  point  which  he 
has  more  triumphantly  illustrated,  than  the  value  of  this  breed,  as  con- 
taining a  combination  of  perfections.  It  was  a  point  which  was  in  a 
manner  lost  sight  of  by  the  early  improvers.  They  developed  the  aptitude 
to  fatten,  and  the  early  maturity  of  the  short-horns,  but  they  neglected, 
and  were  beginning  to  lose,  their  milking  properties.  This  is  also  the 
grand  error  of  many  modern  breeders;  and  hence  arose  the  general  im- 
pression, and  founded  on  careful  observation,  that  in  proportion  as  the 
grazing  properties  of  the  beast  were  increased,  its  value  for  the  dairy  was 
proportionably  diminished. 

The  Yorkshire  cow,  which  now  almost  exclusively  occupies  the  London 
dairies,  is  an  unanswerable  proof  of  the  possibility  of  uniting  the  two  quali- 
ties to  a  great  degree  of  perfection,  hut  not  at  the  same  time: — ihey  succeed 
to  each  other,  and  at  the  periods  when  it  suits  the  convenience  of  the  dairy 
man  that  they  should.  Twenty  years  ago  the  Yorkshire  cow  was,  com- 
pared with  other  breeds,  as  great  a  favourite  in  the  London  market  as  at 
present.  She  yielded  more  milk,  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  food 
consumed,  than  could  be  obtained  from  any  other  breed;  but  when  the 
dairyman  had  had  her  four  or  five  years,  she  began  to  fall  off,  and  he 
dried  her  and  sold  her.  It  took  a  long  time  to  get  much  flesh  upon  her 
bones;  and  when  he  calculated  the  expense  of  bringing  her  into  condition 
he  found  that  his  cheapest  way  was  to  sell  her  for  what  she  would  fetch, 
and  that  seldom  exceeded  5/. 

By  degrees,  however,  some  of  the  more  intelligent  of  the  breeders  for 
this  market  began  to  find  that,  by  cautiously  adopting  Mr.  Berry's  prin- 
ciple of  selection — by  finding  out  an  improved  short-horn  bull,  whose  pro- 
geny w^ere  generally  milkers,  and  crossing  some  of  the  old  Yorkshires 
with  him,  and  then  going  back  to  the  pure  blood — but  still  regarding  the 
milking  properties  of  the  dam,  and  the  usual  tendency  to  possess  these 
qualities  in  the  oflspring  of  the  sire — they  could  at  length  obtain  a  breed 
that  had  lost  little  of  the  grazing  properties  of  the  new  breed,  and  retained, 
almost  undiminished,  the  excellences  of  the  old  breed  for  the  pail.  Thence 
it  has  happened  that  many  of  the  cows  in  the  London  dairies  are  as  fine 
specimens  of  the  improved  short-horns  as  can  possibly  be  produced.  They 
do  not,  perhaps,  yield  quite  so  much  milk  as  the  old  ones,  but  what  they  do 
yield  is  of  better  quality;  and  whether  the  dairyman  keeps  them  a  twelve- 
month or  a  little  longer — and  this  is  getting  more  and  more  the  habit 
of  these  people — or  whether  he  milks  them  for  three  or  four  years — as 
soon  as  he  dries  them,  they  fatten  as  rapidly  as  the  most  celebrated  of  the 
improved  breed.  Mr.  Parkinson  gives  an  account  of  one,  which,  after 
being  milked  to  the  5th  of  April,  was  put  to  grass  with  others,  and  sold  on 
the  5tli  of  July  after  91  days'  grazing,  having  made  in  that  time  nearly 
'2s.  a-day. 


244 


CATTLE. 


[The  Yorkshire  Cow.] 

Tliis  is  a  fair  specimen  of  one  of  these  covrs:  the  character  of  the  Hol- 
derness  and  the  Durham  beautifully  mingling^.  A  milch  cow  good  for  the 
pail  as  long  as  she  is  wanted,  and  then  quickly  got  into  marketable  condi- 
tion, should  have  a  long  and  rather  small  head;  a  large-headeil  cow  will 
seldom  fatten  or  yield  much  milk.  The  eye  should  be  bright,  yet  with  a  pe- 
culiar placidness  and  quietness  of  expression;  the  chaps  thin,  and  the  horns 
small.  The  neck  should  not  be  so  thin  as  that  which  common  opinion 
has  given  to  the  milch  cow.  It  may  be  thin  towards  the  head  ;  but 
it  must  soon  begin  to  thicken,  and  especially  when  it  approaches  the 
shoulder.  The  dewlap  should  be  small;  the  breast,  if  not  so  wide  as  in 
some  that  have  an  unusual  disposition  to  fatten,  yet  very  far  from  being 
narrow,  and  it  should  project  befoi-e  the  legs  ;  the  chine,  to  a  certain 
degree  fleshy,  and  even  inclining  to  fulness  ;  the  girth  behind  the 
shoulder  should  be  deeper  than  it  is  usually  found  in  the  short-horn  ;  the 
ribs  should  spread  out  wide,  so  as  to  give  as  globular  a  form  as  possible, 
to  the  carcass,  and  each  should  project  farther  than  the  preceding  one  to 
the  very  loins,  giving,  if  after  all  the  rnilch  cow  must  be  a  little  wider 
below  than  above,  yet  as  much  breadth  as  can  possibly  be  afforded  to  the 
more  valuable  parts.  She  should  be  well  formed  across  the  hips  tmd  on 
the  rump,  and  with  greater  length  there  than  the  milker  generally  pos- 
sesses, or  if  a  little  too  short,  not  heavy.  If  she  stands  a  little  long  on 
the  legs,  it  must  not  be  too  long.  The  thighs  somewhat  thin,  with  a 
slight  tendency  to  crookedness,  or  being  sickle-hammed  behind:  the  tail 
thick  at  the  upper  part,  but  tapering  below;  and  she  should  have  a  mel- 
low hide,  and  litUe  coarse  hair.  Common  consent  has  given  to  her  large 
milk-veins;  and  although  the  subcutaneous  or  milk-vein  has  nothing  to 
do  with  the  udder,  but  conveys  the  blood  from  llie  fore  part  of  the  chest 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  245 

and  sides  to  the  inguinal  vein,  yet  a  large  milk-vein  certainly  indicates  a 
strongly  developed  vascular  system — one  favourable  to  secretion  generally, 
and  to  that  of  the  milk  among  the  rest. 

The  last  essential  in  a  milch  cow  that  we  shall  mention  is  the  udder, 
rather  inclining  to  be  large  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  animal,  but 
not  too  large.  It  must  be  sufficiently  capacious  to  contain  the  proper 
quantity  of  milk,  but  not  too  bulky,  lest  it  should  thicken  and  become 
loaded  with  fat.  The  skin  of  the  udder  should  be  thin,  and  free  from 
lumps  in  every  part  of  it.  The  teats  should  be  of  moderate  size;  at 
equal  distances  from  each  other  every  way;  and  of  equal  size  from  the 
udder  to  nearly  the  end,  where  they  should  run  to  a  kind  of  point.  When 
they  are  too  large  near  the  udder,  they  permit  the  milk  to  flow  down  too 
freely  from  the  bag,  and  lodge  in  them;  and  when  they  are  too  broad  at 
the  extremity,  the  orifice  is  often  so  large  that  the  cow  cannot  retain  her 
milk  after  the  bag  begins  to  be  full  and  heavy.  The  udder  should  be 
of  nearly  equal  size  before  and  behind,  or,  if  there  is  any  difference,  it 
should  be  broader  and  fuller  before  than  behind.* 

The  quantity  of  milk  given  by  some  of  these  cows  is  very  great.  It  is 
by  no  means  uncommon  for  them,  in  the  beginning  of  the  summer,  to 
yield  30  quarts  a  day;  there  are  rare  instances  of  their  having  given  36 
quarts;  but  the  average  measure  may  be  estimated  at  22  or  24  quarts.  It 
is  said  that  this  milk  does  not  yield  a  proportionate  quantity  of  butter; 
and  that,  although  these  cows  may  be  valuable  where  the  sale  of  milk  is 
the  prime  object,  they  will  not  answer  for  the  dairy. 

That  their  milk  does  not  contain  the  same  proportionate  quantity  of 
butter  as  that  from  the  long-horns,  the  Scotch  cattle,  or  the  Devons,  is 
probably  true;  but  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  diffisrence  has  been 
much  exaggerated,  and  is  more  than  compensated  by  the  additional  quan- 
tity of  milk.  At  the  first  introduction  of  the  improved  breed,  the  prejudice 
against  them  on  this  account  was  very  great,  and  certain  experiments  were 
made,  by  the  result  of  which  it  was  made  to  appear  that  the  milk  of  the 
Kyloe  cow  yielded  double  the  quantity  of  butter  that  could  be  produced 
from  that  of  the  improved  short-horn.  Two  ounces  were  obtained  from 
the  milk  of  the  Kyloe,  and  one  from  that  of  the  short-horn. 

This  aroused  the  advocates  of  the  new  breed,  cind  they  instituted  their 
experiments,  the  result  of  which  was  much  less  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
short-horns.  Mr.  Bailly  gives  an  account  of  an  experiment  made  by  Mr. 
Walton  of  Middleton. 

He  took  from  his  dairy  6  cows  promiscuously,  and  obtained  the  follow- 
ing quantity  of  butter  from  a  quart  of  the  milk  of  each  of  them: — 

*  There  are  some  dog-gerel  lines,  which  so  well  express  the  greater  number  of  the  good 
points  of  such  a  cow  as  we  have  been  now  describing,  that  we  are  tempted  to  copy  them 
from  the  Farmer's  Magazine: — 

'  She's  long  in  her  face,  she's  fine  in  her  horn, 
She'll  quickly  get  fat  without  cake  or  corn; 
She's  clean  in  her  jaws,  and  full  in  her  chine, 
She's  heavy  in  flank,  and  wide  in  her  loin. 

•  She's  broad  in  her  ribs,  and  long  in  her  rump, 
A  straight  and  flat  back,  without  ever  a  hump: 
She's  wide  in  her  hips,  and  calm  in  her  eyes. 
She's  fine  in  her  shoulders,  and  thin  in  her  thighs. 

'  She's  light  in  her  neck,  and  small  in  her  tail. 
She's  wide  in  her  breast,  and  good  at  the  pail; 
She's  fine  in  her  bone,  and  silky  of  skin — 
She's  a  grazier's  without,  and  a  butcher's  within.' 
22* 


246 


CATTLE. 

- 

oz. 

dwts^ 

Xo.  1 

3 

6 

2 

6 

3 

13 

4 

10 

5 

14 

6 

6 

10  8,  which,  divided  by 
6,  leaves  nearly  loz.  14|dwts.,  or  ahont  ^  of  the  weight  of  butter  from 
the  same  quantity  of  milk.  Then,  the  increased  quantity  of  milk  yielded 
by  the  short-horn  gave  her  decidedly  the  preference,  so  far  as  the  simple 
produce  was  concerned. 

This  experiment  brought  to  light  another  good  quality  in  the  improved 
short-hora,  whicli,  if  not  altogetlier  unsuspected,  was  not  sufficiently  acted 
upon — that  she  improved  as  a  dairy-cow  as  she  got  older.  The  cow,  a 
quart  of  whose  milk  produced  more  than  3oz.  of  butter,  was  six  years 
old,  the  other  five  were  only  two  years  old;  at  all  events  the  experiments 
proved  that  her  milk  was  richer  at  six  years  old,  than  it  had  been  at  two. 
This  a  subject  which  deserves  investigation. 

Another  circumstance  is  somewhat  connected  with  such  an  inquiry. 
The  Kyloe  and  the  long-horn  cattle  seem  to  care  little  about  change  of 
situation  and  pasture;  but  the  short-horn  is  not  so  easily  reconciled  to  a 
cliange;  and  her  milk  is  not  at  first  either  so  abundant  or  so  good  as  it 
afterwards  becomes. 

A  prejudice  likewise  existed,  and  perhaps  does  yet  in  the  minds  of  some 
dairj'men,  against  the  larger  improved  short-horns.  The  breed  generally 
are  great  consumers;  and  it  was  also  supposed  that  in  proportion  to  the 
condition  of  the  cow,  she  was  likely  to  run  to  flesh  instead  of  yielding 
milk,  and  therefore  a  rather  small  cow  was  selected,  and  one  that  did  not 
carry  about  her  many  proofs  of  point. 

That  there  is  a  great  difference  in  the  quantity  of  food  consumed  by 
different  breeds  of  cattle,  cannot  be  doubted;  and  that  the  short-horns 
occupy  the  highest  rank  among  the  consumers  of  food  is  evident 
enough;  but  we  never  could  be  persuaded  that  the  difference  of  size  in  the 
same  breed  made  any  material  difference  in  the  appetite,  or  the  food  con- 
sumed. When  they  stand  side  by  side  in  the  stall  or  the  cow-house,  and 
experience  has  taught  us  the  proper  average  quantity  of  food,  the  little 
one  eats  her  share,  and  the  larger  one  seldom  eats  more,  even  when  it  is 
put  before  her.  There  are  occasional  differences  in  the  consumption  of 
food  by  different  animals,  but  these  arise  far  oftener  from  constitution,  or 
from  some  unknown  cause,  than  from  difference  of  size.  Experience 
does,  however,  prove  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt,  that  the  larger  cattle, 
the  breed  and  other  circumstances  being  the  same,  yield  the  greatest  quan- 
tity of  milk. 

Experience  has  also  proved  another  thing — that  the  good  grazing  points 
of  a  cow,  and  even  her  being  in  fair  store  condition,  do  not  necessarily  in- 
terfere with  her  milking  qualities.  They  prove  that  she  has  the  disposition 
to  fatten  about  her,  but  which  will  not  be  called  into  injurious  exercise 
until,  in  the  natural  process  of  time,  or  designedly  by  us,  she  is  dried.  She 
will  yield  nearly  as  much  milk  as  her  unthrifty  neighbour,  and  milk  of 
a  superior  quality,  and  at  four,  five,  or  six  years  old,  might  be  pitted 
against  any  Kyloe,  while  we  have  the  pledge  that  it  will  cost  us  little  to 
prepare  her  for  the  butcher,  when  we  have  done  with  her  as  a  milker.  It 
is  on  this  principle  that  many  of  the  London  dairymen  now  act,  when 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  247 

they  change  their  cows  so  frequently  as  they  do;  but  whether  this,  even 
allowing  the  rapidity  with  which  the  beasts  fatten,  is  the  best  and  most 
profitable  mode  of  management,  will  be  the  subject  of  future  inquiry. 

Some  time  after  Mr.  Walton's  experiment,  the  following  observations 
were  made  by  Mr.  Calvert,  of  Sandysike,  near  Brampton,  on  the  quantity 
of  butter  yielded  by  one  of  his  improved  short-horns.  The  milk  was  kept 
and  churned  separately  from  that  of  the  other  stock,  and  the  following  is 
the  account  of  the  number  of  pounds  of  butter  obtained  in  each  week, — 
7,  10,  10,  12,  17,  13,  13,  13,  15,  16,  15,  12,  13,  13,  13,  14,  14,  13,  12, 
12,  13,  11,  12,  10,  10,  8,  10,  9,  10,  7,  7,  7. 

From  this  it  appears  that  tliere  were  churned  373  pounds  of  butter  in 
the  space  of  32  weeks.  The  cow  gave  28  quarts  of  milk  per  day,  about 
Midsummer,  and  would  average  nearly  20  quarts  per  day  for  20  weeks. 
She  gave  more  milk  when  she  was  depastured  in  the  summer  tlian  when 
she  was  soiled  in  the  house,  in  consequence  of  the  very  hot  weather.  She 
was  lame  during  six  weeks  from  '  foul  in  the  feet,'  which  lessened  the 
quantity  of  milk  during  that  time;  and  the  experiment  was  discontinued, 
because  there  was  not  a  sufficient  supply  of  turnips,  and  the  milk  of  the 
whole  of  the  herd  was  rapidly  diminishing.  For  the  first  fortnight  after 
calving,  she  was  allowed  a  little  broken  corn;  and  from  that  period  to  the 
commencement  of  the  turnip-season,  she  lived  entirely  on  grass,  with 
some  cut  clover;  when  it  was  necessary  to  shelter  her  from  the  inclement 
heat.     The  pasture  was  by  no  means  of  a  superior  quality. 

After  such  a  record — and  it  is  far  from  being  a  singular  one — '  there 
can  be  no  doubt,'  to  adopt  the  language  of  the  reporter,  '  of  the  possibility 
of  raising  a  breed  of  milking  short-horns,  which  will  surpass  every  variety 
of  catde  in  the  kingdom.'  We  may,  perhaps,  safely  add,  that  we  have 
that  breed,  and  that  it  only  requires  a  litde  care  in  the  selection,  and  in 
crossing,  to  perpetuate  it. 

We  will  take  a  very  rapid  survey  of  the  few  counties  not  already 
described,  and  in  which  the  short-horns  are  the  prevailing  breed. 

CUMBERLAND. 

The  native  breed  of  Cumberland  was  a  small  long-horned  beast,  yield- 
ing a  fair  quantity  of  milk,  and  of  good  quality;  answering  well  for  the 
dairy,  but  not  so  profitable  as  grazing  cattle.  With  these  were  inter- 
mingled the  Kyloes  and  Galloways,  both  of  them  quicker  feeders  than 
the  old  Cumberlands.  They  were  generally  bought  in  about  October, 
and  turned  all  the  winter  on  the  pastures  out  of  which  the  fat  cattle  had 
just  been  sold — a  little  hay  being  allowed  them,  according  to  circum- 
stances.    They  were  kept  about  a  twelvemonth,  and  paid  very  well. 

The  long-horns  were  most  used  for  the  dairy,  and  chiefly  for  the  produc- 
tion of  butter.  They  yielded  from  one  to  two  firkins  per  annum,  according 
to  their  goodness  and  size:  the  average  produce  was  about  84  lbs.  per  cow. 
Some  of  them  would  yield  eight  quarts  of  milk  per  day  during  the  season, 
and  three  or  four  pounds  of  butter  per  week.  The  Cumberland  butter 
used  to  be  in  considerable  request.  The  cheese  was  an  inferior  article, 
and  chiefly  made  of  skimmed  milk. 

The  short-horns  were  not  slow  in  penetrating  into  Cumberland,  and 
establishing  themselves  there.  They  were  first  used  to  cross  the  native 
and  Scotch  breeds,  and  sometimes  with  considerable  success.  Mr.  Bates, 
of  Halton  Casde,  attempted  a  cross  between  the  Kyloe  cow  and  the  short- 
horn bull.  His  object  was  to  increase  the  quantity  of  milk  from  the 
Kyloe,  and  to  preserve  its  quality;  and  to  gain  that  which  every  one 
used  to  imagine  the  short-horn  was  sadly  deficient  in,  hardiness.     He 


Q48  CATTLE. 

hoped  likewise  to  reduce  the  great  consumption  of  food  by  the  sliort- 
horn,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  retain  his  early  maturity.  To  a  very  con- 
siderable extent  he  succeeded.  Mr.  Maynard,  than  whom  there  could 
not  be  a  better  judge  of  cattle,  and  from  whose  stock  descended  some  of 
the  best  short-horns  of  the  nortli,  hired  a  bull  from  Mr.  Bates,  to  try 
what  effect  would  be  produced  on  some  of  his  own  pure  breeding  stock. 
That  the  short-horns  could  be  materially  improved  by  such  an  admixture 
could  scracely  be  expected;  but  the  value  of  the  old  breed  of  the  country 
has  been  materially  increased. 

The  pure  short-horn  is  now  zealously  cultivated  in  Cumberland,  and  by 
none  more  so,  or  more  successfully,  than  by  Mr.  Maynard. 

YORKSHIRE NORTH  RIDING. 

There  are  few  parts  of  the  kingdom  in  which  so  perfect  a  change  has 
taken  place  in  the  breed  of  cattle  as  in  this  extensive  division  of  Yorkshire. 
Mr.  Marshall,  who  is  undoubted  authority  here,  says,  in  his  '  Rural  Eco- 
nomy of  Yorkshire,'  that,  at  the  commei/cement  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, the  ancient  black  cattle  were  the  only  breed  in  this  district.  They 
resembled  the  present  breed  of  the  lowlands  of  Scotland,  mostly  horned, 
but  some  of  them  humbled.  To  these  succeeded  the  long-horn,  or  Cra- 
ven breed,  and  which,  by  degrees,  spread  over  the  whole  of  the  northern 
and  midland  counties.  At  that  time  the  chief  work  of  the  farm  was  done 
by  cattle;  the  horse  had  not  yet  quite  superseded  the  slower,  but  perhaps 
more  profitable,  ox,  and  many  of  the  long-horns,  until  they  began  to  be 
improved  by  the  breeders  in  the  midland  counties,  were  deficient  in  several 
valuable  points,  while  the  use  of  them  was  exceedingly  inconvenient,  and 
sometimes  dangerous,  in  the  yoke. 

On  these  accounts,  the  long-horns  in  their  turn  gave  way  to  the  Hoi- . 
derness,  or  short-horn  breed,  and  that,  for  a  century  past,  has  maintained 
its  ground,  and  will  continue  to  do  so. 

Mr.  Marshall  gives  a  singular  account  of  these  catde,  when  first  intro- 
duced. He  says,  that  'the  Holderness  breed  were  thin-quartered,  too 
light  behind,  and  too  coarse  before;  large  shoulders,  coarse  necks,  and 
deep  dewlaps.  This  form  being  found  disadvantageous  to  the  butcher, 
increasing  the  quantity  of  the  coarser  parts,  and  reducing  the  weight  of 
the  prime  pieces,  the  breeder  endeavoured  to  enlarge  the  hind-quarters; 
and  had  he  stopped  when  he  had  got  to  the  happy  medium,  he  would 
have  wrought  a  good  work;  but  the  fashion  was  set — cloddy  bullocks 
were  in  estimation.  The  first  variety  of  this  species  of  cattle,  which  I 
can  recollect,  was  a  thick,  large-boned,  coarse,  clumsy  animal;  remarkably 
large  behind,  with  thick  gummy  thighs;  always  fleshy,  but  never  fat, 
and  the  flesh  being  of  a  bad  quality.  This,  however,  was  not  the  worst: 
the  monstrous  size  of  the  buttocks  of  the  calf  was  frequently  fatal  to  the 
cow,  and  numbers  of  cows  were  annually  lost  in  calving.  These  mon- 
sters were  stigmatized  by  the  epithet  '  Dutch-buttocked,'  and  they  were 
probably  the  worst  breed  the  Vale  ever  knew.' 

This  evil,  however,  soon  cured  itself;  and,  by  judicious  crossings  from 
their  own  stock,  and,  soon  afterwards,  from  the  stock  of  the  enterprising 
and  skilful  breeders  on  the  banks  of  the  Tees,  the  Yorkshire  cow  was 
brought  to  her  present  state  of  perfection,  retaining,  with  little  diminution, 
the  milking  properties  of  the  Holderness,  and  the  grazing  ones  of  the  im- 
proved short-horn,  and  being,  in  point  of  fact,  what  we  have  described 
her  to  be  in  p.  244.  The  old  and  comparatively^  improved  breed  is 
still  indeed  found  in  the  possession  of  most  of  the  dairy  farmers  of  this 
part  of  the  country,  for  the  prejudice — and,  as  we  have  confessed,  not  an 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  249 

unfounded  one — against  the  improved  short-horns,  that  their  milking  pro- 
perties have  been  sacrificed  to  the  accumulation  of  fat,  still  widely  prevails. 
Experience,  however,  gradually  established  the  fact,  that  it  is  prudent  to 
sacrifice  a  small  portion  of  the  milk  to  assist  in  feeding,  when  too  old  to 
continue  in  the  dairy;  or  when,  as  in  the  neighbourhood  of  large  towns, 
her  services  as  a  dairy-cow  are  dispensed  with  at  an  early  age.  This 
cross  being  judiciously  managed,  the  diminution  of  milk  is  so  small,  and 
the  tendency  to  fatten  so  great,  that  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Sale  (as  quoted 
by  Mr.  Sheldon  Cradock,  of  Hartforth,  and  to  whom  we  return  our  thanks 
for  some  valuable  information)  is  perfectly  correct — '  I  have  always 
found,  in  my  stock,  that  the  best  milkers,  when  dried  for  feeding,  make 
the  most  fat  in  the  least  time.'  This  is  a  doctrine  which  will  be  better 
understood  and  universally  acknowledged  by  and  by.  Too  many  of  the 
improvers  of  the  short-horns  have  done  but  half  justice  to  their  excellent 
stock.  He  would  deserve  well  of  his  country  who,  with  skill  and  means 
sufficient,  would  devote  himself  to  the  illustration  of  this  point. 

It  has  been  observed,  that  the  cattle  of  this  district  have  not  improved 
of  late  so  rapidly  as  in  former  times.  There  may  be  two  reasons  for  this, 
viz.,  that  the  system  of  breeding  in  and  in  has  been  pursued  somewhat 
too  far,  and  that  the  depreciation  of  the  times  has  withdrawn  many 
landed  proprietors  from  agricultural  pursuits,  and  thus  lessened  that  com- 
petition which  was  the  most  powerful  stimulus  to  exertion. 

The  average  weight  of  cattle  in  this  riding  of  Yorkshire  varies  with  the 
food  and  age  of  the  animal.  A  steer,  from  2i  to  3  years  old,  when  fit 
for  the  market,  will  usually  weigh  from  65  to  75  stones,  imperial  weight, 
and  a  heifer  from  55  to  65  stones.  The  usual  method  of  preparing 
them  for  the  market  is  simple  enough.  The  calf  gets  milk  for  the  first 
two  or  three  weeks,  and  after  that,  scalded  skimmed  milk,  mixed  with 
oil-cake  boded  in  water,  with  hay  and  turnips,  until  the  spring  pastures 
have  sufficient  produce  to  support  him;  he  remains  in  them  until  the  fol- 
lowing winter,  when  he  is  either  tied  up  or  turned  loose  into  folds,  and 
fed  with  straw  and  turnips  until  the  ensuing  May:  he  is  then  turned 
once  more  into  the  pasture  until  winter,  when  he  is  brought  into  the  fold- 
yard  as  before,  until  nearly  May-day,  and  now,  approaching  to  a  state 
nearly  fat  enough  for  the  butcher,  three  or  four  months'  grass-feeding 
generally  completes  him.  Both  the  improved  and  the  unimproved  cattle 
are  treated  in  the  same  way.  Now,  however,  appears  the  essential  differ- 
ence between  the  breeds — the  most  forward  of  the  unimproved  are 
scarcely  ready  when  the  improved  cattle  are  gone,  and  they  are  never  so 
fat  and  pointy  as  the  others. 

Upon  the  clay-soil  of  Cleveland,  and  other  parts  of  this  district,  the 
grass-land  is  principally  appropriated  to  the  purposes  of  the  dairy.  There 
the  unimproved  breed  mostly  prevails;  but  even  there,  the  most  intelli- 
gent of  the  farmers  begin  to  see  the  propriety  of  a  cross  or  two  from  the 
Teeswater  blood.  The  young  catde  are  principally  sold  in  the  neighbour- 
ing markets,  and  are  forwarded  to  the  possessors  of  extensive  turnip- 
farms  in  Leicestershire  and  Northamptonshire. 

A  great  proportion  of  the  cows  for  the  supply  of  the  metropolitan 
dairies  come  from  the  North  Riding  of  Yorkshire.  They  are  sent  away 
within  a  month  or  six  weeks  after  calving,  and  either  journey  directly  to 
London,  or  halt  for  a  year  or  two  in  Bedfordshire,  or  some  of  the  midland 
counties,  in  order  that  they  may  not  reach  their  ultimate  destination  until 
they  are  five  or  six  years  old. 

Among  the  breeders  of  the  pure  short-horns  in  this  Riding,  Major 
Bower  of  VVelham,  deserves  honourable  mention.      His   name  appears 


250  CATTLE. 

among  the  purchasers  at  Mr.  Charles  CoUing's  sale.  His  cow  Daisy, 
bought  there,  produced  some  excellent  stock.  A  heifer  of  his  breed, 
slaughtered  at  the  age  of  18  months,  weighed  64  stones,  imperial  weight, 
and  10  stones  of  tallow. 

The  Earl  of  Carlisle  formerly  endeavoured  to  improve  the  breed  of  this 
district  by  crossing  with  the  Devonshire,  and  Mr.  Cleaver,  with  the  Sussex 
cattle,  and  it  was  said  that  more  kiudly  feeders  were  obtained,  tlie  size 
was  reduced  a  little,  the  leg  shortened,  the  bone  rendered  tiner,  the  form 
improved,  and  the  strength  of  the  short-horn  remained  for  drauglit  with 
the  activity  6f  the  Devon.  Whatever  might  have  been  the  case  with  the 
first  cross,  this  supposed  improved  race  has  passed  quite  away. 

A  cross  between  the  short-horn  bull  and  the  Argyleshiie  heifer  was 
attempted,  with  greater  prospect  of  success,  JNIr.  Bales  had  obtained 
some  excellent  cattle  from  a  similar  attempt,  but  they  could  not  be  fed  to 
an  equal  weight  in  the  same  tune,  and  they  were  deficient  in  early  ma- 
turity. 

WEST  RIDING. 

This  is  principally  a  manufacturing  district,  and  there  are  comparatively 
few  agriculturists  who  pay  much  attention  to  the  improvement  of  the  breed 
of  cattle.  The  short-horns,  either  the  Ilolderness  or  with  some  crosses  of 
the  Durham,  are  chiefly  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  large  towns. 
More  in  the  country,  and  where  the  fiirms  are  small,  (as  they  are  through 
a  great  part  of  this  riding,)  there  are  a  variety  of  crosses  with  die  long-horns, 
and  with  nondescripts  of  former  days.  They  go  under  the  characteristic 
name  of  half-horns;  the  country  people  are  fond  of  them,  they  are  hardy, 
yield  plenty  of  milk,  and  fatten  with  tolerable  quickness.  One  would 
wonder  how  they  retain  one  good  quality,  for  Mr.  Sorby,  of  Holyland- 
hall,  very  characteristically  describes  them,  and  the  little  farmers  of  almost 
every  district — '  Those  who  have  a  cow  or  two,  of  some  favourite  kind, 
send  them  to  the  nearest  bull,  which  does  well  enough,  provided  he  gets 
them  a  calf.'  We  must  confess,  that  we  nowhere  saw  so  great  a  collec- 
tion of  Mongrels  as  in  the  manufacturing  portion  of  the  West  Riding. 

Mr.  Newman,  the  agent  of  Lord  Fitzwilliani,  satisfactorily  accounts 
for  this.  He  thus  writes  to  us — '  the  breed  of  caldein  the  greatest  esteem 
in  the  vicinity  of  Wentworth,  and  in  fact  throughout  all  the  southern  part 
of  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  is  the  pure  short-horn.  A  traveller, 
however,  passing  through  this  district,  will  observe  many  deviations  from 
that  breed,  and  will  meet  with  crosses  that  he  will  have  much  difiiculty  to 
identify.  The  farms  are  small,  and  the  farmer  has  a  kind  of  mixed  em- 
ployment, pardy  agricultural  and  partly  mercantile;  hence  his  attention  is 
not  so  much  directed  to  his  farm  as  it  should  be,  and  hence  arises  a 
certain  degree  of  carelessness  as  to  the  selection  of  his  cattle;  added  to 
this,  there  is  an  idea,  although  an  erroneous  one,  that  the  pure  short- 
horns are  not  good  milkers,  and  which  tends  materially  to  check  the 
breed.' 

In  the  districts  near  Doncaster,  where  the  population  is  more  strictly 
agricultural,  the  short-horns  prevail,  and  those  of  a  breed  and  quality 
highly  creditable  both  to  the  mere  tenant-farmer  and  to  the  genllemaa 
who  farms  his  own  estate. 

It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Mr,  Mitton,  of  Badsworth,  to  place 
him  at  the  very  head  of  the  improvers  of  short-horn  catde  in  this  district. 
His  '  Old  Bull,'  known  in  the  Herd  Book  by  the  name  of  '  Badswordi,' 
is  still  in  the  recollection  of  the  farmers,  of  that  neighbourhood,  and  no 
animal  contributed  more  to  the  improvement  of  the  cattle  for  many  miles 
round. 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  251 

About  the  year  1805,  the  Worlley  Farmers'  Ckib  was  established, 
chiefly  by  Lord  Wharncliffe  (then  Mr.  Stuart  Wordey,)  and  by  the  ope- 
rations of  that  society  very  considerable  improvement  was  etrected  in  the 
breed  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  pigs,  round  Wordey.  In  1818  this  society 
ceased  to  exist,  for  one  more  effective  had  been  formed  at  Doncaster,  under 
the  patronage  of  Earl  Fitzwilliam,  Lord  Althorp,  Sir  A.  Cook,  and  Mr. 
Fullerton  of  Thrybergh  Park,  and  otiier  neighbouring  gentlemen.  This 
society  still  flourishes,  and  a  very  fair  number  of  excellent  cattle  are 
annually  exhibited,  the  males  of  which  become  dispersed  through  a  wide 
district  of  country.  The  short-horn  catde  have  borne  away  all  the  prizes. 

In  almost  every  part  of  the  West  Riding,  many  Scotch  are  fed  for  one 
year  or  two,  and  then  sold  to  the  butcher  to  be  slaughtered  for  home 
consumption. 

As  we  advance  towards  the  moorlands  of  the  west  and  north-west  of 
the  district,  the  half-horns  prevail  more;  and  in  Craven,  the  native  county 
of  the  long-horns,  we  find  both  the  large  and  the  small  variety  of  this 
breed  in  tolerable  perfection,  but  perhaps  not  so  much  so  as  in  the  north 
of  Lancashire.  Even  here,  the  short-horns  have  penetrated  and  are 
increasing. 

EAST  RIDING. 

The  short-horns  prevail  universally  through  this  riding,  except  among 
the  cottagers  and  little  farmers,  who  still  obstinately  cling  to  some  of  the 
different  varieties  of  half-horns.  It  is  decidedly  a  breeding  country,  and 
a  great  number  of  cows  are  yearly  sent  from  it  to  Lincolnshire,  to  be 
prepared  for  the  London  dairies  ;  yet  many  oxen  and  cows  are 
brought  from  the  Wolds  to  die  fortnightly  and  weekly  markets  so  frequent 
in  Yorkshire,  and  pastured  on  the. rich  ground  with  which  the  riding 
abounds.* 

LINCOLNSHIRE. 

Mr.  Berry  has  disposed  of  the  Lincolnshire  cattle  in  a  very  summary 
way,  and  we  apprehend  that  no  appeal  can  be  made  against  his  decision. 
'  There  is  a  large  coarse  short-horn  prevailing,  particularly  in  Lincolnshire, 
denominated  in  the  quotations  of  the  Smithfield  markets  "  Lincolns,"  but 
they  have  no  further  affinity  with  the  improved  short-horns  than  as  the 
latter  have  been  refevred  to  for  their  improvement,  which  has  been  accom- 
plished to  a  considerable  degree.'     As,  however,  we  have  to  travel  through 

*  In  some  part  of  this  riding,  as  well  as  in  tlie  north  of  Lincolnshire,  a  very  useful 
society  or  club  used  to  exist,  and  is  still  to  be  occasionally  met  with,  called  'The  Cow 
Club,'  the  principal  rules  of  whicli  we  abridge  from  '  Strickland's  Survey.' 

'  Each  member  shall,  on  the  12th  of  May,  and  the  12th  of  November,  pay  three-pence 
in  the  pound,  on  her  value,  for  every  cow  that  he  insures,  which  sum  when  it  amounts 
to  20/.  shiill  be  placed  at  interest,  in  order  to  accumulate  for  the  benefit  of  the  club.  No 
cow  shall  be  admitted  without  the  approbation  and  valuation  of  one  of  the  proper  officers 
of  the  district,  to  whom,  if  required,  she  shall  be  sent  for  inspection. 

'Upon  the  death  of  any  cow,  the  officer  shall  inquire  into  the  manner  of  it;  and  if  it 
appears  to  have  been  caused  by  wilful  neglect,  or  by  his  refusing  to  employ  some  farrier 
or  veterinary  surgeon,  he  shall  receive  no  benefit;  but  for  every  cow  dying  of  disease, 
and  without  the  neglect  of  the  owner,  there  sliall  be  paid  five-sixths  of  her  estimated 
value;  but  no  member  shall  receive  any  benefit  from  the  institution  upon  the  death  of  a 
cow  more  than  fourteen  years  old. 

'  If,  upon  any  accident,  the  officer  of  the  district  shall  deem  it  necessary  to  have  a 
cow  slaughtered,  the  owner  shall  have  the  option  of  receiving  the  net  value  of  her  carcais, 
the  expense  of  slaughtering  being  deducted,  or  five-sixths  of  her  estimated  value  in  the 
books.  Every  member  not  making  payment  on  the  day  appointed,  or  within  fourteen 
days  afterwards,  shall  be  excluded.' 

The  five-sixths  of  the  value  will  give  the  cottager  an  interest  in  her  recovery  or  pre- 
servation, whereas  if  he  was  paid  the  whole  value  he  might  be  careless. 


252 


CATTLE. 


each  of  the  counties  of  Great  Britani,  we  must  enter  a  little  more  into  the 
consideration  of  the  character  and  claims  of  the  Lincoln  cattle. 

Many  of  the  present  unimproved  Lincolns  may  be  regarded  as  fair 
specimens  of  the  best  of  the  old  Dutch  cattle.  So  prevalent  is  the  opinion 
that  this  was  the  origin  of  the  breed,  that  the  metropolitan  butcher  denomi- 
nates them  Dutch  cattle,  and  knows  them  much  belter  by  that  name  than 
as  Lincolns.  There  is  a  coarseness  about  the  head  and  horn  which  we 
have  not  seen  either  in  the  common  Holderness  or  the  improved  Durham; 
the  bone  is  comparatively  large,  the  leg  high,  and  the  hips  and  loins  wide, 
approaching  to  raggedness.  Mr.  Lawrence  has  a  very  appropriate  remark 
respecting  them,  that  they  demand  that  Bakewellian  improvement  which 
their  sheep  have  received. 

There  have  been  some  zealous,  and  to  a  considerable  degree,  successful 
improvers  of  this  breed.  At  the  head  of  them  stands  Captain  Turnill,  of 
Reesby  on  the  Wolds.  With  what  materials  he  went  to  work  is  not  cer- 
tainly known,  but  it  is  supposed  that  he  confined  himself  to  a  selection 
from  the  native  breed;  and  certainly  he  produced  a  valuable  animal,  thinner 
in  the  horn,  cleaner  in  the  bone,  lighter  in  the  dewlap,  shorter  in  the  leg, 
full  in  the  bosom,  and  round  in  the  carcass.  The  breed  was  properly 
called  '  the  Turnills,'  and  they  yet  remain  in  the  hands  of  many  farmers. 
They  are  handsome-looking  beasts,  always  full  of  lean  flesh;  with  far 
greater  disposition  than  before  to  put  some  fat  on  that  flesh,  and  become 
sooner  ripe  for  the  market. 

Others,  with  somewhat  more  judgment,  called  in  the  aid  of  the  Durhams 
and  more  speedily  and  effectually  completed  their  object.  They  took 
away  the  disposition  to  make  lean  beef  only,  although  in  very  great  quan- 
tities; and  if  they  could  not  perfectly  give  to  the  Lincolns  their  own  early 
maturity,  they  materially  quickened  the  process  of  fattening.  An  improved 
Lincolnshire  beast  is  thei-efore  now  a  very  valuable  animal;  and  if  a  finer 
grain  could  be  given  to  the  meat,  the  greater  quantity  of  muscle,  compared 
with  that  of  fat,  would  be  no  disadvantage. 


ILincolnshire  Ox.'] 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  253 

This  cut  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  modern  Lincoln,  with  a  cross  of  the 
Durham,  and  ready  for  the  market.  It  was  sketched  by  Mr.  Harvey,  as 
it  stood  in  Smilhfield. 

We  are  indebted  for  the  following  account  of  the  management  of  the 
Lincolnshire  cattle  to  Mr.  Shield  of  Fordston,  and  who,  as  a  genuine 
Lincolnshire  man,  is  much  attached  to  the  Turnill  breed. 

'  After  leaving  the  hand,  or  the  cow,  the  young  catde  are  kept  during 
the  first  winter  on  hay,  hay  and  turnips,  or  sometimes  hay  and  a  little 
oil-cake.  In  the  next  summer  they  run  on  seeds  or  second-rate  land, 
and  too  often  get  nothing  but  straw  in  the  winter.  At  two  years  old  they 
go  on  worse  keeping,  and  are  again  wintered  at  straw.  At  three  years 
old  they  fare  no  better,  except  that  some  now  give  from  two  to  four  pounds 
of  oil  cake  daily;  and  they  are  sold,  in  the  spring  or  summer,  by  those 
who  have  not  the  means  to  feed  them,  to  jobbers,  who  dispose  of  them  to 
the  grazier.  He  winters  them  better  if  he  buys  them  at  the  latter  end  of 
summer,  and  feeds  them  off  before  another  winter  ;  but  if  they  are  bought 
in  the  spring  they  are  generally  fed  off  before  winter,  many  of  them  being 
put  up  for  stall-feeding,  to  which  no  breed  is  better  adapted. 

The  Lincolnshire  cattle  are  principally  red  and  while,  but  a  dun  variety 
was  introduced  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  by  Sir  Charles  Buck, 
of  Hanby  Grange,  and  which  have  so  much  improved  in  size  as  almost 
to  overtake  the  common  breed  of  the  county.  They  are  found  principally 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Folkingham,  and  have  been  fed  up  to  116  stones 
at  seven  years  old. 

The  extraordinary  animal  which  was  exhibited  under  the  name  of  '  the 
Lincolnshire  ox,'  although  bred  in  that  county,  was  an  improved  short- 
horn; and  many  of  these  are  establishing  themselves  in  every  part  of  Lin- 
colnshire. 

Here,  as  in  most  other  districts,  there  are  great  varieties  of  breeds,  and 
which  are  said  to  be  increasing,  and  even  interfering  with  the  purity  of 
the  native  one,  by  means  of  the  great  annual  importations  of  Irish  cattle. 

Some  have  purposely,  and  very  recently,  endeavoured  to  establish  a 
cross  between  the  best  of  the  long-horned  Irish  and  the  short-horns  of  the 
county;  but  the  attempt,  although  promising  some  success  at  first,  has  de- 
cidedly failed. 

Among  the  small  farmers,  half-horns  of  every  size  and  variety  are 
found,  and  they  are  crossed  in  every  way  that  caprice  or  folly  can  sug-.  ,^,*-- 
gest,  yet  they  are  most  of  them  good  milkers.  The  Lincoln,  although'j^*; 
better  adapted  for  gr-azing  than  for  the  dairy,  yield  more  milk,  and  of  ai-*<|»'^^ 
richer  quality,  than  some  of  the  advocates  for  the  old  order  of  things  are'a'*)!^ 
willing  to  allow.  '^*-\% 

A  great  number  of  the  Yorkshire  cows,  destined  for  the  metropolitan^v^ 
dairies  halt  in  Lincolnshire,  and  many  cattle  from  the  north,  as  well  za^r^P- 
numerous  herds  of  Irish  beasts,  are  prepared  for  Smithfield  market.  ''' ''' 


There  is  no  distinguishing  breed  in  this  county;  but  the  chief  agricultu- 
ral business,  so  far  as  cattle  are  concerned,  consists  in  the  suckling  of 
calves  and  grazing  in  the  marshes,  with  some  attention  to  the  dairy  in 
particular  districts. 

Our  friend,  Mr.  May,  veterinary  surgeon,  at  Maldon,  informs  us,  that 
the  suckling  farmers  procure  their  calves  at  the  principal  markets,  viz.; 
Romford,  Chelmsford,  Maldon,  Braintree,  and  Colchester,  The  Romford 
market  is  chiefly  supplied  from  London;  Chelmsford  and  Maldon,  from 
London  and  Suffolk;  and  Colchester  and  Braintree,  chiefly  from  the  Suf- 
folk dairies. 


23 


immmi 


354  CATTLE. 

They  are  bought  in  at  from  a  week  to  a  fortnight  old,  and  are  generally 
fed  about  twelve  or  fourteen  weeks,  when  they  are  either  bought  by  the 
butchers  in  the  neighbourhood,  who  kill  and  dress  them,  and  send  them 
to  the  London  market,  or  they  are  sent  alive  to  the  Romford  and  Smith- 
field  markets,  where  they  are  purchased  by  the  London  butchers. 

Many  of  these  calves  used  to  be  reared  in  the  rich  pastures  of  Essex, 
and  particularly  the  heifer  calves  from  the  metropolitan  dairies;  and  many 
a  cow  went  from  Essex  to  keep  up  those  establishments;  but  this  practice 
is  now  almost  totally  discontinued.  » 

The  marshes  afford  excellent  grazing  for  cattle  that  are  not  affected  by 
the  brackishness  of  the  water,  and  there  are  few  who  suffer  materially  by 
this.  When  cattle  are  not  perlectly  ready  for  the  market,  a  few  weeks' 
grazing  on  the  marshes  will  bring  them  rapidly  forward.  Some  are  pur- 
chased in  store  condition,  in  order  that  they  may  run  three  or  four  months 
on  this  luxuriant  pasture,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  time  they  are  ready 
for  Smithfield.  At  some  periods  of  the  year  these  flats  are  covered  with 
cattle,  chiefly  of  a  small  kind,  and  mostly  the  Welsh  or  Scotch  runts;  in- 
deed the  grazing  is  principally  confined  to  these  small  cattle.  A  few 
farmers,  however,  in  every  part  of  Essex,  apply  themselves  to  the  regular 
grazing  of  cattle  of  a  larger  size.  A  few  have  the  Devons,  among  whom 
must  be  reckoned  Lord  Western,  who  is  partial  to  these  cattle,  both  to 
feed  and  for  the  dairy.  When  they  are  grass-fed,  there  are  always  some 
Scotch  or  Welsh  runts  as  trimmers,  i.  e,,  to  eat  down  what  the  larger 
and  more  valuable  cattle  leave.  Many  Herefords  are  prepared  for  the 
London  market  in  the  same  manner.* 

The  dairy  business  is  confined  to  a  comparatively  small  part  of  the 
county.  A  considerable  quantity  of  butter  is  made  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Epping,  and  sent  to  the  metropolis  in  small  rolls;  and  it  is  deservedly 
celebrated  for  the  peculiar  sweetness  of  its  taste.  This  depends  not  on 
the  kind  of  cow,  for  occasionally  a  dairy  contains  half  a  dozen  different 
breeds  of  cows,  although  the  short-horns  are  the  most  prevalent,  but  be- 
cause they  feed  during  the  summer  in  the  shrubby  pastures  of  Epping 
Forest;  and  the  leaves  of  the  trees,  and  of  numerous  wild  and  aromatic 
plants  which  there  abound,  impart  to  it  its  peculiarly  sweet  flavour.  The 
consumer,  however,  can  seldom  be  certain  that  he  has  the  real  Epping 
butter,  for  a  very  fair  imitation  of  it  is  sent  up  from  Northamptonshire; 
and  the  London  retail  dealers,  wash  the  salt  well  out  of  the  Cambridge 
butter,  and,  forming  it  into  rolls,  sell  it  for  Epping  butter;  whde  a  few  are 
more  impudent,  and  sell  almost  any  kind  of  butter  as  true  Epping. 

Attached  to  the  dairy  is  another  business,  to  which  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion more  part'cularly  to  allude  in  another  volume  of  our  work,  namely, 
the  fattening  of  pigs,  and  the  preparation  of  sausages.  The  skim  milk 
is  devoted  to  this  purpose.  Although  the  milk  is  always  sour  before  it 
reaches  the  troughs  of  the  pigs,  they  thrive  well,  and  their  fat  is  firmer 
than  that  which  is  procured  from  others  that  are  fed  with  pease  or  meal. 
This  will  not,  however,  appear  surprising,  when  it  is  known  that  all  the 
caseous  principle  of  the  milk,  or  that  which  would  produce  cheese,  is  re- 
tained in  it. 

MIDDLESEX. 

There  is  no  distinct  breed  in  this  county,  and  a  very  small  portion  of 
the  land  is  applied  to  the  fattening  of  catUe  for  the  butcher,  for  the  pro- 
duce from  it  procured  in  other  ways  can  be  sold  at  a  much  higher  sum, 

.    .^    *  These  cattle,  both  large  and  small,  are  usually  made  fresh  upon  the  marshes,  and 
'    tbeo  tied  up  to  hay,  turnips,  mangel-wurzel,  and  oil-cake. 


THE  SHORT-HORN  BREED.  255 

and  would  render  the  system  of  grazing  a  losing  business.  Some  land, 
however,  is  necessarily  devoted  to  the  temporary  keep  of  cattle,  as  they 
journey  to  and  from  Smithfield,  or  while  they  remain  unsold  from  one 
market-day  to  another;  and  a  great  many  cattle  are  prepared  for  the  mar- 
ket in  this  county,  and  more  than  would  be  readily  supposed  before  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  are  explained. 

In  the  first  place,  at  least  12,000  cows  are  kept  in  the  different  dairies 
in  the  metropolis  and  its  immediate  neighbourhood.  These  are  all  short- 
horns; and  since  the  rapidity  with  which  they  can  be  fattened  has  been  es- 
tablished, few  dairymen  breed  from  their  cows,  but  they  are  fattened  and 
sold  as  soon  as  their  milk  is  dried.  This  will  bring  5,000  or  6,000  cows 
annually  into  the  market. 

There  is  an  enormous  consumption  of  fermented  liquor  and  ardent  spirit 
in  London,  besides  what  is  sold  from  the  breweries,  and  sometimes  from 
the  distilleries,  to  the  regular  dairymen.  This  is  chiefly  distilled  from 
grain,  and  the  refuse  is  employed  in  the  fattening  of  at  least  6,000  or 
7,000  more  head  of  cattle. 

Booth's  establishment  for  the  fattening  of  cattle  will  afford  a  fair  sample 
of  the  rest.  It  is  attached  to  their  distillery  at  Brentford.  The  account 
of  the  building  is  chiefly  taken  from  the  Farmer's  Magazine,  an  excellent 
agricultural  publication,  edited  by  Mr.  Berry.  '  The  building  is  210  feet 
long,  and  180  wide.  The  side  walls  are  about  10  feet  high,  with  20 
windows  on  each  side,  and  8  windows  at  each  end,  unglazed,  but  opened 
or  shut  at  pleasure.  It  is  lighted  by  glazed  sky-lights  in  the  roof.  The 
roof  forms  one  ridge,  and  the  centre  part  of  it  affords  space  for  an  ample 
hay-loft.  It  is  supported  by  numerous  cast-iron  and  wooden  pillars,  which, 
at  the  first  entrance  of  the  observer,  have  the  appearance  of  a  forest  of 
columns.  A  passage  of  6  feet  in  width  extends  round  the  whole  building, 
and  between  every  two  rows  of  cattle  are  passages  of  the  same  width. 
The  whole  is  lighted  at  night  by  36  gas-lights. 

'  The  cattle  stand  in  double  stalls,  7i  feet  wide,  and  the  space  from  the 
manger  to  the  gutter  behind  the  cattle  is  about  10  feet:  the  gutters  have  an 
inclination  to  one  end,  where  are  drains  to  carry  off  the  contents  of  the 
gutters. 

'  There  is  a  common  manger,  which  extends  the  whole  length  of  each 
row  of  cattle,  the  bottom  of  which  is  on  a  perfect  level;  but  opposite  to 
each  beast  is  a  second  manger,  placed  in  the  first,  and  elevated  three  or 
four  inches  from  the  bottom  of  it,  and  being  about  a  yard  in  length;  and 
into  which  are  put  the  grains  and  other  solid  food,  the  common  manger 
being  for  the  reception  of  the  wash,  or  any  other  liquid  food. 

'  The  wash  is  kept  in  a  cistern  or  tank,  above  the  level  of  these  man- 
gers, and  in  a  different  part  of  the  premises;  but  pipes  from  this  tank  are 
conducted  beneath  the  floor  of  the  building,  and  communicate  with  these 
mangers  by  means  of  a  distinct  cock  for  each,  so  that,  by  turning,  the  cat- 
tle, in  any  one  of  the  ranges,  are  instantly  supplied  with  wash.  This 
liquid  serves  them,  in  a  manner,  for  food  and  drink,  as  it  contains  the  finer 
particles  of  the  ground  malt,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  barley  meal  used 
in  the  mashing  process. 

'The  grains  are  kept  in  pits,  about  12  feet  square,  and  10  or  12  feet 
deep,  somewhat  narrower  at  the  bottom  than  the  top,  and  lined  with  brick 
set  in  cement.  They  are  trodden  in,  and  raised  like  the  roof  of  a  house, 
and  covered  with  road-stuff,  to  exclude  the  air,  and  protect  them  from  the 
weather.  Little  or  no  litter  is  used,  and  no  green  food  or  uncut  haj'^  is  ever 
gi-yen.  Oil-cake  is  seldom  used,  it  being  found  that  rough  clover  chaff, 
mixed  with  the  grains  and  wash,  will  fatten  to  any  extent. 


256 


CATTLE. 


The  metropolis  is  the  grand  mart  to  which  a  considerable  proportion  of 
the  fat  cattle  from  every  part  of  the  kingdom  is  sent.  In  the  year  1830, 
there  were  sold  in  Smithfield,  159,907  cattle,  1,287,071  sheep,  254,672 
pigs,  and  22,500  calves,  for  the  supply  of  the  metropolis,  and  the  villages 
and  towns  within  a  circuit  of  eight  or  ten  miles,  and  occasional  contracts 
for  the  navy.  Besides  this  there  is  a  great  quantity  of  dead  meat  sent  up 
from  the  country,  generally  speaking  perfectly  wholesome,  and  fairly  and 
honestly  slaughtered,  althouglt  it  is  said  that  the  flesh  of  some  animals 
that  did  not  come  by  their  death  through  the  hands  of  man,  has  occasion- 
ally found  its  way  to  Newgate  market.  There  are  inspectors  appointed, 
who  very  impartially  look  after  this.  This  is  called  the  dead  market,  and 
may  be  fairly  set  against  the  consumption  of  the  places  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  London,  and  also  the  irregular  demands  for  the  navy,  so  that  the 
numbers  just  stated  may  be  considered  as  fairly  representing  the  consump- 
tion of  animal  food  in  the  metropolis,  exclusive  of  fish,  poultry,  and  salted 
provisions. 

We  subjoin  in  a  note  the  number  of  cattle  and  sheep  sold  in  Smithfield, 
in  every  year  from  1732  to  1830.  It  is  taken  from  that  most  elaborate 
and  valuable  work,  M'Culloch's  Dictionary  of  Conmierce.* 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  numbers  of  cattle  slaughtered  have  been  more 
than  doubled  during  the  century;  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  metropolis 
have  been  more  than  trebled  since  that  time.  Is  less  animal  food  con- 
sumed now  by  each  individual  than  at  that  time  ?  Not  so:  but  there  is 
an  important  fact  connected  with  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  kingdom, 
that  while  the  numbers  of  the  calde  slaughtered  have  increased,  in  order 

The  numbers  of  Cattle  and  Sheep  sold  in  Smithfield  in  each  year  from  1732  to 


1830: 

1732 
1733 
1734 
1735 
1736 
1737 
1738 
1739 
1740 
1741 
1742 
1743 
1744 
1745 
1746 
1747 
1748 
1749 
1750 
1751 
1752 
1753 
1754 
1755 
1756 
1757 
1758 
1759 
1760 
1761 
1762 
1763 
1764 


Cattle. 
76,210 
80,169 
78,810 
83,894 
87,606 
83,862 
87,010 
86,787 
84,810 
77,714 
79,601 
76,475 
76,648 
74,188 
71,582 
71,150 
67,681 
72,706 
70,765 
69,589 
73,708 
75,252 
70,437 
74,290 
77,257 
82,612 
84,252 
86,439 
88,594 
82,514 
102,831 
80,851 
75,168 


Sheep. 
514,700 
555,050 
566,910 
590,970 
587,420 
607,330 
589,470 
568,980 
501,020 
536,180 
503,260 
468,120 
490,620 
563,990 
620,790 
621,780 
610,060 
624,220 
656,340 
631,890 
642,100 
648,440 
631,350 
647,100 
624,710 
574,960 
550,930 
582,260 
622,200 
666,010 
772,160 
65.3,110 
556,360 


1765 
1766 

1767 
1768 
1769 
1770 
1771 
1772 
1773 
1774 
1775 
1776 
1777 
1778 
1779 
1780 
1781 
1782 
1783 
1784 
1785 
1786 
1787 
1788 
1789 
1790 
1791 
1792 
1793 
1794 
1795 
1796 
1797 


Cattle. 

81,630 

75,534 

77,324 

79,360 

82,131 

86,890 

93,537 

89,503 

90,133 

90,419 

93,581 

98,372 

93,714 

97,360 

97,.352 

102,383 

102,543 

101,176 

101,840 

98,143 

99,074 

92,270 

94,946 

92,829 

93,269 

103,708 

101,164 

107,348 

116,848 

109,448 

131,092 

117,152 

108,377 


Sheep. 
537,000 
574,790 
626,170 
642,910 
642,910 
649,090 
631,860 
609,540 
609,740 
585,290 
623,950 
671,700 
714,870 
658,540 
676,540 
705,850 
743,330 
728,970 
701,610 
616,110 
641,470 
665,910 
668,570 
679,100 
693,700 
749,660 
740,360 
760,859 
728,480 
719,420 
745,640 
758,840 
693,510 


1798 
1799 
1800 
1801 
1802 
1803 
1804 
1805 
1806 
1807 
1808 
1809 
1810 
1811 
1812 
1813 
1814 
1815 
1816 
1817 
1818 
1819 
1820 
1821 
1822 
1823 
1824 
1825 
1826 
1827 
1828 
1829 
1830 


Cattle. 
107,470 
122,986 
125,073 
134,546 
126,389 
117,551 
113,019 
125,043 
120,250 
134,326 
144,042 
137,600 
132,155 
125,012 
133,859 
137,770 
135,071 
124,948 
120,439 
129,888 
138,047 
135,226 
132,933 
129,125 
142,043 
149,552 
163,615 
156,985 
14.3,460 
138,363 
148,698 
158,313 
159,907 


Sheep. 

753,010 

834,400 

842,210 

760,560 

743,470 

787,430 

903,940 

912,410 

858,570 

924,030 

1015,280 

989,250 

962,750 

966,400 

953,938 

891,2 -^0 

870,880 

962,840 

968,560 

1044,710 

963,250 

949,900 

947,990 

1107,230 

1340,160 

1264,920 

1239,720 

1130,310 

1270,530 

1335,100 

1288,460 

1240,300 

1287,070 


CALCULATION  OF  MEAT  CONSUMED  IN  LONDON.      257 

to  supply  the  greater  demand,  their  size  and  vakie  have  also  increased  at 
a  rate  that  has  not  been  sufficiently  appreciated. 

According  to  the  estimate  of  Dr.  Davenant,  made  in  1710,  the  average 
weight  of  the  carcasses  of  black  cattle,  (so  called  because  most  of  them 
were  then  black,)  was  only  370  lbs.,  that  of  a  calf  50  lbs.,  and  those  of 
sheep  and  lambs,  taken  promiscuously,  28  lbs. 

Calculating  upon  this,  the  Select  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons 
on  Waste  Lands,  in  their  first  report,  printed  in  1795,  stated  that  cattle 
and  sheep  had,  on  an  average,  increased  in  size  and  weight  about  a  fourth 
since  1732. 

Middleton,  in  his  very  incorrect  Survey  of  Middlesex,  calculates  that 
the  average  gross  weight  of  bullocks  fit  for  slaughter  may  be  taken  at 
800  lbs.,  calves  140  lbs.,  and  sheep  and  lambs  78  lbs.,  including  offal; 
and  that  being  deducted,  according  to  a  rule,  to  which  we  shall  give 
due  consideration  in  another  place,  there  will  be  left  550  lbs,  as  the  dead- 
weight of  the  bullock,  50  lbs.  as  that  of  sheep  and  lambs,  and  105  lbs.  the 
dead  or  net  weight  of  calves,  making  a  difference,  as  Mr.  M'CuUoch  pro- 
perly remarks,  of  nearer  one-half  than  one-fourth. 

The  improvement  of  cattle  has  progressed  with  unsuspected  rapidity 
since  the  middle  of  the  last  century:  in  many  important  points  it  could 
hardly  be  said  to  have  commenced  at  that  time.  After  consultation 
with  several  of  the  most  intelligent  butchers  of  the  metropolis,  we  are  in- 
duced to  take  656  lbs.  as  the  present  average  dead-weight  of  bullocks, 
(some  butchers  stated  85  stones  Smithfield  weight,  none  less  than  80 — 
we  have  taken  82  stones.)  The  average  weight  of  the  calf  is  144  lbs., 
of  the  pig  96  lbs.,  and  of  the  sheep  and  lamb  90  lbs.,  approaching  to 
double  the  weight  of  these  animals  in  1730.  This  renders  the  number  of 
cattle  slaughtered  in  the  metropolis  and  the  increasing  number  of  the  in- 
habitants a  little  more  proportionate. 

We  may  now  form  some  not  very  inaccurate  idea  of  the  amount  of  this 
branch  of  the  provision  trade  in  London: — 

Averag^e  weight.  No.  of  lbs.  consu  med 

656  lbs.      -     -     -     104,898,992 

90    "        -     -     -     115,836,300 

96    "        -     -     -       24,448,512 

144    "        ...         3,240,000 


Cattle, 

-     - 

159,907 

Sheep, 

&c. 

1,287,070 

Pigs, 

-     . 

254,672 

Calves, 

-     - 

22,500 

Number  of  pounds  of  meat  consumed,     248,423,804 

This,  estimated  at  the  average  price  of  6d.,  would  be  6,210,595/.  2*.  Orf. 
At  8(/.  it  would  produce  8,268,293/.  9.s.  4f/.,  exclusive  of  bacon,  hams,  and 
all  salted  provisions  brought  from  a  distance,  (the  importation  of  Irish  ba- 
con and  hams  into  Great  Britain  is  500,000  cwt.)  and  also  fish  and  poultry. 

This  calculation  will  enable  us  to  determine  another  curious  question — 
what  is  the  average  quantity  of  meat  consumed  by  each  individual  in  the 
course  of  a  year?  If  we  divide  the  gross  number  of  pounds,  248,423,804 
by  1,450,000,  the  estimated  number  of  inhabitants  in  London  and  its 
environs,  the  quotient  will  be  170,  or  each  individual  consumes  nearly 
half  a  pound  of  meat  every  day.  This  is  a  very  high  calculation  compared 
with  that  of  Paris,  where  each  person  is  supposed  to  consume  but  80 
pounds  in  the  year;  and  Brussels,  where  89  pounds  form  the  allotment  of 
each;  but  ours  is  a  meat-eating  population,  and  composed  chiefly  of  Pro- 
testants; and  when  we  remember  that  this  includes  the  bones  as  well  as 
the  meat,  half  a  pound  a  day  is  not  too  much  to  allow  to  each  person. 

Cattle  are  sent  from  every  part  of  the  kingdom  to  Smithfield  market, 
23* 


258  CATTLE. 

but  many  more  from  some  districts  than  from  others.  A  little  before 
Christmas,  the  fat  beasts,  to  supply  the  good  people  of  the  metropolis  with 
beef  of  unusual  quality  for  the  holydays,  begin  to  come  in.  They  are  sent 
from  every  part — from  Norfolk  and  liincoln,  Leicestershire  and  North- 
ampton, Sussex,  the  Western  lAid  Midland  counties,  and  from  the  stall- 
yards  more  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  metropolis.  Christmas  having 
passed,  the  Norfolk  cattle,  comprising  all  sorts,  but  a  great  many  of  them 
home  breds  and  Galloways,  throng  to  the  market;  and  their  numbers, 
compared  with  those  of  other  districts,  increase  as  the  spring  advances. 

We  have  lying  before  us  a  calculation  of  the  respective  numbers  from  the 
different  districts,  at  different  seasons  of  the  year.  Li  February,  March, 
and  April,  there  arrived  16,000  Norfolks,  nearly  all  stall-fed  cattle;  while 
from  the  North,  including  chiefly  Leicester  and  Northampton,  there 
came  but  600.  In  JNLay,  June,  and  July,  the  Norfolk  cattle  had  in- 
creased to  17,800,  and  those  from  the  north  had  risen  from  600  to  3675. 
In  July,  August,  and  September,  the  grass-fed  cattle  begin  to  pour  in. 
The  earliest  are  from  the  marshes  of  Essex,  and  therefore  the  beasts  from 
the  centre  and  midland  districts  rise  to  5350,  while  those  from  Nor- 
folk strangely  decrease  to  580.  Some  Leiccsters,  however,  soon  become 
ripe,  and  quickly  follow;  long  droves  from  Northamptonshire  and  Lincoln 
are  not  far  behind;  and  the  northern  cattle,  in  the  preceding  quarter  3675, 
rise  to  16,340.  In  October,  November,  and  the  early  part  of  December, 
the  grass-fed  beasts  still  continue  to  occupy  the  market,  and  no  less  than 
33,000  arrived  from  Leicester,  Northamptonshire,  &c.;  while  the  supplies 
from  the  marshes  and  the  midland  counties  still  partially  kept  up,  and  are 
calculated  at  6400,  and  the  Norfolks  at  2380.  The  grass  season  is  now 
past,  and  dependence  begins  to  be  placed  on  stall-feeding;  and,  therefore, 
as  we  observed  at  the  outset,  the  northern  cattle  suddenly  fall  to  600,  and 
the  Norfolks  rise  to  16,000. 

The  farmer  has,  personally,  litde  to  do  with  the  sale  of  his  cattle,  but 
custom  and  interest  induce  him  to  consign  them  to  a  salesman,  who  seldom 
buys  or  sells  on  his  own  account.  There  is  a  law  which  prohibits  him 
from  buying  altogether,  but  we  fear  that  law  is  sometimes  evaded.  He  is 
acquainted  with  all  the  butchers  and  dealers  of  the  district,  and  with  the 
contractors:  he  sees  at  a  glance  what  is  the  state  of  the  market;  he  can 
tell  whether  it  is  likely  to  rise  or  fall;  and,  comparing  the  lot  which  is 
entrusted  to  him  with  others,  and  with  the  market  generally,  he  knows 
exactly  what  they  ought  to  fetch.  The  salesmen  are  generally  honoura- 
ble men;  they  procure  for  the  owner  the  value  of  his  cattle  under  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  market,  and  although  it  may  not  always  be  so  much 
as  the  grazier  had  expected,  it  is  more  than  he  could  have  got  himself,  and 
he  is  always  sure  of  receiving  his  money. 

When  Smithfield  was  first  appointed  as  the  site  of  the  periodical  market 
for  cattle,  no  better  situation  could  possibly  have  been  selected.  It  was 
without  the  walls  of  the  city;  it  was  a  large  uninclosed  space,  and  would 
have  held  ten  times  the  cattle  that  were  sent  there.  There  was  plenty  of 
room  for  them  without  their  being  cruelly  packed  together,  and  there  was 
no  inconvenience  nor  danger  from  driving  them  through  the  streets.  In 
process  of  time,  however,  the  field  was  encroached  upon,  and  parUy  built 
over;  and  barely  room  was  left  for  the  accommodation  of  half  the  present 
number  of  cattle,  and  those  of  ordy  half  the  size  of  the  improved  breeds. 
A  dense  population  began  to  surround  the  field  on  every  side,  and  it  was 
necessary  for  the  cattle  to  pass  through  the  most  crowded  thoroughfares. 
Thence  arose  danger  to  human  life,  and  many  an  act  of  cruelty  to  the  poor 
beast;  and  not  only  so,  but  the  most  barbarous  expedients  were  resorted  to 


THE  CRUELTIES  OF  SMITHFIELD.  259 

to  pack  the  cattle  in  the  circumscribed  space  which  was  now  left  to  th?m, 
— barbarities  which  it  would  not  be  thought  could  be  practised  in  a  Chris- 
tian country,  if  they  were  not  authenticated  beyond  all  doubt.  We  sub- 
join one  statement  of  them  in  a  note  :  it  deserves  the  attentive  perusal  of 
every  one  connected  with  cattle,  and,  we  trust,  will  lessen  the  virulence 
with  which  some,  more' from  an  erroneous  calculation  of  interest,  than 
from  an  actual  want  of  human  feeling,  oppose  the  removal  of  the  cattle- 
market  once  more  to  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  and  the  establishment  of 
abattoirs  or  slaughter-houses  there.  The  extract  is  taken  from  '  The  Voice 
of  Humanity,'  an  excellent  and  cheap  quarterly  publication,  that  ought 
to  be  in  the  hands  of  every  one  who  is  averse  to  unnecessary  cruelty.* 

* '  In  Smithfield  market  there  is  not  room  to  tie  up  to  the  rails  much  more  than  half  of 
the  cattle  sent  there  for  sale  !  The  remainder  are  disposed  of  by  being  formed,  in  groups 
of  about  twenty  in  each,  into  "rings"  or  "ofF-droves,"  as  such  divisions  are  termed.  About 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  Smithfield  barbarities  are  at  the  height,  and  the  constables, 
being  sent  into  the  market  in  the  daytime  only,  are  consequently  not  in  attendance.  The 
drovers  surround  the  unfortunate  bullocks  which  cannot  be  tied  up  in  the  market,  and 
commence  by  aiming  with  tlieir  bludgeons  blows  at  their  heads,  to  avoid  which  they 
endeavour  to  hide  their  heads,  by  keeping  them  towards  the  ground.  On  attempting  to 
run  backwards,  the  bullocks  are  restrained  by  blows  upon  their  hocks  and  legs,  together 
with  tlie  application  of  goads;  whilst,  if  they  venture  to  lift  up  the  head,  a  dozen  blud- 
geons are  instantly  hammering  on  it,  until  again  lowered  to  the  ground.  This  scene  of 
barbarity  is  continued  until  every  bullock,  however  refractory,  obstinate,  stupid,  or  dan- 
gerous at  first,  has  been  disciplined  to  stand  quietly  in  a  ring — their  heads  in  the 
centre,  their  bodies  diverging  outward  like  the  radii  of  a  circle  :  this  is  done  that  they 
may  conveniently  be  handled  by  the  butchers.  The  barbarity  of  Smithfield  is  at  its 
height  during  the  night ;  but  in  the  daytime,  by  seeing  the  process  by  which  one  or 
more  bullocks,  when  sold,  are  driven  out  of  a  "ring"  or  "off-drove," — and  observing 
the  hammering  with  bludgeons  on  the  head ;  the  thrusting  the  goads  into  the  nostrils 
of  the  animals  to  make  them  move  backwards,  after  similar  instruments  had  been 
applied  to  urge  them  in  the  contrary  direction  ;  by  witnessing  the  mode  of  re-forming  the 
"  rings  "  or  "  off-droves,"  which  are  constantly  broken  through  by  the  withdrawment  of 
purchased  animals,  as  well  as  by  the  passing  and  repassing  of  carts  and  drays,  some  faint 
idea  may  be  formed  of  the  amount  of  needless  barbarity  inflicted,  and  of  the  consequent 
deterioration  of  the  meat.  The  deterioration  of  the  meat  has  been  calculated  at  no  less 
a  sum  than  100,OOOZ.  per  annum,  notwithstanding  the  care  which  the  drovers  take  to 
strike  chiefly  where  there  is  no  flesh  interposed  between  the  skin  and  the  bone ;  where 
the  animal  feels  most  acutely,  but  there  is  no  black  mark  to  tell  tales. — "  I  have  lived  four- 
teen years  in  Smithfield,"  said  a  very  intelligent  witness,  "  and  I  find  it  perfectly  impos- 
sible to  sleep  in  the  front  of  my  house  on  the  Sunday  night.  Tlie  cruelty  practised  upon  the 
cattle,  in  beating  them  into  the  '  rings,'  no  person  can  believe  who  has  not  seen  it ;  and,  as 
it  is  a  matter  very  easily  to  be  seen,  I  hope  some  of  the  committee  (now  sitting)  will  see  it 
personally.  Supposing  a  salesman  to  have  twenty  beasts  (which  could  not  be  tied  up,) 
he  will  have  them  all  with  their  heads  in  and  their  tails  out;  they  form  a  ring;  and  in 
order  to  discipline  them  to  stand  in  that  manner,  the  drovers  are  obliged  to  goad  them 
behuid  and  knock  them  upon  the  noses.  They  strike  them  with  great  force  upon  the 
nose,  and  goad  them  cruelly  behind,  by  which  means  they  form  themselves  into  '  a  ring  ;' 
so  that,  at  the  period  I  speak  of,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  unnecessary  cruelty.  At  length 
the  cattle  will  stand  in  that  manner,  so  perfectly  disciplined,  that,  at  breakfast-time,  there 
shall  be  twenty  or  thirty  '  rings '  of  this  kind  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  market.  If 
the  '  ring '  is  broken  by  any  means,  they  are  all  in  the  greatest  anxiety  to  get  in  again  ; 
and  when  the  drovers  are  obliged  to  separate  these  '  rings,'  and  drive  the  cattle  away, 
they  have  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  the  labour  of  the  men  is  excessive  to  get  one  single 
beast  out.  Indeed,  if  you  can  conceive  first  getting  the  cattle  into  '  a  ring,'  as  I  have 
stated,  and  if  one  is  sold  out  of  the  ring  at  eleven  in  the  day,  the  beast  is  ordered  to  be 
driven  through  fifteen  hundred  cattle,  whichever  way  he  goes  out  of  the  market,  and  the 
man  is  goading  that  beast  all  the  way — if  you  can  conceive  men  compelled  to  exer- 
cise this  cruelty,  they  will  not  be  very  delicate  of  the  manner  in  which  they  use  it  afler 
a  time  I" 

*  Another  witness,  who  had  been  "  a  salesman  about  eight  years,"  thus  described  the 
scene : — 

«  "  I  have  stood  behind  eight  of  these  off-droves,  and  the  cruelty  which  is  necessarily 
exercised  to  get  them  to  stand  properly  is  very  great  indeed,  and  which,  by  tying  up, 
might  be  totally  removed,  and  is  the  cause  of  the  great  complaint  which  exists  of  the 
bruises  and  the  wildness  of  the  different  animals  when  passing  through  the  streets.     I 


260  CATTLE. 

The  dairies  of  the  metropolis  are  objects  of  much  interest  to  the  stranger 
and  to  the  agriculturist.     In  pursuit  of  the  object  of  this  work  we  travelled 

will  describe  simply  the  manner  in  which  it  arises.  Perhaps  more  tlian  an  hour's  violence 
has  been  exercised  towards  the  cattle,  to  get  them  to  stand  about  twenty  in  each  circle, — 
and  duriuir  the  whole  of  this  time  they  are  beaten,  now  about  the  hocks,  and  then  about 
the  head.  If  the  head  turns  outward,  they  are  beat  about  the  head  till  they  are  turned 
inward.  The  great  cause  of  tlie  inhumanity  described  arises  iVom  this  circumstance,  that 
when  a  bullock  is  driven,  perhaps  from  the  centre  of  the  market,  by  the  butchers'  drovers, 
that  bullock  will  run  into  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  or  nine  of  the  droves  before  he  gets  out 
of  the  market :  perhaps  in  every  one  of  the  droves  that  bullock  is  beat  about  the  head 
for  ten  minutes  before  he  can  be  got  out  of  it  again,  and  then  he  runs  to  another  drove, 
from  the  circumstance  of  having  been  so  beat  about  in  the  early  part  of  the  morning. 
Consequently,  perhaps,  this  bullock  is  beat  out  of  ten  droves  before  he  gets  out  of  the 
market,  to  the  very  great  injury  of  the  animal.  He  is  often  beaten  nearly  or  quite  blind  ; 
and  when  it  gets  into  the  public  streets,  the  bullock,  irritated  by  the  violence  committed, 
scarcely  conscious  where  he  is,  runs  at  any  thing,  or  over  every  thing,  or  through  every 
thing.  All  this  would  be  entirely  prevented,  if  there  were  room  to  tie  each  bullock 
separately  up." 

We  subjoin,  in  connection  with  this,  an  account  of  an  undertaking  of  an  opulent  and 
benevolent  individual,  Mr.  Perkins,  who,  at  the  expense  of  100,000Z.,  has  erected  a  cattle- 
market,  in  the  Lower  Road  at  Islington,  wliich  will  contain  double  the  number  of  cattle 
usually  exhibited  in  Smithfield,  and  render  the  cruelties  there  practised  in  tlie  packing 
of  them,  no  longer  necessary.  The  building,  so  far  as  it  has  proceeded,  was  first  thrown 
open  to  the  inspection  of  the  public,  on  the  13th  of  September,  1833. 

'  The  new  mart  stands  upon  an  area  of  22  acres,  immediately  abutting  upon  the  Lower 
Road,  Islington.  The  situation  is  airy  and  healthy,  and  is  peculiarly  appropriate  for 
the  purpose,  as  it  is  on  the  high  road  for  the  northern  and  eastern  parts  of  the  country, 
whence  the  principal  supply  of  cattle  for  the  London  market  comes.  An  immense 
square  is  enclosed  by  high  walls,  around  which  are  erected  a  continuous  range  of  slated 
sheds,  supported  by  244  Doric  pillars,  under  which  the  cattle  may  at  all  times  be  pro- 
tected from  the  severity  of  tlie  weather.  Tliese  sheds  are  subdivided  into  numerous 
compartments,  with  lairs  enclosed  by  oak  paling  in  front,  to  which  the  beasts  may  be 
either  fastened,  or  allowed  to  be  at  liberty,  so  as  to  be  conveniently  subject  to  the  exami- 
nation of  the  purchasers.  In  each  lair  there  is  a  water-trough,  constantly  supplied  with 
fresh  water,  by  means  of  pipes  passing  under  ground,  from  two  immense  tanks,  which 
are  kept  filled  by  macliinery  from  capacious  wells  which  have  been  sunk  tor  the  purpose. 
The  average  length  of  the  sheds  is  830  feet,  and  they  are  capable  of  accommodating  at 
least  4,000  beasts,  and  here  they  may  remain  from  one  market-day  to  another,  or  till 
such  times  as  it  may  be  convenient  for  the  purchasers  to  remove  them — an  advantage 
wholly  impracticable  at  Smithfield. 

'I'ke  open  space  in  the  centre  is  divided  into  four  quadrangles,  intersected  by  wide 
passages,  and  in  tliese  quadrangles  are  to  be  erected  sheep-pens  (the  materials  for  which 
are  all  ready,)  capable  of  holding  40,000,  so  placed  as  to  be  approached  with  perfect 
facility.  Otiier  pens  are  constructed  for  calves,  pigs,  and  such  animals  as  are  usually 
brouglit  for  sale  to  the  cattle-market,  upon  an  obviously  simple  classification,  so  as  to 
avoid  confusion  or  irregularity  of  any  sort. 

'  Every  necessary  office  for  salesmen  and  clerks  of  the  market  will  be  erected  in  a  large 
area  in  the  centre,  and  the  ingress  is  obtained  through  a  large  arched  passage  under  the 
market-house,  a  fine  substantial  building,  with  appropriate  offices  on  each  side  for  check- 
clerks,  and  with  accommodation  up  stairs,  cither  for  the  counting-houses  of  bankers,  or 
public  meetings  connected  with  the  business  of  the  establishment.  To  the  leads  of  this 
house  the  visitors  proceeded,  and  from  thence  a  full  view  of  the  whole  market  was  ob- 
tained, as  well  as  of  the  surrounding  country  :  at  once  showing  the  perfect  appropriate- 
ness and  unobjectionable  character  of  the  site,  which,  in  point  of  extent,  is  four  times 
larger  than  Smithfield.  The  piers  and  layers  are  all  to  be  paved,  if  we  may  use  the 
expression,  with  hard  bricks  ;  and  the  drainage  is  so  contrived  as  to  ensure  perfect  clean- 
liness in  tlie  most  unfavourable  weather. 

'  Abattoirs. — Adjoining  the  market  it  is  intended  to  erect  abattoirs  for  slaughtering 
cattle  of  every  description;  in  which  persons  may  cither  be  accommodated  with  private 
slaughter-houses,  or  have  the  animals  slaughtered  under  appointed  inspectors  at  a  certain 
fixed  and  moderate  rate;  so  that  all  the  expense,  inconvenience,  and  mischief  arising 
from  the  present  mode  of  driving  the  cattle  through  the  crowded  streets  on  the  market- 
day  may  be  avoided. 

'"a  market  tavern,  with  stable-yard,  stables,  and  sheds,  capable  of  accommodating  the 
horses  of  the  frequenters  of  the  market,  is  also  to  be  erected,  together  with  a  range  of 
shops  for  the"  sale  of  such  things  as  are  calculated  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  various  classes 


THE  LONDON  DAIRIES.  261 

over  the  greater  part  of  the  United  Kingdom;  and  aUhough  we  often  had 
no  other  recommendation  than  the  simple  statement  of  the  purport  of  our 
journey,  we  met  with  very  few  cases  of  incivility  or  of  unwillingness  to 
give  us  the  fullest  information;  but  when  we  returned  to  our  usual  resi- 
dence, and  where  we  expected  most  facility  in  the  attainment  of  our 
object,  we  will  not  say  that  the  refusal  to  admit  us  was  accompanied  by 
rudeness,  but  the  gate  of  the  dairy  remained  closed.  This  was  the  case 
with  our  oiiergrown  milk  establishments.  It  was  a  species  of  illiberality 
on  which  we  had  not  calculated;  but  it  mattered  little,  for  we  had  seen 
many  of  the  smaller  ones,  and  we  could  guess  with  tolerable  accuracy  at 
the  difference  of  treatment  in  some  points — indeed  they  had  been  already 
whispered  to  us,  and  we  had  besides  a  minute  and  accurate  account  of 
them  in  the  Magazine  of  our  friend  Mr.  Berry. 

The  number  of  cows  kept  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  inhabitants 
of  the  metropolis  and  its  environs  with  milk,  is  about  12,000.  They  are, 
with  very  few  exceptions,  of  the  short-horn  breed — the  Holderness  or 
Yorkshire  cow,  and  almost  invariably  with  a  cross  of  the  improved 
Durham  blood.  The  universal  preference  given  to  this  breed  by  such  a 
body  of  men,  differing  materially  on  many  branches  of  the  treatment  of 
cattle,  is  perfectly  satisfactory  as  to  their  value,  and  that  on  three  distinct 
points. 

First,  as  to  the  quantity  of  milk.  This  we  need  not  press,  for  the  ene- 
mies of  the  short-horns  have  never  contested  this  point.  There  is  no 
cow  which  pays  so  well  for  what  she  consumes  in  the  quantity  of  milk 
that  she  returns. 

This,  however,  is  not  all,  though  it  may  be  the  principal  thing  which 
enters  into  the  calculation  of  the  metropolitan  dairymen. 

The  name  of  new  milk  has  something  very  pleasant  about  it,  but  it  is  an 
article  which  rarely  makes  its  appearance  at  tlie  breakfast  or  tea  table  of 
the  citizen.  That  which  is  got  from  the  cow  at  night  is  put  by  until  the 
morning,  and  the  cream  skimmed  off,  and  then  a  little  water  being  added, 
it  is  sold  to  the  public  as  the  morning's  milk.  The  real  morning's  milk  is 
also  put  by  and  skimmed,  and  being  warmed  a  little,  is  sold  as  the  even- 
ing's milk.  This  is  the  practice  of  most  or  all  of  the  little  dairymen  who 
keep  their  half  a  dozen  cows;  and  if  this  were  all,  and  with  these  people 
it  is  nearly  all,  the  public  must  not  complain:  the  milk  may  be  lowered  by 
the  warm  water,  but  the  lowering  system  is  not  carried  to  any  great  ex- 
tent, for  there  is  a  pride  among  them  that  their  milk  shall  be  better  than  that 
of  the  merchants  on  a  yet  smaller  scale,  who  purchase  the  article  from  the 
great  dairies;  and  so  it  generally  is.  The  milk  goes  from  the  yard  of  the 
great  dairy  into  the  possession  of  the  itinerant  dealers  perfectly  pure; 
what  is  done  with  it  afterwards,  and  to  what  degree  it  is  lowered  and  so- 
phisticated, is  known  only  to  these  retail  merchants. 

The  proprietor  of  the  large  dairy  is  also  a  dealer  in  cream  to  a  conside- 
rable extent  among  these  people;  he  is  also  a  great  manufacturer  of 
butter,  for  he  must  have  milk  enough  to  answer  every  demand,  and  that 
demand  is  exceedingly  fluctuating;  then  it  is  necessary  that  the  quality  of 
the  milk  should  be  good,  in  order  that  he  may  turn  the  overplus  to  profita- 
ble account,  in  the  form  of  cream  or  butter.  The  employment  of  the 
short-horn  cow,  in  all  the  dairies,  is  a  convincing  proof  that  her  milk  is 
not  so  poor  as  some  have  described  it  to  be. 

It  is  the  practice  in  most  of  the  dairies  to  fatten  a  cow  as  soon  as  her 

who  may  be  drawn  to  the  spot  by  their  respective  avocations.  Every  possible  want  has 
in  fact  been  foreseen,  and,  as  the  place  is  now  open  for  inspection,  the  public  have  an 
opportunity  of  judging  of  its  utility  by  personal  observation.' 


262  CATTLE. 

milk  becomes  less  than  four  quarts  a  day.  They  are  rarely  suffered  to 
breed  while  in  the  dairyman's  possession.  The  fact  of  their  being  so  often 
changed  is  a  proof  that  while  the  cow  gives  a  remunerating  quantity  of 
milk  for  a  certain  time,  she  is  rapidly  and  cheaply  fattened  for  the  butcher 
as  soon  as  her  milk  is  dry.  Were  much  time  or  money  employed  in  pre- 
paring her  for  the  market,  this  system  would  not  answer,  and  would  not 
be  so  universally  adopted.  Fattening  and  milking  properties  can,  there- 
fore, combine  in  the  same  animal,  and  they  do  so  here. 

Mr.  Laycock,  however,  does  not  adopt  this  as  a  general  rule.  The 
cows  that  are  more  than  usually  good  milkers,  are  suffered  to  take  the 
bull  when  in  season.  He  always  keeps  some  good  short-horn  bulls  for 
this  purpose.  It  sometimes  happens  that  the  cow  will  continue  to  give 
milk  until  within  a  few  weeks  of  calving;  and  he  judges,  and  perhaps 
rightly,  that  this  is  a  more  profitable  course  than  to  fatten  and  get  nd  of 
her,  with  the  probability  that  he  might  replace  her  by  a  cow  that  would 
give  a  less  quantity  of  milk. 

The  present  market  price  of  a  good  dairy  cow  is  about  20/,,  but  the 
owners  of  the  small  dairies  have  no  little  trouble  to  get  a  good  cow.  The 
jobbers  know  that  they  will  have  a  ready  market  for  a  considerable  portion 
of  their  lot  in  the  yards  of  the  great  cow-proprietors,  and  will  probably 
get  a  larger  price  than  the  poorer  man  would  give;  and  therefore  Messrs. 
Rhodes,  or  Laycock,  or  one  or  two  others,  have  always  the  first  selection. 
Mr.  Laycock  has  peculiar  advantages  for  obtaining  good  cattle.  Li  ad- 
dition to  his  dairy,  he  has  sheds  that  will  contain  five  or  six  thousand 
beasts.  A  great  proportion  of  them  halt  on  his  premises  for  a  day  or  two 
before  they  are  brought  into  the  market.  In  addition  to  the  shilling  a 
night  which  he  charges  for  their  standing,  he  claims  t!ie  milk  of  the  cows 
as  his  perquisite.  The  cows  are  milked  by  his  people;  he  therefore 
knows  beforehand  the  quantity  of  milk  which  each  Avill  yield,  and  he  is 
thus  enabled  to  cull  the  very  best  of  the  herd.  The  dairymen  do  not  like 
a  cow  until  she  has  had  her  third  or  fourth  calf,  and  is  five  or  six  )  ^sars 
old;  she  then  yields  the  greatest  quantity  of  milk,  and  of  the  best  quality. 
Two  gallons  of  milk  per  day  is  the  quantity  which  each  cow  is  expected 
to  yield  in  order  to  be  retained  in  the  dairy.  Taking  one  cow  with  ano- 
ther, the  average  quantity  obtained  is  rather  more  than  nine  quarts. 

When  she  begins  to  fail  ill  her  milk,  she  is  fattened  on  oil-cake,  grains, 
and  cut  clover  hay,  and  disposed  of.  The  dairyman  calculates  on  getting 
something  more  for  her  than  when  he  first  bought  her,  but  soiuetimes  he 
meets  with  an  animal  that  seems  to  verify  the  old  prejudice  against  cows 
in  good  condition.  He  bought  her  for  her  known  milking  properties,  but 
she  continues  so  poor  that  he  in  a  manner  hides  her  in  some  corner  of  his 
dairy.  She,  however,  does  her  duty;  she  yields  him  plenty  of  milk,  but 
that  at  length  dries  up;  and  he  is  unable,  try  what  he  will,  to  get  much 
flesh  upon  her  bones,  and  he  sells  her  for  less  than  half  of  her  first  price. 

The  quantity  of  milk  yielded  by  all  these  cows,  at  nine  quarts  per  day, 
amounts  to  39,420,000  quarts,  or  27  quarts  of  genuine  milk  for  each  in- 
dividual. The  retail  dealers  usually  sell  the  milk  for  id.  per  quart,  after 
the  cream  is  separated  from  it,  and  then  obtain  3s.  per  quart  for  the  cream; 
beside  this,  a  great  deal  of  water  is  mixed  with  this  skimmed  milk  :  so 
that  we  far  underrate  the  price  when  we  calculate  that  the  genuine  milk 
sells  at  6(/.  per  quart,  which  makes  the  money  expended  in  milk  in 
the  British  metropolis  amount  to  985,500/.,  or  nearly  a  million  pounds  per 
annum. 

If  we  again  divide  the  985,500  by  12,000/,,  (the  number  of  cows,)  we 
shall  have  the  strange  and  almost  incredible  sum  of  more  than  82/,  as  the 


THE  LONDON  DAIRIES.  263 

money  produced  by  the  milk  of  each  cow.  This  is  divided  among  a 
variety  of  persons,  and  after  all  affords  but  a  scanty  subsistence  to  many 
of  them;  but  it  unequivocally  proves  the  rascality  that  pervades  some  of 
the  departments  of  the  concern. 

We  acquit  the  wholesale  dealers  of  any  share  in  the  roguery,  nor  do  we 
believe  that  their  profits  are  exorbitant.  They  sell  the  milk  to  the  retail 
dealers  at  a  price  that,  according  to  Dr.  Middleton,  would  enable  them  to 
clear  64  per  cent.,  without  adulterating  the  article — (  we  believe  that  50 
per  cent,  would  be  nearer  the  truth.)  When  we  consider  the  nature  of  the 
business  ;  the  distance  the  milk-girls  have  to  travel;  and  the  time  wasted  in 
selling  their  little  quantities  from  door  to  door,  this  profit  is  not  too  great; 
but  when  they  abstract  the  cream,  and  add  tlie  water,  and  unless  they 
are  much  belied,  some  extraneous  and  abominable  articles,  the  actual 
profits  will  far  exceed  cent,  per  cent.  In  the  spring  of  the  year,  when 
London  is  full,  the  consumption  and  the  deterioration  are  greatest.  In  the 
latter  part  of  the  year  the  cream  is  converted  into  butter,  and  the  butter- 
milk given  to  the  hogs. 

Rhodes's  dairy  has  been  established  more  than  thirty  years,  but  some 
of  the  same  family  or  name  have  lived  in  that  neighbourhood  nearly  a 
century.  '  Mr.  Rhodes,  farmer,  near  Islington,'  is  referred  to  by  Dr. 
Brocklesby,  in  his  trea'lise  on  the  murrain  which  prevailed  among  cattle, 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  The  writer  of  '  London  Dairies,' 
in  the  British  Farmer's  Magazine  for  February  1831,  gives  a  description 
of  it,  of  which  the  following  is  the  substance  : — The  surface  on  which  the 
buildings  are  placed  is  a  gentle  slope  of  two  or  three  acres,  facing  the 
east.  The  sheds  run  in  a  direction  of  the  slope,  as  well  for  the  drainage 
of  the  gutters  as  for  the  supply  of  water  for  drinking,  which  will  thus  run 
from  trough  to  trough  the  whole  length  of  the  shed.  The  sheds  are 
twenty-four  feet  wide;  the  side  walls  being  about  eight  feet  high,  with 
rising  shutters  for  ventilation,  and  panes  of  glass  let  into  iron  frames  for 
light.  The  floor  is  nearly  flat,  with  a  gutter  along  the  centre,  and  a  row 
of  stalls,  each  seven  feet  and  a  half  wide,  along  the  sides,  and  adapted  for 
two  cows,  which  are  attached  by  chains  to  a  ring  that  runs  upon  an 
upright  rod  in  the  corner  of  the  stalls.  A  trough  or  manger  of  the  ordi- 
nary size  of  those  used  for  horses,  is  placed  at  the  top  of  the  stall.  Four 
of  these  sheds  are  placed  parallel  and  close  to  each  other,  and  in  the 
party  walls  are  openings  a  foot  wide,  and  four  feet  high,  opposite  to  each 
cow.  The  bottom  of  these  openings  is  about  nine  inches  higher  than 
the  upper  surface  of  the  troughs,  and  contains  a  one-foot  square  cast-iron 
cistern,  which  contains  the  water  for  drinking;  each  cistern  serves  two 
cows  that  are  placed  opposite  to  each  other,  but  in  different  sheds:  all 
these  cisterns  are  supplied  from  one  large  tank.  These  cisterns  have  a 
wooden  cover,  which  is  put  on  while  the  cows  are  eating  their  grains,  to 
prevent  their  drinking  at  that  time,  and  tainting  the  water  by  dropping 
any  of  the  grains  into  it.  At  the  upper  end  and  at  one  corner  of  this 
quadruple  range  of  sheds  is  the  dairy,  consisting  of  three  rooms,  each 
about  twelve  feet  square;  the  outer,  or  measuring-room — the  middle,  or 
scalding- room,  with  a  fire-place  and  a  boiler — and  the  inner,  or  milk  and 
butter  room. 

At  the  lower  end  of  the  range  is  a  square  yard  surrounded  by  sheds, 
some  for  fattening  the  cows  when  they  have  ceased  to  give  milk,  and  the 
others  for  store  and  breeding  pigs.  The  pigs  are  kept  to  consume  the 
casual  stock  of  skim-milk  which  remains  on  hand,  owing  to  the  fluctua- 
tions of  the  demand.  The  milk  is  kept  in  a  well,  walled  with  brick  laid 
in  cement,  about  six  feet  in  diameter,  and  twelve  feet  deep.     The  milk 


264  CATTLE. 

soon  becomes  sour  there,  but  is  then  most  nourishing  to  the  hogs.  Breed- 
ing swine  is  thought  to  be  the  most  profitable,  and  the  sucking  pigs  are 
sold  for  roasting. 

Beyond  this  yard  is  a  deep  pit  or  pond,  into  which  the  dung  is 
emptied.  There  is  a  stack-yard,  sheds,  and  pits  for  roots,  straw,  and  hay; 
a  place  for  cutting  chaff,  cart-sheds,  stables,  and  every  building  which 
such  an  establishment  can  require.  The  number  of  cows  varies  from 
four  to  five  hundred. 

The  treatment  of  the  cows  is  singular  in  some  respects.  The  cows  are 
never  untied  while  they  are  retained  as  milkers.  Some  of  them  have 
stood  in  the  stall  more  than  two  years.  Mr.  Laycock,  on  the  contrary, 
turns  his  cows  out  once  every  day  to  drink  from  troughs  in  the  yard,  and 
they  remain  out  from  half  an  hour  to  three  hours,  depending  on  the 
weather  and  the  season  of  the  year.  From  the  end  of  June  until  Michael- 
mas, they  are  turned  into  the  fields  from  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  until 
twelve  or  one,  and  from  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  till  about  three 
o'clock  on  the  following  morning.  Mr.  Rhodes's  cows  have  always 
water  standing  in  the  cisterns  before  them. 

We  can  readily  conceive  that,  from  the  want  of  exercise,  and  consequent 
cutaneous  perspiration,  Rhodes's  cows  may  give  a  somewhat  greater 
quantity  of  milk  than  Laycock's;  but  on  the  other  hand,  when  we  think 
of  an  animal  tied  in  the  corner  of  a  stall  for  twelve,  or  eighteen  or  twenty- 
four  months  together,  we  cannot  help  associating  the  idea  of  disease,  or 
tendency  to  disease  at  least,  with  such  an  unnatural  state  of  things; 
the  feet  and  the  digestive  system  would  particularly  suffer,  and  we 
should  suspect  a  little  vitiation  of  all  the  secretions,  and  some  dete- 
rioration in  the  quality  of  the  milk.  We  should  like  to  know  the  com- 
parative state  of  health  of  the  animals  in  the  two  establishments.  The 
inclination  of  our  opinion  would  be  strongly  in  favour  of  Mr.  Laycock's 
plan. 

The  principal  food  of  the  cows  in  both  of  these,  and  in  all  the  dairies 
of  the  metropolis,  is  grains;  and  as  the  brewing  seasons  are  chiefly  in 
autumn  and  spring,  a  stock  of  grains  is  generally  laid  in  at  those  seasons 
for  the  rest  of  the  year.  The  grains  are  laid  up  in  pits,  lined  with  brick- 
work set  in  cement,  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  deep,  and  of  any  convenient 
size.  They  are  firmly  trodden  down,  and  covered  with  a  layer  of  moist 
earth,  eight  or  nine  inches  thick,  to  keep  out  the  rain  and  frost  in  winter, 
and  the  heat  in  summer.  A  cow  consumes  about  a  bushel  of  these  grains 
daily,  the  cost  of  which  is  from  fourpence  to  fivepence,  exclusive  of  car- 
riage and  of  preservation.  The  grains  are,  if  possible  thrown  into  the  pit 
while  warm  and  in  a  state  of  fermentation,  and  they  soon  turn  sour,  but 
they  are  not  liked  the  worse  by  cattle  on  that  account;  and  the  air  being 
perfectly  excluded,  the  fermentation  cannot  run  on  to  putrefaction.  The 
dairymen  say  that  the  slow  and  slight  degree  of  fermentation  which  goes 
on,  lends  to  the  greater  developement  of  the  saccharine  and  nutritive  prin- 
ciple, arid  they  will  have  as  large  a  stock  upon  hand  as  they  can  afford, 
and  not  open  the  pits  until  they  are  compelled.  It  is  not  uncommon  for 
two  years  to  pass  before  a  pit  of  grains  is  touched,  and  it  is  said  that 
some  have  lain  nine  years,  and  been  perfecdy  good  at  the  expiration  of 
that  period.  The  dairyman,  however,  must  know  liis  brewer,  and  be 
able  to  depend  on  him.  The  grains  from  a  large  ale  brewery  are  tlie 
most  nourishing.  Those  from  the  porter  brewery  are  not  so  good;  and 
those  from  the  little  brewers,  who  first  draw  off  their  ale,  and  afterwards 
extract  every  particle  of  nutriment  in  the  formation  of  table  beer,  are 
scarcely  worth  having. 


SURREY.  265 

Each  cow  is  allowed  a  portion  of  salt.  In  Rhodes's  establishment  it  is 
given  with  the  grains.  Laycock  salts  his  rick  when  it  is  first  made; — a 
most  excellent  plan,  for  the  hay  is  not  only  effectually  secured  from  be- 
coming mow  burnt  or  mouldy,  but  it  is  rendered  more  grateful  to  the 
animal,  and  we  may  venture  to  say,  almost  doubly  nourishing,  from  the 
developement  of  the  saccharine  principle.  It  is  to  be  doubted,  however, 
whether  the  cows  obtain  a  sufficient  quantity  of  salt  in  this  way.  Some 
should  be  given  with  the  grains. 

The  grains  are  usually  given  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  being  a  little  before  the  usual  mdking  hours. 
Between  the  milkings  they  have  green  meat,  as  long  as  the  season  will 
permit.  Cut-grass  is  a  favourite  and  excellent  food;  but  where  it  can  be 
managed,  the  plan  of  Mr.  Laycock  to  let  the  cows  cut  the  grass  for  them- 
selves is  a  far  superior  one.  Tares  come  in  before  the  grass,  and  are 
afterwards  given  alternately  with  it.  In  winter,  turnips,  potatoes,  and 
mangel-wurzel,  are  given  as  long  as  they  can  be  obtained  at  any  reason- 
able price,  and  then  the  dairyman  is  driven  to  hay  or  chaff:  the  supe- 
riority of  chaff  is  now  generally  allowed. 

Both  of  these  gentlemen  fatten  off  their  dry  cows  with  grains,  oil-cake, 
and  clover-chaff,  to  which  Mr.  Laycock  adds  boiled  linseed.  Our  readers 
may  recollect  the  experiments  made  by  the  Duke  of  Bedford  on  the  fat- 
tening quality  of  linseed,  boiled  and  unboiled,  (p.  213,)  and  in  which  the 
simple  unboiled  linseed  fattened  the  animals  more  expeditiously  than  any 
cooked  preparation  of  that  seed.  Mr.  Laycock  boils  the  linseed  in  a  com- 
mon boiler,  and  when  reduced  to  a  pulp,  conveys  it  by  tubes  into  large 
wooden  cisterns,  where  it  is  mixed  with  clover  chaff  roughly  cut,  and 
sometimes  with  grains. 

The  wholesale  dairymen  usually  agree  with  the  retail  dealers,  that  tliev 
(the  dealers)  shall  milk  the  cows.  The  dealer  knows  the  quantity  of 
milk  that  he  wants,  and  the  dairyman  knowing  the  usual  quantity  of  milk 
yielded  by  each  cow,  calculates  what  number  of  cows  will  meet  the  de- 
mand, and  the  retail  dealer  attends  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  and 
two  in  the  afternoon,  to  milk  these  cows.  He  carries  it  into  the  measur- 
ing-roj^ii,  where  its  precise  quantity  is  ascertained.  If,  as  cows  often  vary 
considerably  in  their  flow  of  milk  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  days,  he 
has  milked  more  than  his  quantity,  it  is  put  into  a  vessel  belonging  to  the 
dairyman;  or  if  the  cows  should  not  have  given  their  usual  supply,  the  de- 
ticieney  is  made  up  from  the  dairyman's  vessel.  The  milk  which  is  left  on 
liand  is  put  into  shallow  vessels,  the  cream  is  skimmed  and  made  into  butter, 
and  the  skimmed-milk  thrown  into  the  pit  for  the  hogs. 

The  Joint  Stock  dairies,  which  a  few  years  ago  sprung  up  in  such 
abundance,  have  either  ceased  to  exist,  or  the  number  of  cows,  much  di- 
minished, have  fallen  into  private  hands.  While  there  were  many  partners, 
and  the  business  was  controlled  by  a  committee  of  perons  who  knew 
nothing  at  all  about  the  matter,  they  all  proved  to  be  lamentable  failures. 
Some  of  them,  even  in  the  hands  of  private  individuals,  who  brought  with 
them  little  or  no  experience,  were  sadly  ruinous  concerns.  The  metro- 
politan dairy  was  a  striking  illustration  of  this;  but  now,  under  the  ma- 
nagement of  those  who  have  been  drilled  into  the  business,  it  is  doing 
better. 


This  county,  like  Essex  and  Middlesex,  cannot  be  said  to   have  any 
distinguishing  breed,     'i'he  short-horns  undoubtedly  prevail;  but  in  the 
parts  bordering  on  Sussex,  the  valuable  breed  of  that  county  is  found  in 
24 


S66  CATTLE. 

great  numbers.  In  some  parts  of  the  county,  particularly  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Reigate,  the  Devons  are  the  favourites;  but  there  are  to  be 
found  cattle  of  every  breed,  and  crosses  of  every  kind.  Many  calves  are 
reared  for  the  London  market  about  Chobham  and  Bagshot,  and  some 
few  about  Esher  and  Ripley;  but  the  business  has  been  found  to  be  not 
so  productive  as  it  was  once  imagined  to  be,  and  has  declined,  particu- 
larly in  the  two  latter  places. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  FOREIGN  BREEDS  OF  CATTLE. 


[77(6  Jlldtrnty 


ALDERNEY  CATTLE. 


First  among  them — and  a  regular  importation  of  which  is  kept  up — we 
have  the  Normandy,  or  Alderney  catde.  The  Normandy  cattle  are  im- 
ported from  the  French  continent,  and  are  larger  and  have  a  superior 
tendency  to  fatten;  the  others  are  from  the  islands  of  the  French  coast; 
but  all  of  them,  whether  from  the  continent  or  the  islands,  pass  under  the 
common  name  of  Alderneys. 

Except  in  Hampshire,  they  are  found  only  in  gentlemen's  parks  and 
pleasure-grounds,  and  they  maintain  their  occupancy  there  partly  on  ac- 
count of  the  richness  of  their  milk,  and  the  great  quantity  of  butter 
•which  it  yields,  but  more  from  the  diminutive  size  of  the  animals.  Their 
real  ugliness  is  passed  over  on  these  accounts;  and  it  is  thought  fashion- 
able that  the  view  from  the  breakfast  or  drawing  room  of  the  house 
should  present  an  Alderney  cow  or  two  grazing  at  a  little  distance. 


ALDERNEY  CATTLE. 


267 


IThe  Alderney  Cow.'] 

John  Lawrence  describes  them  as  '  light-red,  yellow,  dun  or  fawn- 
coloured;  short,  wild-horned,  deer-necked,  thin,  and  small  boned,  irregu- 
larly, but  often  very  awkwardly  shaped.' 

Mr.  Parkinson,  who  seems  to  have  a  determined  prejudice  against  them, 
says  that  '  their  size  is  small,  and  they  are  of  as  bad  a  form  as  can  pos- 
sibly be  described;  the  bellies  of  many  of  them  are  four-fifths  of  their 
weight:  the  neck  is  very  thin  and  hollow;  the  shoulder  stands  up,  and  is 
the  highest  part;  they  are  hollow  and  narrow  behind  the  shoulders;  the 
chine  is  nearly  without  flesh;  the  bucks  are  narrow  and  sharp  at  the 
ends — the  rump  is  short,  and  they  are  narrow  and  light  in  the  brisket.' 
This  is  about  as  bad  a  form  as  can  possibly  be  described,  and  the  picture 
is  very  little  exaggerated,  when  the  animal  is  analyzed  point  by  point;  yet 
all  these  defects  are  so  put  together,  as  to  make  a  not  unpleasing  whole. 

The  Alderney,  considering  its  voracious  appetite — for  it  devours  almost  as 
much  as  a  short-horn — yields  very  little  milk.  That  milk,  however,  is  of 
an  extraordinary  excellent  quality,  and  gives  more  butter  than  can  be 
obtained  from  the  milk  of  any  other  cow.  Of  this  no  one  can  doubt  who 
has  possessed  any  Alderney  cows.  Some  writers  on  agricultural  subjects 
ha've,  however  denied  it.  The  milk  of  the  Alderney  cow  fits  her  for  the 
situation  in  which  she  is  usually  placed,  and  where  the  excellence  of  the 
article  is  regarded,  and  not  the  expense:  but  it  is  not  rich  enough,  yield- 
ing the  small  quantity  tliat  she  does,  to  pay  for  what  she  costs.*  On  the 
coast  of  Hampshire,  there  is  great  facility  m  obtaining  the  Alderney 
cattle,  and  they  are  great  favourites  there.  We  must  refer  our  readers  to 
the  'Description  of  Hampshire,'  p.  215,  for  the  manner  in  which  they 

*  John  Lawrence  says  tliat  an  Alderney  cow  that  had  strayed  on  the  premises  of  a 
friend  of  his  and  remained  there  tlirce  weeks,  made  191bs.  of  butter  eacli  week;  and  the 
fact  was  held  so  extraordinary,  as  to  be  thought  worthy  of  a  memorandum  in  the  parish 
books. 


26S 


CATTLE. 


have  established  themselves  in  that  part  of  the  country,  and  the  various 
ways  in  which  other  breeds  have  been  crossed  by  them. 

One  excellence  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  Alderneys  possess 
Avhen  they  are  dried;  they  fatten  with  a  rapidity  that  would  be  scarcely 
thought  possible  from  their  gaunt  appearance,  and  their  want  of  almost 
every  grazing  point,  while  living.  The  Duke  of  Bedford  exhibited  a 
French  ox  at  the  Smithfield  catde  show,  in  1802,  whose  four  quarters 
weighed  95  stones  3  lbs.,  and  the  fat  17  stones  3  lbs.,  Smithfield  weight. 

Some  have  assigned  to  the  Norman  cattle  a  share  in  the  improvement 
of  the  old  short  horns;  but  the  fact  does  not  rest  on  any  good  authority. 

EAST  INDIAN  CATTLE. 

Several  varieties  of  these  have  been  imported,  and  attempts  made  to 
naturalize  them,  but  with  varied  success. 

NAGORE    CATTLE. 

A  bull  and  cow  were  exhibited  at  the  Christmas  cattle  show,  in  1832, 
under  the  denomination  of  Nagore  cattle.  They  were  beautiful  animals, 
and  attracted  much  attention.  They  were  the  property  of  Henry  Perkins 
Esq.,  of  Springfield,  near  Wandsworth,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the 
substance  of  the  following  account  of  them. 

They  were  bred  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Skinner,  at  his  farm  at  Danah 
near  Pokah,  on  the  borders  of  the  Bichaneer  desert,  100  miles  to  the  west- 
ward of  Delhi.  They  are  not  buffaloes,  but  of  the  highest  breed  of  Indian 
cattle.  They  are  used  in  India  by  the  higher  orders,  to  draw  their  state 
carriages,  and  are  much  valued  for  their  size,  speed,  and  endurance,  and 
sell  at  very  high  prices.     These  specimens  arrived  at  Calcutta,  a  distance 


IThe  Nagore  BulQ 


EAST  INDIAN  CATTLE.  S69 

of  1400  miles,  in  January,  1829,  and  were  then  something  under  six 
months  old.  They  were  sent  as  a  present  to  Mr.  Wood,  who  was  then 
residing  at  Calcutta,  and  by  whom  they  were  forwarded  to  Mr.  Perkins. 

Colonel  Skinner  has  a  large  stock  of  them ;  and  six  or  seven  beasts  are 
always  kept  saddled  to  carry  the  military  despatches.  They  remain  saddled 
three  or  four  hours,  and  if  not  wanted  in  that  time,  fresh  ones  are  brought 
out  to  relieve  their  companions.  They  will  travel,  with  a  soldier  on  their 
back,  15  or  16  hours  in  the  day,  at  tlie  rate  of  six  miles  an  hour.  Their 
action  is  particularly  fine — nothing  like  the  English  cattle,  with  the  side- 
way,  circular  action  of  their  hind  legs — the  Nagore  cattle  bring  their 
hind  legs  under  them  in  as  straight  a  line  as  the  horse.  They  are  very 
active,  and  can  clear  a  five-barred  gate  with  the  greatest  ease.  Mr.  Per- 
kins has  a  calf  which  has  leaped  over  an  iron  fence  higher  than  any  five- 
barred  gate;  and  the  bull  frequently  jumps  over  the  same  fence  in  order 
to  get  at  the  water,  and  when  he  has  drunk  his  fill,  leaps  back  again. 

The  bull  (Jupiter)  was  in  high  condition  when  exhibited.  He  was 
employed  in  a  light  cart,  and  various  jobs  about  the  farm:  sometimes  he 
goes  fore-horse  in  the  wagon-team,  to  deliver  corn;  he  also  drags  the 
bush-harrow,  and  draws  the  light  roller  over  the  ploughed  land.  He  is 
very  docile  and  tractable,  when  one  man  drives  him,  and  attends 
upon  him,  but  he  has,  now  and  then,  shown  symptoms  of  dislike  to 
others. 

He  is  fed  entirely  on  hay.  Except  that  when  he  works,  a  little 
bran  is  given  to  him,  and  in  the  turnip  season  he  is  treated  occasionally 
with  a  few  slices  of  Swedes,  of  which  he  is  very  fond.  He  was  at  first 
very  troublesome  to  shoe ;  and  it  was  necessary  to  erect  a  break  in  order 
to  confine  him.  He  was  unwilling  to  go  into  it  for  some  time,  but  nov^ 
walks  in  very  contentedly. 

He  is  very  fond  of  being  noticed;  and  often,  when  he  is  lying 
down,  if  any  one  to  whom  he  is  accustomed  goes  and  sits  down  upon  him, 
and  strokes  him  over  the  face,  he  will  turn  round,  and  put  his  head  on 
their  lap,  and  lie  there  contentedly  as  long  as  they  please. 

Mr.  Perkins  very  properly  observes,  that  the  chief  advantage  of  these 
Brahmin  bulls  would  probably  consist  in  their  speed  and  strength,  in  both 
of  which  they  surpass  any  of  our  breeds. 

The  cow  (lo)  is  at  grass  with  the  milch  cows,  and  comes  up  with  them 
morning  and  evening,  when  they  are  driven  to  be  milked ;  but  Mr. 
Perkins  has  not  ventured  to  have  her  milked,  on  account  of  the  probable 
danger  of  the  attempt:  the  value  of  these  catde  for  the  pail  is  therefore 
unknown.  Two  calves  have  been  bred  from  them,  and  a  milch  cow  ie 
now  in  calf  by  the  bull. 

Neither  of  the  calves  is  yet  old  enough,  or  ready,  for  the  butcher,  and 
therefore  the  quality  of  the  meat  is  unknown ;  but,  a  strong  perfume  being 
left  upon  the  hand  when  it  passes  over  them,  there  may  possibly  be  a 
peculiar  taint  in  the  meat. 

BUFFALO  AND  INDIAN  CATTLE. 

Mr.  C.  Winn,  of  Nostal,  near  Wakefield,  has  some  cattle,  the  progeny 
of  a  zebra  bull  and  a  Brahmin  cow.  They  breed  once  in  the  year,  and 
the  calf  is  suffered  to  run  with  the  mother  as  long  as  it  pleases.  Some  of 
them  have  been  castrated,  but  with  little  development  of  form  or  improve- 
ment of  meat.  When  fattened,  they  weigh  from  25  to  30  stones.  One 
was  killed,  weighing  more  than  35  stones,  imperial  weight.  The  bone  is 
24* 


270  CATTLE. 

exceedingly  small,  but  the  meat  is  not  well- flavoured,  and  is  comparatively- 
destitute  of  gravy.  They  have  bred  with  the  English  cattle,  but  the 
offspring  has  never  been  reared.  A  calf  from  an  Ayrshire  cow,  by  one  of 
these  bulls,  became  so  fat  at  one  month  old,  that  it  weighed  25  lbs.  per 
quarter,  and  was  most  delicious  meat. 

The  Duke  of  Nothumberland  lias  a  fine  breed  of  buffalo-cattle  in  his 
beautiful  park  at  Alnwick.  They  are  not,  however,  the  pure  Indian 
breed,  but  a  cross  with  the  Highland  Kyloe,  the  original  bull  having  died 
soon  after  their  arrival  at  Alnwick,  more  than  twenty  years  ago.  They 
have  never  been  allowed  to  increase  much  above  their  present  number, 
about  30,  and  only  one  or  two  bulls  are  suffered  to  be  among  them  at  one 
time.  They  have  promiscuously  bred  among  each  other,  care  being  taken 
to  preserve  those  for  breeders  which  most  resembled  the  originals,  the  size 
of  the  characteristic  hump  on  ihe  shoulder  being  the  principal  guide. 

They  are  treated  in  a  great  measure  like  the  other  cattle,  only,  from 
their  wild  nature,  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  handle  them.  During 
severe  weather,  or  a  storm  in  winter,  they  have  a  hovel  to  run  into ;  and 
although  they  do  not  seem  to  bear  the  cold  climate  so  well  as  one  of  their 
progenitors,  the  Kyloes,  they  are  usually  very  healthy. 

When  the  calves  are  dropped,  the  mother  endeavours  to  secrete  them 
among  the  long  grass  for  a  few  days,  like  other  wild  cattle,  so  that  the 
herdsman  has  to  watch  the  place,  and  a  favourable  opportunity,  to  castrate 
or  spay  them. 

They  are  good  graziers ;  the  young  ones  getting  into  excellent  condi- 
tion in  the  summer;  and  although  they  evidently  lose  flesh  in  the  winter, 
yet  by  the  time  they  are  killed  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  when  four  or  five 
years  old,  they  are  very  good  beef.  The  meat  is  linely  marbled,  and  well- 
flavoured. 

In  Wentworth  Park,  the  principal  seat  of  Earl  Fitzwilliam,  there  is  a 
herd  of  beautiful  Indian  cattle.  They  were  presented  to  Lord  Rocking- 
ham, sixty  or  seventy  years  ago,  by  Mr.  Verelst,  who  was  at  that  time 
Governor  of  Bengal.  They  have  been  occasionally  killed  for  the  table, 
but  their  flesh  had  a  peculiar  sweetish  taste,  not  pleasant  to  every  palate. 
Two  years  ago  some  of  the  calves  were  castrated,  in  order  to  see  how  they 
would  answer  as  grazing  cattle;  they  are  not  yet  old  enough  to  kill,  but 
they  do  not  appear  to  thrive  so  well  as  those  that  were  left  in  their  natural 
state.  In  winter  they  are  driven  into  a  yard  with  sheds;  for  they  would 
nearly  starve  on  the  open  ground.  No  cross  has  been  attempted  between 
these  and  the  cattle  of  the  country,  from  an  impression  on  the  mind  of 
the  noble  proprietor,  that  it  would  be  more  a  matter  of  zoological  curiosity 
than  of  practical  utility. 


(    271     ) 


THE 


ANATOMICAL    STRUCTURE 


DISEASES     OF     CATTLE 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  STRUCTURE  AND  DISEASES  OF  THE  HEAD  OF  THE  OX. 

Having  described  the  various  breeds  of  cattle,  and  touched  incidentally  on 
some  of  the  principles  of  breeding,  the  method  of  rearing  young  stock, 
and  the  general  management  of  the  ox,  we  are  prepared  to  enter  into  the 
consideration  of  his  structure.  This  will  afford  us  opportunity  of  more 
satisfactorily  elucidating  the  peculiarities,  or  points,  on  the  development 
of  which  the  excellence  of  the  beast,  for  certain  purposes,  is  supposed  to 
depend;  and  will  also  enable  us  to  understand  the  nature  and  proper 
treatment  of  the  diseases  to  which  neat  cattle  are  subject.  The  first 
is  an  important  but  disputed  topic:  it  has  been  founded  too  much  on 
mere  assertion;  it  has  varied  with  the  caprice  of  individuals,  or  the  fashion 
of  the  day;  and  it  has  rarely  been  referred  to  principle,  and  to  the  necessary 
effect  of  certain  conformations  on  the  capacity  of  the  animal  for  certain 
purposes:  the  latter,  more  important  still,  has  been  altogether  neglected,  for 
until  lately  there  did  not  exist,  in  the  English  language,  and  scai-cely  in 
any  other,  a  scientific  and  satisfactory  account  of  the  nature  and  causes 
and  cure  of  the  maladies  of  neat  cattle;  but  these  animals  were,  with  fe\t 
exceptions,  abandoned  to  the  tender  mercies  of  those  whose  practice  may 
be  characterized  as  a  compound  of  ignorance  and  brutality. 

We  should  have  endeavoured  to  make  this  part  of  our  work  perfect,  with- 
out reference  to  any  other;  but  having,  in  our  Treatise  on  '  the  Horse,'  en- 
tered into  a  laboured  description  of  the  different  parts  of  the  frame  of  that 
quadruped,  we  shall  avoid  repetition,  by  occasional  reference  to  that  por- 
tion of  the  Farmer's  Series:  and  shall  be  enabled  to  make  our  anatomical 
detail  as  brief  as  a  clear  understanding  of  the  medical  treatment  of  cattle 
will  admit,  and  consisting  of  that  only  which  is  peculiar  to  cattle.  For  the 
purpose  of  future  reference,  and  in  conformity  with  the  treatise  on  '  the 
Horse,'  we  first  introduce  the  skeleton  of  the  ox. 


272 


CATTLE. 


^Skeleton  of  the  Ox.'\ 


The  upper  jaw-bone. 

The  nasal  bone,  or  bone  of  the  nose. 

The  lachrymal  bone. 

The  malar,  or  cheek-bone. 

The  frontal  bone,  or  bone  of  the  fore- 
head. 

The  horns,  being  processes  or  contin- 
uations of  the  frontal. 

The  temporal  bone. 

The  parietal  bone  low  in  the  temporal 


»',  The  occipital  bone,  deeply  depressed 
below  the  crest  or  ridge  of  the  head. 

_;,  The  lower  jaw. 

Ar,  The  grinders. 

I,  The  nippers,  found  on  the  lower  jaw 
alone. 

w,  The  ligament  of  the  neck,  and  its 
attachments. 

n,  The  atlas. 

0,  The  dentata. 

p.  The  orbit  of  the  eye. 

J,  The  vertebrae,  or  bones  of  the  neck. 

r,  The  bones  of  the  back. 

s,  The  bones  of  the  loins. 

t,  The  sacrum. 

M,  The  bones  of  the  tail. 

»  &  ic,  The  haunch  and  pelvis. 


X,  The  eight  true  ribs. 

y.  The  false  ribs;  with  their  cartilages. 

z,  The  sternum. 

1,  The  scapula,  or  shoulder-blade. 

2,  The    humerus,  or  lower  bone  of  the 

shoulder. 

3,  The  radius,  or  principal  bone  of  the 

arm. 

4,  The  ulna,  its  upper  part  forming  the 

elbow. 

5,  The  small  bones  of  the  knee. 

6,  The  large  metacarpal  or  shank-bone. 

7,  The  smaller  or  splint-bone. 

8,  The  scssamoid  bones. 

9,  The    bifurcation  at  the  pasterns,  and 

the  two  larger  pasterns  to  each  foot- 

10,  The  two  smaller  pasterns  to  each  foot. 

11,  The  two  coffin-bones  to  each  foot. 

12,  The  navicular-bones. 

13,  The  thigh-bone. 

14,  The  patella,  or  bone  of  the  knee. 

15,  The  tibia,  or  proper  leg-bone. 

16,  The  point  of  the  hock.         i 

17,  17,  The  small  bones  of  the  hock. 

18,  18,  The  metatarsals,  or  larger  bones* 

of  the  hind  leg. 

19,  19,  The  pasterns  and  feet. 


The  head  of  the  ox  may  be  divided,  like  that  of  the  horse,  into  two 
parts — the  skull  and  the  face.  The  following  cut  represents  a  section  ot 
both. 


STRUCTURE  OF  THE  HEAD  OF  THE  OX- 


273 


\_Section  of  the  Head  of  the  Ox.'] 


a.  The  horn,  showing  it  to  be  a  process 
of  the  frontal  bone,  and  the  manner 
in  which  it  is  hollowed. 

h.  The  frontal  bone. 

c,  The  frontal  sinus,  extending  from  the 

nasal  bone  almost  to  the  tip  of  the 
horn  and  the  great  foramen. 

d.  The  condyloid  process  of  the  occipital 

bone,  and  the  foramen  through 
which  the  spinal  chord  passes  from 
the  skull. 

c.  The  cavity  of  the  skull. 

/,  The  petrous  portion  of  the  temporal 
bone  appearing  in  the  cavity  of  the 
skull. 

g.  The  passage  to  the  internal  part  of 
the  car. 

h.  The  foramen  laeerum  or  irregular 
foramen  through  which  several  of 
the  nerves  escape  from  the  space 
and  some  of  the  blood-vessels  enter. 

t.  The  foramen  ovale — oval  foramen. 


The  anterior  condyloid  foramen. 

The  posterior  do. 

The  basilar  process  of  the  occipital. 
,  The  sphenoid  bone. 

The  crista  galli  of  the  ethmoid  bone. 

Tlie  pterigoid  bone. 

The  perpendicular  portion  of  the  pa- 
latine bone. 

The  nasal  bone. 

The  ethmoid  bone. 

The  superior  turbinated  bone. 

The  inferior  turbinated  bone. 

The  lower  cell  of  the  ethmoid,  so 
large  in  the  ox,  as  to  be  termed  by 
some  the  middle  turbinated  bone. 

Tlie  maxillary  sinits. 
,  l^he  cells  of  the  palatine  bone. 

The  superior  maxillary  bone — its  pa- 
latine process. 

The  grinders. 

The  anterior  maxillary  bone,  destitute 
of  incisor  teeth. 


The  cranium  or  skull,  that  portion  of  the  head  which  contains  and  pro- 
tects the  brain,  is  composed  of  eight  bones:  two  frontals  e,  p.  272,  and  b, 
p.  273;  one  parietal,  /«,  p.  272;  two  temporals,  g,  p.  272,  and/,  p.  273  ; 
one  occipital,  z,  p.  272;  and  d  and  /,  p.  273;  one  ethmoid,  n,  and  r, 
p.  273;  and  one  sphenoid,  in,  p.  273. 

The  difference  in  the  appearance  of  the  head  of  the  ox,  and  the  horse,  is 
principally  caused  by  the  different  extent  and  form  of  the  frontal  and  pa- 


274  CATTLE. 

rietal  bones;  while  in  the  horse,  (see  a  and  c,  p.  66  of  the  '  Horse')  the 
frontal  bones  extend  but  little  more  than  half  way  from  the  orbit  of  the 
eye  to  the  top  of  the  head;  and  above  them,  the  parietals,  thickly  covered 
by  the  temporal  muscles,  form  the  arch-shaped  roof  of  the  skull;  in  cattle, 
the  frontal  bones  extend  from  the  nose  to  the  superior  ridge  of  the  skull; 
presenting  a  flattened  but  irregular  surface,  and  entirely  bare  of  mus- 
cular or  fleshy  covering.  In  the  festal  calf,  there  are  two  distinct  fron- 
tals,  but  the  suture  soon  disappears,  and  one  broad  and  lengthened  bone 
remains. 

THE  FRONTAL  BOXES. 

Nature  has  given  to  most  species  of  cattle  a  formidable  weapon  of 
offence,  the  horn.  To  be  eflective,  it  must  be  securely  based;  and  it 
could  only  be  so,  or  it  could  best  be  so,  by  this  expanse  of  frontal  bone. 
From  this  bone  the  horn  springs,  and  it  is  in  fact  a  continuation  of  the 
frontal,  (see  a,  p.  273.)  To  the  male  animal  this  weapon  seems  to  be 
most  necessary,  or  by  him  it  is  most  used:  he  is,  in  his  wild  state,  the 
natural  and  the  courageous  guardian  of  the  herd,  and  many  a  contest  he 
has  with  his  fellows  before  he  establishes  his  supremacy  over  them,  and 
his  right  to  be  their  protector:  therefore,  in  order  to  give  a  firmer  basis 
to  that  by  which  alone  he  could  maintain  his  power,  or  defend  his  sub- 
jects, the  forehead  of  the  bull  is  considerably  shorter  and  broader  than 
that  of  the  cow  or  the  ox.     It  is  so  in  every  breed. 

The  Ayrshire  cow  is  distinguished  by  her  small  head,  and  lengthened 
narrow  brow;  but  the  bull  (see  cut  p.  129)  has  as  broad  and  masculine  a 
forehead  as  any  of  them;  and  the  animal,  whose  portrait  is  there  repre- 
sented, was  too  furious  and  impatient  of  control  to  be  safe.  It  was  neces- 
sary always  to  confine  him,  and  even  under  confinement,  he  was  a  perfect 
nuisance  by  his  bellowing. 

This  shortness  and  breadth  of  forehead  is  not  otily  characteristic  of  dif- 
ference of  sex,  but  it  is  regarded,  and  properly,  as  an  essential  poirit  in  a 
bull.  A  deficiency  here  argues  deficiency  of  constitutional  power,  and 
materially  diminishes  his  value  as  a  stock-getter;  we  do  not  recollect  an 
exception  to  this  rule:  and  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  rarely  seen  a  cow 
with  a  large  head  and  broad  forehead  that  had  not,  in  other  respects, 
lost  the  most  valuable  points  of  the  feminine  character — she  was  neither 
a  good  milker,  nor  a  good  mother,  nor  did  she  often  fatten  kindly;  there 
was  a  coarseness  in  her  whole  form,  and  her  very  flesh  was  coarse  when 
she  came  to  be  slaughtered. 

We  have  said  that  the  smallness  of  the  head  in  the  horse  or  mare,  how- 
ever it  may  be  considered  to  be  a  point  of  beauty,  is  very  questionable 
in  its  bearing  on  the  temper,  and  actual  value  of  the  animal;  but  we  believe 
that  there  is  no  point  more  generally  assented  to  by  breeders  than  this — 
that  a  fine  small  head,  tapering  towards  the  muzzle,  usually  indicates  a 
good  milker  and  a  good  feeder,  and  a  good  temper  too. 

We  present  our  readers,  in  the  next  page,  with  a  cut  of  the  head  of 
Lord  Althorp's  bull,  whose  full  portrait  was  given  in  page  242.  With 
the  exception  of  somewhat  too  narrow  a  muzzle,  it  is  a  good  illustration 
of  the  masculine  character  of  a  superior  bull  of  the  improved  short-horn 
breed. 

With  regard  to  some  species  of  hornless  cattle,  this  notion  of  the  proper 
form  of  the  frontal  bone,  is  carried  to  a  greater  extent.  The  expanse  of 
this  bone  not  being  wanted  as  a  base  for  the  hoi-n,  is  not  found;  on  the 
contrary,  the  frontal  bones  begin  to  contract  a  little  above  the  eyes,  and 
terminate  in  a  comparatively  narrow  ridge  at  the  summit  of  the  head. 


THE    FRONTAL   SINUSES. 


275 


This  narrowness  of  the  parietal  ridge  (is  not  the  occipital  ridge  in  cattle, 
for  the  occipital  bone  is  pushed  out  of  its  place,  and  the  parietal  occupies 
the  situation  of  the  superior  portion  of  it)  is  deemed  a  characteristic  of  the 
purity  of  the  breed  and  its  grazing  qualities.  This  is  particularly  the  case 
among  the  Galloway  and  Angus  breeders.  We  believe  that  there  is  some 
truth  in  this.  It  is  a  kind  of  pledge  as  to  the  fineness  of  the  form,  and 
the  smallnessof  the  bone  everywhere. 


■GILBCRT 

IHead  of  Fhhy— Lord  Mthorp''s  Bull.'] 
THE  FRONTAL  SINUSES. 

If  this  expanse  of  bone  were  solid,  its  weight  would  be  enormous,  and 
it  would  fatigue  and  weigh  the  animal  down.  To  obviate  this,  as  in  the 
Horse  (6,  p.  68,  '  Horse,')  it  is  divided  into  two  plates,  separated  by 
numerous  vacuities  or  cells;  but,  unlike  the  horse,  these  extend  through 
the  whole  of  the  bone — nay,  they  penetrate  even  through  the  parietal  and 
occipital  bones.  Hence  it  happens  that  the  frontal  styluses  (so  these  ca- 
vities are  called  in  cattle  as  well  as  in  the  horse)  extend  from  the  angle  of 
the  eye  to  the  very  foramen  through  which  the  brain  escapes  from  the 
skull,  nay,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  to  the  very  tip  of  the  horn  (vide  a 
and  c,  p.  273.) 

There  is  the  same  septum,  or  division,  in  the  centre  of  the  frontal  si- 
nuses as  in  the  horse;  but  there  is  not  the  same  perfect  division  between 
the  nostrils.  Commencing  about  half  way  up  the  nose,  the  septum  is 
wanting  at  the  lower  part,  and  the  two  nostrils  are,  as  it  were,  thrown  into 
one;  and  the  frontal  sinuses  communicating  with  the  frontal,  and  the 
frontal  with  the  nasal,  there  is  one  continuous  cavity  from  the  muzzle  to 
the  tip  of  the  horn,  and  from  one  muzzle  to  the  other. 

INFLAMMATION  OF  THE  FRONTAL  SINUSES. 

The  whole  of  this  cavity  is  lined  by  a  prolongation  of  the  membrane  of 
tlie  nose,  and  when  one  part  of  it  is  inflamed,  the  whole  is  apt  to  be  affected. 


276  CATTLE. 

This  accounts  for  the  very  serious  character  which  nasal  gleet,  a  discharge 
from  the  nostril,  sometimes  assumes  in  cattle.  In  the  horse  we  think 
little  of  it,  except  it  has  a  glanderous  character,  or  is  connected  with  con- 
siderable cough  or  fever;  but  the  sooner  a  gleet  from  tlie  nose  of  an  ox  is 
examined  into  and  properly  treated  the  belter;  for  the  inflammation  is  far 
more  extensive  than  that  which  occurs  in  the  horse. 

After  a  little  cough,  with  slight  nasal  discharge,  we  occasionally  find 
the  beast  rapidly  becoming  dull  and  drooping,  and  carrying  his  head  on 
one  side.  Either  grubs  or  worms  have  crept  up  the  nostril,  and  are  lodged 
in  some  of  the  sinuses,  and  are  a  source  of  irritation  there;  or  inflammation, 
at  first  merely  that  of  the  membrane  of  the  nose,  and  connected  with 
common  cold,  has  extended  along  the  cavity,  .and  is  more  intense  in 
some  particular  spot  than  in  others;  or  has  gone  on  to  suppuration,  and 
matter  is  thrown  out  and  lodged  there,  and  generally  about  the  root  of  one 
of  the  horns.  The  veterinary  surgeon  does  one  of  two  things;  he  either- 
opens  the  i-kidl  at  the  root  of  the  horn  with  a  trephine,  or  he  proceeds  in  a 
more  summary  and  a  better  way — he  cuts  ofl"  the  horn  at  its  root.  More 
than  a  pint  of  pus  has  sometimes  escaped  from  the  orifice;  and  although 
there  may  not  have  been  any  suppuration  and  throwing  out  of  pus,  yet 
the  inflammation  will  be  materially  relieved  by  the  bleeding  that  neces- 
sarily follows  such  an  operation.  The  opening  into  the  sinus  which  is 
thus  made  should,  however,  be  speedily  closed,  or  the  stimulus  of  the 
atmospheric  air  will  render  the  inflammation  worse  than  it  was  before. 

On  account  of  the  vast  extent  of  cavity  from  the  communication  be- 
tween all  the  partitions  of  the  sinus,  the  r.\  occasionally  suflers  much 
from. the  larva  of  a  species  of  fly  that  creeps  up  the  nose  and  lodges  in 
some  part  of  the  sinus.  He  is  tortured  much  more  than  the  sheep  from 
this  cause;  and  the  annoyance  is  sometimes  so  great  as  to  be  scarcely 
distinguished  from  phrenitis.  This,  however,  does  not  often  happen;  for 
the  sinuses  of  his  skull  are  more  the  accidental  than  the  natural  and  re- 
gular habitation  of  these  insects. 

THE  USE  OF  THESE    SINUSES. 

These  plates  of  the  skull  are  separated  from  each  odier  at  least  an  inch 
at  all  places,  and  in  some  parts  more  than  double  that  distance  (see  cut, 
p.  273.)  Do  we  not  see  the  design  of  this?  The  skull  is  the  covering  of  the 
brain.  The  weapons  of  offence  in  catfle  spring  from  the  skull,  and  they  are 
often  used  with  terrible  effect,  and  more  about  the  skull  than  any  other  part. 
Even  the  polled  cattle  use  their  heads  as  weapons  of  offence,  and  sometimes 
butt  each  other  with  tremendous  force.  From  the  expanse  of  the  forehead, 
the  roof  of  the  skull  cannot  be  covered  and  defended  by  the  yielding  but 
most  effectual  resistance  which  the  temporal  muscle  affords  to  the  horse; 
and  although  the  frontal  bone  were  so  solid  as  almost  to  resist  the  very  pos- 
sibility of  fracture,  yet  if  the  brain  lay  immediately  underneath  it,  the 
concussion  that  would  result  from  the  shock  of  their  rude  encounters 
would  always  be  dangerous,  and  often  fatal.  Therefore  the  bones  are  di- 
vided into  two  plates,  and  separated  as  widely  as  possible  from  each  other, 
where,  as  at  the  parietal  crest,  and  the  root  of  the  horn,  the  shock  is  most 
likely  to  fall.  There  are  also  inserted  between  the  plates  numerous  little 
perpendicular  walls,  or  rather  scales  of  bone,  (see  c,  p.  273.)  (for  many  of 
them  are  of  wafer-like  thinness,)  which,  by  their  number,  give  sufficient 
support  to  the  outer  plate  in  all  ordinary  cases,  and  by  their  thinness  and 
elasticity  afford  a  yielding  resistance  similar  to  that  of  the  temporal  muscle 
in  the  horse,  and  capable  of  neutralizing  almost  any  force.  Thence  it 
happens  that  if  the  external  plate  is  fractured,  the   inner  one  is  seldom 


THE  HORNS.  277 

injured;  or  if  the  external  one  is  perforated  by  the  horn,  the  inner  one 
is  rarely  touched.  Hence  also  it  occurs  that  in  the  occasional  encounters 
between  these  animals — and  furious  enough  they  sometimes  are — the  in- 
juries are  inflicted  on  other  parts,  and  the  head  is  comparatively  untouched. 
Old  and  vicious  beasts  seem  to  be  aware  of  this,  and  aim  their  thrusts  at 
the  side  or  the  flank. 

THE  FORAMINA  OF  THE  FOREHEAD. 

There  are  some  marks  of  contrivance  in  the  structure  of  the  head  of  the 
ox,  which  should  not  be  entirely  passed  over.  At  b,  (p.  66,  '  Horse,')  are  . 
seen  the  two  foramina  or  holes  through  which  the  nerves  and  blood  ves- 
sels pass  out  to  supply  the  forehead:  but  so  much  larger  an  expanse 
as  that  of  the  forehead  of  the  ox  requires  more  nervous  influence,  and  a 
greater  supply  of  blood;  and,  therefore,  there  are  two  foramina,  one  for 
the  escape  of  the  herve,  and  the  other  of  the  artery.  Each  of  these, 
however,  must  be  of  considerable  bulk,  and  they  have  to  run  over  a  flatter 
surface  than  in  the  horse,  and  a  surface,  passing  over  which,  they  are  ex- 
posed to  much  danger.  There  is  provision  made  for  this.  A  curious 
groove  is  formed,  in  which  they  run  for  a  considerable  distance  above  and 
below,  securely  defended  by  the  ridge  of  bone  on  either  side,  until  they 
have  given  off"  various  branches,  and  are  either  so  diminished  in  bulk,  that 
they  are  comparatively  out  of  the  reach  of  injury,  or  if  one  branch, - 
whether  of  the  nerve  or  the  artery  were  injured,  the  nervous  influence  and 
the  blood  would  be  supplied  by  other  ramifications. 

THE  ARCH  UNDER  WHICH  THE  TEMPORAL  MUSCLE  PLAYS. 

In  the  cut  (p.  66,  '  Horse,')  and  better  seen  in  the  cut  in  the  next  page  of 
that  work,  a  strong  process  of  the  frontal  bone  goes  to  contribute  to  the 
formation  of  the  zygomatic  arch  under  which  the  head  of  the  lower  jaw 
moves  and  is  defended;  and  not  only  the  act  of  mastication  is  thus  securely' 
performed,  but  there  is  so  much  room  for  the  play  of  the  muscle,  that  the 
animal  is  enabled  to  use  his  teeth  as  weapons  of  offence.  In  the  ox  the 
teeth  are  never  weapons  of  off'ence;  he  may  gore  and  trample  upon  his 
enemy,  b*.t  he  does  not  bite  him:  and  his  food  is  more  leisurely  gathered 
in  the  first  imperfect  mastication,  and  still  more  lazily  and  sleepily  ground 
down  in  rumination;  this  arch  therefore  needs  not  to  be,  and  is  not  so 
capacious  and  so  strong.  It  is  likewise,  from  its  situation  and  the  goneril 
shape  of  the  head,  exempt  from  the  violence  and  injury  to  which  in  the 
horse  it  is  exposed;  and  therefore  the  arch  not  only  does  not  project  like 
the  other  for  the  purpose  of  strength,  and  to  give  room  for  a  mass  of  mus- 
cle that  is  not  wanted,  but  the  frontal  bone  does  not  enter  into  its  composi- 
tion at  all.    (See  g  and  e,  p.  272.) 

THE  HORNS. 

The  greatest  difllsrence  between  the  frontals  in  the  ox  and  the  horse, 
consists  in  their  prolongation  in  the  former,  under  the  name  of  the  hornss. 
The  foetus  of  three  months  old  has  no  horn;  during  the  fourth  month  it 
begins  to  appear,  and  maybe  detected  by  a  little  irregiilarity  of  the  frontal 
bone.  This  increases,  and  by  the  seventh  month  it  is  evident  to  the  eye 
under  the  form  of  a  distinct  tubercle  elevating  the  skin.  It  now  gradually 
forces  its  way  through  the  cutis  or  true  skin,  which  it  has  accomplished 
at  the  time  of  parturition;  a.-d,  continuing  to  grow,  it  detaches  the  cuticle 
or  scarf  skiu  from  the  cutis,  and  carries  it  with  it;  and  this  gradually  hard- 
ening over  it,  forms  the  rudiment  of  the  future  horn  or  the  covering  of 
the  bone.     Beneath  tliis  cuticle  the  horn  soon  begins  to  form;  but  it  coft- 


278  CATTLE. 

tirrnes  covered  until  the  animal  is  twelve  or  fifteen  months  old,  giving  td 
it  a  skinny  roughness,  which  then  peels  off  showing  the  shining  and  per- 
fect horn.  The  horn  of  the  ox  then  is  composed  of  an  elongation  of  the 
frontal  bone,  covered  by  a  hard  coating  originally  of  a  gelatinous  nature. 
Its  base  is  a  process,  or  continuation  of  the  frontal  bone,  and  it  is,  like 
that  bone,  hollow  or  divided  into  numerous  compartments  or  cells,  (a  and 
c,  p.  273)  all  of  them  communicating  with  each  other,  and  lined  by  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  membrane  of  the  nose. 

The  bone  of  the  horn  is  exceedingly  vascular;  it  is  the  most  vascular 
bone  in  the  whole  frame,  for  it  has  not  only  to  carry  ve^els  for  its  own 
nourishment,  but  for  that  of  its  covering;  it  is  therefore  much  roughened 
on  its  surface,  and  has  the  appearance  of  being  perforated,  or,  as  it  were, 
Avorm-eaten  by  innumerable  vessels.  It  is  on  this  account  that  when  it  is 
broken  the  haemorrhage  is  so  great — there  would  scarcely  be  more  profuse 
bleeding  from  the  amputation  of  a  limb.  A  veterinary  friend  of  ours  had 
to  remove  a  large  halt-bony  tumour,  which  had  grown  on  a  broken  horn. 
He  sawed  it  off,  and  the  blood  flew  out  in  a  stream  as  large  as  his  finger; 
and  it  was  only  by  the  repeated  application  of  large  budding  irons,  heated 
red-hot,  that  he  was  able  to  arrest  the  bleeding. 

FRACTURE  OF  THE  HORN. 

Young  bullocks  will  often  make  too  early  use  of  their  horns,  and 
many  are  the  desperate  encounters  before  it  is  determined  who  is  master 
of  the  pasture.  In  this  way  the  horn  occasionally  gets  fractured.  If  the 
bone  of  the  horn  is  evidently  broken,  but  the  external  covering  is  not  dis- 
placed, nothing  more  is  necessary  than  to  fix  some  splents  to  the  part,  and 
bind  the  whole  well  up,  so  that  the  fractured  edges  shall  be  kept  securely 
in  apposition  with  each  other,  and  in  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks  all  will  be 
well. 

Sometimes  the  horny  covering  is  torn  off.  If  the  bone  is  not  fractured 
it  will  be  best  to  leave  the  process  to  nature.  Young  beasts  are  particu- 
larly subject  to  this  loss  of  the  covering  of  the  bone,  from  their  violent 
contests  with  each  other.  There  will  be  a  great  deal  of  haemorrhage  at 
first;  but  this  at  length  ceases  and  leaves  the  bone  covered  by  coagulated 
blood.  This  by  degrees  hardens  and  forms  a  temporary  case  for  the  bone. 
In  the  mean  time  another  process  commences  at  the  base  of  the  bone. 
A  dense  flexible  substance  is  found  there,  of  the  nature  of  which  we  shall 
say  more  presently,  and  this  begins  rapidly  to  thicken  and  harden,  and  to 
assume  the  character  of  good  horn;  it  then  runs  up  the  bone,  displaces 
the  crust  of  coagulated  blood  as  it  grows,  and,  in  a  less  time  than  would  be 
thought  possible,  covers  the  bone  completely,  and,  much  resembles  in  ap- 
pearance, and  is  nearly  as  strong  as,  the  original  horn. 

At  other  times,  after  the  horny  covering  has  been  torn  off,  the  bone  will 
be  found  to  be  fractured,  but  the  parts  are  not  perfecdy  separated  from 
«ach  other.  They  must  be  brought  in  exact  apposition  with  each  other, 
bound  carefully  up,  and  confined  with  splents,  or  sufBciently  strong  ban- 
dages. Union  between  the  divided  edges  of  the  bone  will  speedily  take 
place,  new  horn  will  grow  over,  and  there  will  be  scarcely  a  vestige  of  the 
accident. 

At  other  times,  not  only  is  the  horny  covering  torn  off,  but  the  bone 
is  also  snapped  asunder  and  perfecdy  separated.  The  bone  will  never 
be  reproduced;  although  nature  will  often  aUempt  to  do  it,  and  a  rude 
misshapen  mass  will  be  formed,  half  bony  and  half  cartilaginous.  To 
prevent  this  the  horn  must  be  sawed  off  level  below  the  fracture,  and 
the  nearer  the  head  the  better,  because  it  will  be  the  sooner  covered  by  a 


THE  RINGS  OF  THE  HORNS.  fi79 

prolongation  of  the  cuticle.  T^e  hot  iron  must  be  frequently  passed  over 
the  level  surface,  after  which  this  effort  at  reproduction  will  seldom  be 
attempted;  or,  if  it  is,  the  first  granulations  may  be  easily  destroyed  by  the 
cautery,  and  there  will  be  an  end  of  the  matter.  As  soon  as  the  bone  has 
been  sawn  off  level,  and  the  haemorrhage  stopped,  and  the  cautery  applied 
to  the  exposed  surface,  the  part  must  be  bound  up  as  quickly  as  possible, 
and  with  one  tar-cloth  above  another,  so  as  completely  to  exclude  the  ac- 
cess of  atmospheric  air:  for  although  the  air  has  never  been  quite  shut  out 
from  the  frontal  sinuses,  owing  to  their  communication  with  the  nostrils, 
yet  it  has  not  had  free  access  there;  and  being  now  admitted  unrestrained 
to  a  membrane  so  extensive  and  so  irritable,  it  may  produce  dangerous  in- 
flammation. The  cases  are  not  unfrequent  in  which  inflammation  of  the 
brain  or  tetanus  have  followed  a  broken  horn,  and  precisely  from  this 
cause — the  exposure  of  the  lining  membrane  of  the  cells  of  the  head  to 
the  unaccustomed  stimulus  of  the  air. 

COMPOSITION  AND  GROWTH  OF  THE  HORNY  COVERING. 

The  horny  covering  is  composed  of  albumen  with  a  little  gelatine,  and 
about  half  per  cent,  of  phosphate  of  lime.  The  ingredients  are  the  same 
as  in  the  hoof  of  the  horse,  but  there  is  rather  more  albumen  which  gives 
the  superior  hardness  to  the  horn.  There  is  very  little  earthy  matter  in 
the  horn.  It  does  not  yield  by  calcination  more  than  one  three-hundredth 
part;  in  fact,  every  thing  is  excluded  that  can  impart  to  it  the  slightest  de- 
gree of  brittleness. 

After  long  maceration  the  horn  has  been  resolved  into  lamelloe  or  thin 
plates;  but  no  nerves  or  blood-vessels  have  been  found  in  it,  although 
they  must  exist  there,  or  the  process  of  nutrition  and  growth  could  not  be 
carried  on.  The  horn  is  exceedingly  thin  at  its  base,  and  appears  as  if 
it  were  a  continuation  of  the  cuticle.  The  most  careful  dissection  cannot 
trace  any  separation  between  them;  but  maceration  has  shown  one,  and 
has  proved  that  the  cutic-le  and  the  covering  of  the  bone  of  the  horn  are 
two  distinct  substances.  As  from  the  coronary  ligament  at  the  upper  part 
of  the  foot  of  the  horse,  and  which  is  connected  with  the  cuticle,  or  is 
rather  a  thickened  bulbous  prolongation  of  it,  the  hoof,  or  a  portion  of  it 
is  secreted,  so,  in  the  ox,  from  a  less  distinct  prolongation  of  the  cuticle 
proceeds  the  covering  of  the  bone  of  the  horn,  or  at  least  the  basis  of  it. 
The  rings  at  the  base  of  the  horn,  and  which  gradually  recede  from  the 
base,  prove  this:  but  the  horn,  like  the  hoof  of  the  horse,  thickens  as  it 
grows  down,  and  this  thickening,  and  in  fact  the  greater  portion  of  the 
horn,  are  derived  from  the  vascular  substance  that  surrounds  the  bone,  and 
which  is  fed  by  the  innumerable  vessels,  that  are  interposed  between  it 
and  the  horn.  This  substance,  dense,  vascular,  filamentous,  reticulated, 
is  very  easily  demonstrated  by  dissection;  but  there  is  not  the  same  close- 
ness of  connexion,  or  the  mutual  interposition  of  horny  and  sensible  laminae, 
because  there  is  not  the  same  stress  upon  them,  viz.,  the  whole  weight  of 
the  horse  to  support. 

RINGS  OF  THE  HORN. 

These  rings,  proving  the  first  growth  of  the  horn  from  the  base,  have 
been  considered  as  forming  a  criterion  by  which  to  determine  the  age  of 
the  ox.  At  three-years-old,  the  first  distinct  one  is  usually  observed:  at 
four-years-old  two  are  seen,  and  so  on,  one  being  added  on  each  succeed- 
ing year.  Thence  was  deduced  the  rule,  that  if  two  were  added  to  the 
number  of  rings  the  age  of  the  animal  would  be  given. 

These  rings,  however,  are  perfectly  distinct  in  the  cow  only;  in  the  ox 


280  CATTLE. 

they  do  not  appear  until  he  is  five  years  old,  and  they  are  often  confused: 
in  the  hull  they  are  either  not  seen  until  five,  or  they  cannot  be  traced  at 
all.  'I'hese  rings  are  not  always  distinct  even  in  the  cow;  the  two  or 
three  first  may  be  so,  but  then  comes  a  succession  of  mere  irregularities 
of  surface  that  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  rings  and  which  it  is  impossible 
to  count.  Another  circumstance  must  also  be  taken  into  the  account,  that 
if  a  heifer  goes  to  the  bull  when  she  is  two-years-old,  or  a  little  before  or 
after  that  time,  there  is  an  immediate  change  in  the  horn,  and  the  first  ring 
appears;  so  that  a  real  three-year-old  would  carry  the  mark  of  a  four-year- 
old.  To  this  may  be  added,  that  after  the  beast  is  six  or  seven-years  f)ld, 
these  rings  are  so  irregular  in  their  appearance,  and  so  little  to  be  depended 
upon,  that  the  age  indicated  by  the  two  horns  is  not  always  the  same. 
We  have  repeatedly  seen  a  diff'erence  of  one  year,  and  in  some  instances 
we  could  not  make  the  horns  agree  by  two  years  at  least.  Therefore, 
regniding  this  as  a  process  of  nature,  it  is  far  too  irregular  for  any  certain 
dependance  to  be  placed  upon  it.  It  is  a  mere  general  rule,  with  fi^ir  too 
many  exceptions. 

There  is  also  a  certain  instrument  called  a  rasp,  the  use  of  which  has 
been  said  to  have  made  many  an  arm  ache  a  little  before  a  large  cattle 
fair.  What  humnn  being  can  tell  whether  the  ring  farthest  from  the  head 
has,  or  has  not  been  removed;  or  whether  the  second  may  not  have  fol- 
lowed the  first?  If  the  rasp  is  fine  and  gendy  used,  and  a  little  dirt,  with 
or  without  soot,  is  rubbed  over  the  part,  there  is  nothing  to  tell  tales,  ex- 
cept a  rather  too  great  smoothness  of  the  horn  thereabouts;  and  this  is 
said  to  be  obviated  by  giving  the  whole  of  the  horn  a  smooth  and  polished 
appearance.  We  have  never  liked  these  pretty,  small,  smooth,  glossy 
horns.  That  art  had  been  at  work  no  one  could  deny;  and  we  were  un- 
charitable enough  to  suspect  that  it  was  oftener  employed  in  the  removal  of 
a  defect,  than  the  heightening  of  a  beauty.  CatUe  dealers  are  not  so  bad 
as  the  horse-merchants;  but  strange  stories  have  been  told  of  them.  We 
are  the  less  scrupulous  in  describing  this  deception,  because  we  shall 
presently  have  to  speak  of  a  method  of  judging  of  the  age  of  catde,  where 
no  roguery  can  lead  us  astray. 

THE  DEGREE  OF  FEVER  ESTIMATED  BY  THE  HORN. 

This  thinness  of  the  horn  at  the  base  will  aflTord  us  an  explanation  of 
the  custom  of  the  farrier  and  the  cow  leech,  when  examining  a  sick  beast, 
to  feel,  almost  first  of  all,  tlie  root  of  the  horn,  and  the  tip  of  the  ear. 
There  is  much  good  sense  about  this.  If  the  temperature  is  natural  in 
both,  he  concludes  that  there  is  no  great  degree  of  fever;  but  if  the  ears 
are  cold,  deathy  cold,  it  shows  that  the  blood  is  no  longer  circulating 
through  the  small  vessels,  but  congesting  round  some  important  organ 
which  is  the  seat  of  inflammation — and  nothing  can  be  more  dangerous 
than  this.  He  also  gains  from  the  horn  an  indication  quite  as  important. 
We  have  described  the  horn  at  the  base  as  being  very  thin;  it  is  quite  as 
much  so  as  the  cuticle  or  scarf  skin,  and  it  covers  one  of  the  most  vascular 
bones  in  the  whole  body.  No  where  else  can  the  practitioner  get  so  near 
to  the  circulating  fluid,  or  to  so  great  a  quantity  of  it.  He,  therefore,  puts 
his  hand  on  the  root  of  the  horn,  assured  that  he  shall  there  have  the  precise 
temperature  of  the  blood,  and  thus  be  enabled  to  judge  of  the  degree  of 
general  fever  or  constitutional  disturbance.  The  horseman  puts  his  fingers 
into  the  mouth  of  the  horse  for  the  same  purpose;  but  he  cannot  judge  so 
accurately,  for  the  vascularity  is  less,  and  the  covering  is  thicker. 

On  the  same  principles — the  thinness  of  the  horn  and  the  vascularity 
and  consequent  tenderness  of  the  bone  beneath — brutal  drovers  often  aim 


PECULIARITIES  ABOUT  THE  HORNS.  281 

their  blows  at  the  root  of  the  horn.  In  the  cruelties  which  they  inflict, 
they  are  restricted  by  the  butchers  to  the  head,  to  the  hocks  and  below 
the  hocks,  because  the  meat  must  not  be  injured ;  and  these  being  parts 
with  no  yielding  muscle  interposed  to  break  the  violence  of  the  blow,  but 
the  mere  integument  covering  the  bone,  and,  at  the  root  of  the  horn, 
the  covering  not  being  a  quarter  so  thick  as  the  general  integument,  the 
pain  is  abundantly  more  acute  than  elsewhere.  We  have  already  spoken 
of  this  when  describing  the  cattle-rnarket  of  Smithfield. 

It  is  by  reason  of  the  extreme  tenderness  at  the  root  of  the  horn,  that 
some  fool-hardy  and  brutal  fellows  have  declared  that,  armed  only  with 
a  stout  bludgeon,  they  should  not  fear  any  bull ;  for  one  or  two  heavy 
blows  on  this  part  would  stupify  and  put  to  flight  the  most  ferocious 
beast. 

MANUFACTURE  OF  BEAUTIFUL  HORNS. 

On  this  account  also  it  is,  joined  to  the  imperfect  formation  and  yielding 
nature  of  the  bone  at  an  early  age,  that  some  miscreants  have  been  said 
to  have  acquired  the  art,  by  means  of  heated  irons,  of  giving  the  horns 
any  direction  and  form  that  they  please.  It  has  often  been  hinted  that  the 
peculiar  turn  of  many  beautiful  horns  is  artificial.  How  far  this  practice 
may  be  followed  now  we  will  not  pretend  to  say  ;  we  hope  that  it  is  falling 
into  disuse.  The  great  improvement  which  has  been  eflected  in  all  the 
breeds  of  cattle,  and  particularly  the  introduction  of  the  short-horns,  which 
have  little  pretensions  to  beauty  in  this  part,  have  directed  the  attention  of 
gentlemen  and  agriculturists  to  far  more  important  objects. 

Barrow,  in  his  travels  into  Southern  Africa,  tells  us  that  this  brutal  cus- 
tom was  not  confined  to  Britain  or  to  Europe,  and  probably  had  not  its 
origin  in  either  of  them ;  for  oxen  being  used  for  the  saddle  as  well  as 
draught,  by  the  Naguamas  and  other  tribes,  and  particularly,  being  often 
ridden  by  ladies,  great  care  was  taken  to  select  the  handsomest  for  this 
purpose ;  and  the  horns  of  the  young  catfle  were  twisted  into  spiral  curves 
and  a  variety  of  fantastic  forms  by  means  of  heated  irons. 

THE  HORNS  THE  DISTINGUISHING  CHARACTER  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  BREEDS. 

In  the  preceding  chapters,  we  have  classed  the  different  breeds  of  cattle 
according  to  the  length  of  the  horn,  and  we  cannot  have  a  better  guide. 
Under  the  table  of  the  middle-horns,  we  have  ranked  all  the  native  horned 
cattle,  the  Devons,  the  Sussex,  the  Herefords,  the  Welsh,  the  Scotch,  and 
some  of  the  Irish.  Of  the  origin  of  the  long-horns  we  had  some  doubt ; 
they  were  either  derived  from  a  particular  district  of  Yorkshire,  or  they 
were  of  Irish  extraction.  The  short-horns,  now  naturalized  in  every  part 
of  England,  and  becoming  as  it  were  the  British  cattle,  were  confessedly 
foreigners.  In  the  crosses  between  them,  the  horns  seem  to  follow  a 
determined  course  ;  as  long  as  the  breed  remains  pure,  our  catfle  may  be 
increased  or  diminished  in  size,  according  to  the  whim  of  the  breeder  or 
the  nature  of  the  soil — they  may  be  changed  in  the  proportions  of  various 
parts  accordingly  as  a  judicious  or  injudicious  selection  has  been  made  for 
certain  purposes — they  may  be  made  to  assume  the  character  of  the  true 
grazing,  or  of  the  dairy  catfle,  but  the  horn  remains  the  same ;  it  is  the 
distinguishing- badge  of  the  breed. 

In  the  present  race  of  short-horns  there  is  a  great  variety  in  the  form  of 
the  horn.  Some  persons  think  this  of  littlp  or  no  consequence  ;  we  con- 
fess that  we  are  not  of  that  number.  It  sometimes  tolls  tales  of  crosses 
long  gone  by  or  forgotten,  and  totally  unsuspected ;  and  we  imagine  it 
lo  be  possible  that  they  will  indicate  certain  peculiarities*  excellences  or 


282  CATTLE. 

defects,  reaching  perhaps  to  no  great  extent,  but  yet  wortliy  of  notice  and 
record.  A  treatise  on  the  horns  of  cattle,  and  especially  on  those  of  the 
improved  breed,  might  be  made  a  very  interesting  work ;  but  it  woidd 
require  experience  that  rarely  falls  to  one  man's  lot,  and  an  unusual  free- 
dom from  hypothesis  and  prejudice. 

When  speaking  of  the  long-horn  cattle,  we  described  some  that  attained 
an  enormous  and  most  inconvenient  length  ;  but  they  shrink  into  com- 
parative insignificance,  if  compared  with  the  oxen  of  the  northern  part  of 
central  Africa.  The  Galla  oxen,  although  smaller  than  the  majority  of 
the  English  catde,  have  horus  that  are  nearly  four  feet  in  length,  and  will 
contain  more  than  ten  quarts. 

The  Burmese  oxen,  which  are  much  larger,  have  singular  horns  of  a 
half-spiral  form.  Captain  Clapperton  says  that  '  the  corneous  external 
coat  is  very  soft,  distinctly  fibrous,  and  at  the  base  not  much  thicker  than  . 
the  human  nail ;  the  osseous  case  full  of  vascular  grooves,  and  the  inside 
very  cellular;  the  pair  together  scarcely  weighing  four  pounds,  yet  they 
are  three  feet  seven  inches  in  length,  two  feel  in  circumference  at  the  base, 
and  one  foot  six  inches  midway,  towards  the  tip.' 

The  longest  horn,  however,  is  that  of  the  Great  Arnee.  Captain  Wil- 
liamson speaks  of  one  of  the  true  Ariiee  buffaloes  of  Bengal,  who  pursued 
a  sportsman  to  his  elephant;  and  which,  when  killed,  was  more  than  six 
feet  in  height,  three  feet  wide  across  the  breast,  and  had  horns  five  feet 
and  a  half  long.  Mr.  Bruce  gives  a  singidar  account  of  enormous  horns 
occasionally  obtained  from  the  Abyssinian  cattle.  'The  animal  furnish- 
ing these  monstrous  horns  is  a  cow  or  bull,  which  would  be  reckoned 
of  a  middling  size  in  England.  This  extraordinary  -size  of  its  horns 
proceeds  from  a  disease  that  the  cattle  have  in  these  countries,  of  which 
they  die,  and  is  probably  derived  from  their  pasture  and  climate.  When 
the  animal  shows  symptoms  of  this  disorder,  he  is  set  apart  in  the  very 
best  and  quietest  grazing  place,  and  never  driven  or  molested  from 
that  moment.  His  value  lies  then  in  his  horns,  for  his  body  becomes 
emaciated  and  lank  i'l  proportion  as  the  horns  grow  large ;  at  the  last 
period  of  his  life,  the  weight  of  his  head  is  so  great  that  he  is  unable  to 
lift  it  up,  or  at  least  for  any  space  of  time.  The  joints  of  his  neck  become 
callous  at  last,  so  that  it  is  not  any  longer  in  his  power  to  lift  his  head. 
In  this  situation  he  dies,  with  scarcely  flesh  to  cover  his  bones,  and  it 
is  then  his  horns  are  of  the  greatest  value.  I  have  seen  horns  that  would 
contain  as  much  as  a  common  sized  water-pail,  such  as  they  make  use  of 
^  in  the  houses  in  England.'  * 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  SEX  ON    THE   HORNS. 

Of  the  influence  of  sex  on  the  horn,  we  have  proof  every  day ;  but  it  is 
exerted  in  our  domestic  cattle  in  a  manner  different  from  all  other  rumi- 
nants. It  is  the  head  of  the  male,  and  when  in  his  perfect  state,  diat  is 
usually  encumbered  or  adorned  with  branching  honours;  the  castrated 
male  loses  his  anders  altogether,  or  wears  a  pair  of  diminutive  size, 
tjmarkinghis  degradation  ;  while  the  female  is  generally  hornless.  On  the 
contrary,  our  bull  is  distinguished  by  a  short,  straight,  comparatively  insig- 
nificant and  ugly  horn ;  while  a  weaker,  but  longer,  handsomer,  and 
beautifully  curved  horn  adorns  the  head  of  the  ox ;  and  a  still  more  deli- 
cately-shaped one  is  reserved  for  the  cow. 

OCCASIONAL    HORNS  ON  THE  GALLOWAYS. 

The  most  singular  variety  of  horn,  is  that  which  now  and  then  hangs 
*Bruce's  Travels,  vol.  vi.  p.  50. 


THE  USES  OF  THE  HORNS.  283 

Irora  the  brow  of  some  of  our  polled  cattle.  It  is  no  prolongation  of  the 
frontal  bone;  it  is  not  at  all  attached  to  that  or  any  other  bone  of  the  head; 
but  it  grows  from  the  skin,  and  hangs  down  on  the  side  of  the  face.  We 
have  already  discussed  the  question  whether  the  polled  catde  were  one  of 
the  original  native  breeds,  or  an  accidental  variety  introduced  at  a  very 
early  period.  This  abortive  horn  gives  much  plausibility  to  the  latter  no- 
tion. There  is  an  occasional  attempt  at  breeding  back  even  at  this  distant 
period. 

THE  FRONTALS IN  POLLED  CATTLE. 

The  frontal  bones  hold  the  same  situation  in  polled  cattle.  They  reach 
from  the  nasal  bones  to  the  parietal  ridge;  but  as  they  were  not  designed 
to  form  the  base  of  horns,  they  materially  diminish  in  breadth  towards  the 
poll.  The  breeders  of  polled  cattle  consider  this  to  be  a  proof  of  pureness 
of  blood,  and  of  the  possession  of  a  disposition  to  fatten;  and  we  have 
already  said  that  they  are  not  very  wrong  in  this  supposition. 

Large  cavities  between  the  plates  of  the  frontal  bone  are  found  in  the 
polled  as  well  as  in  the  horned  breed;  but  they  are  not  so  deep,  nor  do 
ihey  extend  beyond  the  frontals.  This,  however,  varies  much  in  the  dif- 
ferent breeds  of  cattle. 

COMPARISON  BETWEEN  THE  HORNED  AND  HORNLESS  BREEDS. 

There  was  a  time  when  this  question  was  much,  and  somewhat  warmly 
discussed.  It  was  taken  for  granted,  by  those  who  brought  a  great  deal 
more  theory  than  practical  experience  to  the  consideration  of  the  subject, 
that  the  horns  were  not  only  useless  thii^s,  but  that  they  were  a  serious 
evil;  and  one,  whose  name  will  ever  rank  high  as  a  scientific  surgeon, 
has  scrupk'dnot  to  say,  that,  '  on  a  very  moderate  calculation,  it  would  be 
found  that  the  loss  in  farming  stock,  and  also  in  the  diminution  of  animal 
food,  is  very  considerable  from  the  production  of  horns  and  their  appen- 
dages.' The  fact,  however,  has  never  yet  been  thoroughly  determined, 
whether  the  Galloway,  or  the  Kyloe,  with  his  branching  honours,  is  the 
most  profitable  grazing  slock;  each  has  its  zealous  advocates,  and  each  is 
excellent.  But  it  has  been  determined,  that  during  the  reign  of  the  Bake- 
wellian  stock,  no  cattle  displayed  such  a  propensity  to  fatten  as  the  long- 
horns;  and  as  the  chest  became  deeper  and  more  circular,  and  the  aptitude 
to  fatten  developed  itself,  the  horn  lengthened.  It  has  also  been  deter- 
mined, that  for  grazing  and  milking  properties,  and  particularly  for  early 
maturity,  no  cattle  can  vie  with  the  short-horns. 

The  question  was  most  warmly  discussed  by  those  who  knew  nothing 
about  the  matter;  the  existence  of  horns,  or  the  length  of  the  horn,  have 
in  themselves  no  connexion  at  all  with  grazing,  or  with  milking:  a  beast 
does  not  fatten  the  quicker  because  there  are  no  horns  to  consume  a  por- 
tion of  the  nutriment,  nor  is  he  longer  in  getting  into  condition  because 
his  brows  happen  to  be  adorned  by  them.  They  are  at  least  ornamental; 
they  cost  the  breeder  nothing;  they  are  useful  for  various  purposes;  and 
ihey  bring  so  much  clear  gain  to  the  manufacturer.  The  hornless  cattle 
may,  however,  be  occasionally  packed  somewhat  closer  than  the  others, 
and  being  destitute  of  the  natural  weapon  of  offence,  they  are  less  quarrel- 
some and  more  docile.  But  the  ferocity  of  the  horned  beast  is  oftener  the 
efiect  of  mismanagement  than  of  natural  disposition. 

THE  USES  OF  THE  HORNS  OF  CATTLE. 

We  will  conclude  this  account  of  the  horns  of  cattle  by  an  extract  from 
Professor  Babbage's  excellent  treatise  on  Manufactures; — '  Amongst  the 


284  CATTLE. 

causes  which-  tend  to  the  cheap  production  of  any  article,  may  be  men- 
tioned the  care  that  is  taken  to  allow  no  part  of  the  raw  produce  out  of 
which  it  is  formed  to  be  wasted.  An  enumeration  of  the  purposes  to 
which  the  horns  of  catde  are  applicable,  furnishes  a  striking  example  of 
this  kind  of  economy.  The  tanner  who  has  purchased  the  hides,  sepa- 
rates the  horns,  and  sells  them  to  the  makers  of  combs  and  lanterns. 
The  horn  consists  of  two  parts,  an  outward  homy  case,  and  an  inward 
conical-shaped  substance,  somewhat  between  hardened  hair  and  bone. 
The  first  process  consists  in  separating  these  two  parts,  by  means  of  a 
blow  agaii>st  a  block  of  wood.  The  horny  outside  is  then  cut  into  three 
portions,  by  means  of  a  frame-saw.  1st.  The  lowest  of  these,  next  the 
root  of  the  horn,  after  undergoing  several  processes  by  which  it  is  rendered 
flat,  is  made  into  combs.  2d.  The  middle  of  the  horn,  after  being  flat- 
tened by  heat,  and  its  tran-sparency  improved  by  oil,  is  split  into  thin 
layers,  and  forms  a  substitute  for  glass  in  lanterns  of  the  commonest  kind. 
3d.  The  tip  of  the  horns  is  used  by  the  makers  of  knife-handles,  and  the 
tops  of  whips,  and  for  similar  purposes.  4th.  The  interior,  or  cone  of  the 
horn,  is  boiled  down  in  watcj:.  A  large  quantity  of  fat  rises  to  the  sur- 
face, which  is  put  aside,  and  sold  to  the  makers  of  yellow  soap.  5th.  The 
liquid  ixself  is  used  as  a  kind  of  glue,  and  it  is  purchased  by  the  cloth- 
dresser  for  stiffening.  6th.  The  bony  substance  which  remains  behind,  is 
ground  down,  and  sold  to  the  farmers  for  manure.  Besides  these  various 
purposes  to  which  the  diff'erent  parts  of  the  horn  are  applied,  the  chip- 
pings  which  arise  in  comb-making  are  sold  to  the  farmer  for  manure,  at 
about  one  shilling  per  bushel.  In  the  first  year  after  they  are  spread  over 
the  soil,  they  have  comparativeVpr  little  effect,  but  during  the  next  four  or 
five  years  their  efficiency  is  considerable.  The  shavings  which  form  the 
refuse  of  the  lantern-makers,  are  of  a  nmch  thinner  texture.  A  few  of 
them  are  cut  into  various  figures,  and  painted  and  used  as  toys,  for  they 
curl  up  when  placed  in  the  palm  of  a  warm  hand;  but  the  greater  part  of 
these  shavings  is  sold  for  manure,  which,  from  their  extremely  thin  and 
divided  form,  produces  its  full  efliect  on  the  first  crop.' 

THE  OTHER  BOXES  OF  THE  SKULL. 

We  shall  be  very  brief  in  our  account  of  the  other  bones  of  the  skull,  as 
litde  of  a  practical  nature  is  connected  with  tluem. 

The  parietal  bone. — We  speak  advisedly  when  we  call  it  one  bone;  for 
even  in  the  fcetal  calf  there  is  no  suture.  In  the  horse  (vide  pp.  66  and 
67,)  the  parietal  bone  forms  the  chief  part  of  the  roof  of  the  skull.  In 
the  ox  (A,  p.  272,)  not  the  smallest  portion  of  it  appears  on  the  superior 
part  of  the  head;  but  it  is  found  at  the  back  of  it,  usurping  the  place  of  the 
occipital  bone,  giving  attachment  to  the  muscles  of  the  neck,  and  particu- 
larly to  its  strong  supporting  ligament  (m,  p.  272.)  It,  however,  spreads 
along  the  side  below  the  horn,  giving  it  some  support;  and  it  unites  there, 
as  in  the  horse,  with  the  temporal  bone,  and  contributes  to  the  strength  of 
the  part. 

The  Temporal  hones. — These  bones  [g.  p.  272  and  273,)  have  no  stress 
upon  them  in  catde;  they  are  therefore  small,  deep  in  the  temporal  fossa, 
and  destitute  of  the  squamous  suture.  The  most  important  difl!erence  is 
the  form  of  the  supeificial  cavity  which  receives  the  head  of  the  lower 
jaw,  and  which  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  lateral  grinding  motion  of  ru- 
mination. 

The  Occipital  bone. — This  bone  is,  in  the  ox,  deprived  of  almost  all  its 
import  nice.  There  is  no  crest,  no  tuberosity,  and  very  small  condyles,  for 
attachment  to  the  neck;  and  even  its  base,  although  a  litde  widened,  is 


THE  INTELLIGENCE  OF  OXEN.  28S: 

much  curtailed  in  length.  It,  however,  still  contains  the  great  foramen 
through  which  the  spinal  marrow  escapes  from  the  skull  (i,  p.  272,  and 
d  and  /,  p.  273.)     There  are  two  foramina  for  the  passage  of  nerves. 

The  Sphenoid  and  Ethmoid  bones  are  in  the  same  relative  situation. 
The  pteriguid  processes  of'  the  former  are  much  larger  than  in  the  horse 
(o,  p.  273.)  In  the  ethmoid  bone  (r,  p.  273,)  there  is  no  such  material  or 
practical  difference. 

THE    BRAIN. 

All  these  bones  unite  to  form  the  cranial  cavity,  and  in  which  the  brain 
is  contained.  It  is  surrounded  by  the  same  membranes;  but,  compar- 
ing the  bulk  of  the  two  animals,  the  brain  of  the  ox  is  not  more  than 
one-half  the  size  of  that  of  the  horse.  The  medullary  substance  which 
forms  the  roots  of  the  nerves  is  as  large,  and  some  of  the  nerves,  and 
particularly  the  olfactory  nerve,  or  that  of  smell,  are  as  much  developed; 
the  deficiency  is  in  the  cineritious  part — that  part  which  we  ventured  to 
consider  as  connected  with  the  intellectual  principle.  The  medullary  sub- 
stance is  that  by  which  impressions  made  by  surrounding  objects  are  con- 
veyed to  the  brain,  and  received  there,  and  the  volitions  of  the  mind 
transmitted,  and  motion  given  to  every  part:  the  cineritious  is  that  portion 
where  the  impressions  are  received,  and  registered,  and  pondered  upon, 
and  made  the  means  of  intellectual  improvement,  and  from  which  the 
mandates  of  the  will  proceed.  Now  the  senses  of  the  ox  are  as  acute  as 
those  of  the  horse;  he  sees  as  clearly,  hears  as  quickly,  and  has  the  sense 
of  smelling  in  greater  perfection;  but  he  has  not  half  the  sagacity.  He 
partly  has  it  not,  because  he  does  not  receive  the  education  of  the  horse; 
but  more,  because  nature,  by  diminishing  the  bulk  of  the  intellectual 
portion  of  the  brain,  has  deprived  him  of  the  power  of  much  improvement. 
Yet  the  difference  is  in  degree,  and  not  in  kind.  We  have  endeavoured 
to  prove,  in  the  second  chapter  of  this  work,  that  he  possesses  sufficient 
intellect  to  qualify  him  for  the  situation  in  which  nature  has  placed  him, 
and  to  enable  him  to  render  us  all  the  service  that  we  can  justly  require 
of  him.  We  ventured  to  go  farther  than  that,  and  to  show  that  when 
education  lent  her  aid,  and  too  wide  a  field  was  not  opened,  the  ox  would 
display  sagacity  and  docility  for  which  the  common  observer  would  not 
give  him  credit.  Shall  we  somewhat  enliven  a  dry  part  of  our  work  by 
adding  one  or  two  additional  anecdotes  to  those  already  related  ? 

THE    INTELLIGENCE    OF    OXEN. 

First — maternal  affection,  mixed  with  a  process  of  reasoning: — A  person 
w^as  walking  through  a  field,  when  a  cow  ran  towards  him,  lowing  most 
piteously.  For  a  moment  he  was  alarmed,  and  the  suspicion  of  madness 
occurred  to  him;  but  when  she  came  near  to  him,  she  turned,  and  went 
back  the  way  she  had  come,  looking  earnestly  at  him  and  lowing.  He 
wondered,  but  passed  on.  Again  she  came  close  to  him,  gazed  anxiously 
at  him,  and  then  lowing,  trotted  away  in  the  same  direction.  His  curiosity 
was  now  roused,  and  he  followed  her.  She  led  him  to  the  farther  end  of 
the  field,  where  her  calf  had  fallen  into  the  ditch,  and  was  nearly  drowned. 
He  rescued  the  little  animal,  and  the  mother  expressed  her  joy  in  many  an 
awkward  but  expressive  gambol. 

Next — attachment  to  their  keepers: — '  Two  biparies,  or  carriers  of  grain 
and  merchandise  on  the  backs  of  buffaloes,  were  driving  a  loaded  string  of 
these  animals  from  Palamow  to  Chittrah.  When  they  w«re  come  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  latter  place,  a  tiger  seized  upon  the  man  in  the  rear, 


286  CATTLE. 

which  was  seen  by  a  guallah  (herdsman,)  who  was  watching  a  herd  of 
buffaloes  grazing.  He  boldly  ran  to  the  man's  assistance,  and  cut  the 
tiger  very  severely  with  his  sword,  who  immediately  dropped  the  biparie 
and  seized  the  herdsman.  His  buffaloes  observing  it,  attacked  the  tiger, 
and  rescued  the  herdsman;  and  they  tossed  the  tiger  about  from  one  to  the 
other  until  they  killed  him.  Their  aid  was,  however,  ineffectual;  for, 
although  the  biparie  recovered,  the  herdsman  died.' 

Every  farm-yard  has  anecdotes  of  the  attachment  of  cattle  to  particular 
persons,  and  the  power  which  they  have  over  them.  A  cow  has  often 
retained  her  milk  day  after  day  until  her  udder  has  been  distended  to  the 
utmost,  and  would  suffer  no  one  to  approach  and  milk  her,  until  her  fa- 
vourite dairy-maid  returned.  In  the  establishment  of  Mr.  Bakewell,  we 
do  not  know  that  there  were  illustrations  of  this  strength  of  attachment,  or 
of  extraordinary  sagacity,  but  there  were  numerous  ones  of  the  most  per- 
fect docility. 

One  anecdote  more,  illustrative  of  the  reasoning  faculty  in  these  ani- 
mals. A  gentleman  near  Laggan,  in  Scotland,  had  a  bull  which  grazed 
with  the  cows  in  the  open  meadows.  As  fences  are  scarcely  known  in 
that  part,  a  boy  was  kept  to  watch  lest  the  catde  should  trespass  on  the 
neighbouring  fields  and  destroy  the  corn.  The  boy  was  fat  and  drowsy, 
and  was  often  found  asleep;  he  was  of  course  chastised  whenever  the 
cattle  trespassed.  Warned  by  this,  he  kept  a  long  switch,  and  re- 
venged himself  upon  them  with  sn  unsparing  hand,  if  they  exceeded  their 
boundary. 

The  bull  seemed  to  have  observed  with  concern  the  consequence  of 
their  transgression;  and,  as  he  had  no  horns,  he  used  to  strike  the  cows 
with  his  hard  forehead,  and  thus  punish  them  severely  if  any  one  crossed 
the  boundary.  In  the  mean  time  he  set  them  a  good  example  himself, 
never  once  entering  upon  the  forbidden  grounds,  and  placing  himself  be- 
fore the  cows  in  a  threatening  attitude  if  they  approached  it.  At  length, 
his  honesty  and  vigilance  became  so  obvious,  that  the  boy  was  employed 
in  weeding  and  other  business,  without  fear  of  their  misbehaviour  in  his 
absence. 

We  will  not  push  the  argument  too  far.  The  ox  has  bwt  one-half  the 
bulk  of  brain  of  the  horse,  and  not  more  than  one-half  of  his  intelligence; 
and  we  shall  see  in  another  part  of  our  series,  that  the  horse  has  not  one- 
half  of  the  comparative  bulk  of  brain  of  the  dog,  and  certainly  not  one- 
half  of  his  sagacity  and  fidelity:  therefore  the  dog  is  our  companion  and 
friend,  as  much  as  our  servant;  the  horse  is  employed  in  some  of  the 
upper  and  more  important  departments  of  our  service;  while  the  ox  occu- 
pies an  inferior  rank — but  he,  nevertheless,  is  our  servant,  and  has  suffi- 
cient capacity  to  perform  the  duties  we  require  of  him.  The  difference 
between  him  and  the  rest — the  (hfference  that  pervades  all  nature — is  in 
degree,  and  not  in  kind.  He  is,  therefore,  not  so  despicable  as  many 
imagine  him  to  be,  and  he  deserves  better  treatment  than  he  sometimes 
receives.  Except  in  some  districts,  where  he  is  used  for  the  plough  and 
on  the  road,  and  where  he  displays  stoutness  and  docility  equal  to  any 
horse,  (it  is  true,  indeed,  that  no  great  degree  of  intellectual  power  is  re- 
quired for  this,)  we  have  degraded  him  to  a  state  in  which  Ivp  has  little 
concern  with  any  thing  beside  his  food,  and  the  reproduction  of  die  species. 
In  a  country  like  ours,  and  with  better  servants  at  our  command,  that  is 
the  situation  which  he  ought  to  occupy,  but  if  it  were  needed,  he  has  in- 
tellectual power  far  superior  to  this;  he  occasionally  displays  the  germ  of 
every  social  affection;  and  the  knowledge  of  this  should  give  us  a  kindlier 
feeling  towards  him,  and  protect  him  from  many  an  abuse. 


THE  EAR.  287 

PECULIARITIES  OF  THE  BRAIN  OF  THE  OX. 

Of  the  peculiarities  of  the  brain  of  the  ox  we  will  say  little,  for  they 
are  unconnected  with  that  which  is  the  main  object  of  our  treatise,  the 
'  useful  knowledge'  of  the  animal;  but  as  the  posterior  part  of  the  brain, 
under  the  cerebellum,  or  little  brain,  and  at  the  commencement  of  the 
spinal  chord,  (see  p.  68,  '  Horse,')  is  a  condensation  of  medullary  matter, 
(the  medvUa  oblongata,)  whence  proceed  the  nerves  that  are  connected 
with  the  involuntary  motions  of  life,  and  by  which  the  heart  beats,  and 
the  lungs  play,  and  the  intestines  propel  the  food.  In  the  horse  it  is  nearly 
double  the  proportionate  size  of  the  same  part  in  the  human  being,  be- 
cause the  heart  will  often  have  to  propel,  and  the  lungs  to  purify,  a  greater 
quantity  of  blood,  in  order  to  enable  that  animal  to  support  a  degree  of 
exertion  rarely  required  from  the  human  being.  In  catde  this  part  is, 
in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  animal,  of  yet  greater  bulk,  for  he  has  to 
contribute  to  the  food  of  man,  while  living  and  when  dead;  and  the  heart 
must  strongly  beat,  and  the  stomach  and  the  intestines  must  be  constandy 
and  actively  at  work,  in  order  to  furnish  the  requisite  quantity  of  milk 
when  living,  and  the  expected  abundasce  of  flesh  and  fat  when  consigned 
to  slaughter. 

The  ox,  however,  is,  in  a  manner,  exempt  from  labour.  Even  in  the 
districts  of  our  own  country,  in  which  he  is  employed  on  the  farm  or  the 
road,  his  work,  although  not  always  light,  is  slow,  and  is  nothing  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  horse.  At  the  termination  of  this  medulla  oblongata, 
(q,  p.  68,  '  Horse,')  commences  the  spinal  chord,  whence  proceed  all  the 
nerves  connected  with  the  voluntary  motions  of  the  body.  Now  although 
tho  medulla  oblongata  is  propoitionally  larger  in  the  ox  than  in  the  horse, 
for  the  reason  we  have  just  stated,  the  spinal  chord  is  considerably  smaller, 
because  so  much  muscular  power  is  not  needed.  To  the  comparative 
anatomist,  this  is  a  most  valuable  proof  how  admirably  each  animal  is 
adapted  to  his  situation  and  destiny;  and  these  comparisons  cannot  be  de- 
void of  interest  to  any  one  who  has  been  accustomed  to  the  observation 
and  study  of  the  works  of  nature. 

THE  EAR. 

Two  of  the  senses,  hearing  and  sight,  have  their  residence  in  the  head: 
of  them,  therefore,  we  shall  next  speak. 

In  horned  cattle,  where  the  ears  are  often  comparatively  small,  and, 
on  account  of  their  situation,  limited  in  their  motions,  and  can  be  seldom 
erect,  they  are  litde  regarded.  The  bull  has  usually  the  shorter  horn 
and  the  larger  ear;  and  in  some  breeds,  and  particularly  the  Kyloe,  and 
the  Kyloe  bull  more  especially,  it  has  much  to  do  with  the  beauty  of  the 
head. 

In  polled  cattle,  the  ear  of  a  fair  size  but  not  too  large,  freely  moveable 
and  well  fringed,  corresponds  with  the  beautifully  curled  forehead,  and  is 
considered  to  be  a  point  of  some  importance.  The  portrait  of  Mr.  Wat- 
son's Angus  cow  (p.  169,)  will  illustrate  our  meaning;  while  the  snake- 
head  and  large  ears  of  the  Suffolk  cow,  (p.  176,)  and  even  in  a  horned 
beast,  the  disproportionate  length  of  the  ears  in  the  Ayrshire  cow,  (p.  128,) 
will  show  how  much  they  can  diminish  the  beauty  of  the  animal.  In  the 
Ayrshire  bull,  however,  (p.  129,)  the  ears  are  a  great  addition  to  his  noble 
countenance.  A  large  ear  would  be  generally  objected  to,  as  indicativg 
coarseness  of  form,  and  possibly  of  flesh.  The  only  advantage  of  a  large 
ear  would  be,  that  it  might  be  better  able  to  discharge  one  of  its  functions,^ 
and  rather  an  unexpected  one,  to  guard  the  eyes  from  injury.  A  person 
cannot  long  observe  an  ox,  without  admiring  the  adroit  use  he  makes  of 


290  CATTLE. 

the  approach  of  danger  from  every  quarter.  He  is  oftener  the  pursued 
than  the  pursuer,  and  therefore  requires  a  lateral,  instead  of  a  somewhat 
forward  direction  of  the  eyes.  The  eyes  are  prominent,  in  order  to  in- 
crease the  field  of  vision,  and  they  are  rendered  thus  prominent  by  the  mass 
of  fat  which  is  accumulated  at  the  back  of  them.  A  prominent  eye  is 
reckoned  a  good  point  in  a  beast ;  it  shows  the  magnitude  of  this  mass 
of  fat,  and  therefore  the  probability  of  fat  being  accumulated  elsewhere. 
This  prominence,  however,  should  not  be  accompanied  by  a  ferocious  or 
unquiet  look ;  for  breeders  have  agreed  that  neither  the  grazing  nor  the 
milking  beast  can  have  too  placid  a  countenance,  or  be  too  quiet  and  docile 
in  her  habits. 

THE    EYELIDS  AND  THEIR  DISEASES. 

The  eye  is  supported  and  covered  by  the  lids,  which  were  designed  to 
answer  the  same  purpose  as  in  the  horse,  viz.,  to  close  at  the  approach 
of  danger,  and  so  afford  considerable  protection  to  the  eye ;  to  supply  it 
with  that  moisture  which  is  necessary  to  preserve  its  transparency  ;  to 
defend  it  from  the  light  when  diseased ;  and  to  droop  over  it,  and  permit 
the  animal  to  enjoy  the  repose  which  nature  requires.  At  the  edge  of  each 
of  the  lids  is  a  cartilage,  to  preserve  their  form,  and  to  enable  them  to  close 
accurately  ;  and  along  these  edges  are  numerous  little  openings,  which 
pour  out  an  unctuous  fluid  that  defends  them  from  the  acrimony  of  the  tears. 

Cattle  are  very  subject  to  a  pustular  eruption  on  the  edges  of  the  eye- 
lids, accompanied  sometimes  by  great  soreness,  and  considerable  ulcera- 
tion. It  bids  defiance  to  every  application,  except  the  mild  nitrated 
ointment  of  mercury,  and  occasionally  it  does  not  yield  even  to  that ;  yet 
on  the  approach  of  winter,  it  frequently  disappears  spontaneously.  It 
indicates  a  foul  habit  of  body,  and  is  often  connected  with  mange  ;  and 
unless  proper  means  are  taken,  it  will  assuredly  return  in  the  following 
spring.  Purges  of  sulphur  will  be  found  useful :  but  if  the  animal  is  so 
fond  of  a  mash,  as  not  to  refuse  one  with  a  powder  in  it,  a  course  of  altera- 
tive medicine  will  be  most  serviceable.  The  powder  should  consist  of  one 
part  of  ^thiop's  mineral,  two  of  nitre,  and  four  of  sulphur;  and  should 
be  given  in  doses  of  from  half  an  ounce  to  an  ounce  every  night,  according 
to  the  age  and  size  of  the  beast. 

Warts  on  the  eyelids  are  best  removed  by  the  scissors — the  root  being 
afterwards  touched  with  the  nitrate  of  silver. 

The  ox  has  the  same  contrivance  as  the  horse  for  cleansing  the  eye 
from  annoying  substances.  A  flat  piece  of  cartilage,  of  a  semicircular 
form,  is  placed  within  the  corner  of  the  eye.  No  muscular  apparatus  is 
attached  to  it ;  but  when  its  use  is  required,  the  eye  is  drawn  back  by 
the  retractor  muscle,  and  the  mass  of  fat  at  the  inner  side  of  the  eye  is 
forced  ferward,  and  drives  the  haw  before  it  over  the  eye.  When  the 
retractor  ceases  to  act,  the  fatty  substance  returns  to  its  place,  and  again 
draws  back  the  haw  within  the  corner  of  the  eye. 

This  part  of  the  eye  is  more  disposed  to  disease  in  the  ox  than  in  the 
horse.  The  litde  portion  of  fleshy  substance  towards  the  inner  edge  of 
the  cartilage,  and  the  caruncle,  or  small  fleshy  body,  placed  at  the  corner 
of  the  eye  to  give  a  proper  direction  lo  the  tears,  take  on  inflammation 
fror»  sympathy  with  the  eye  generally,  or  from  some  injury  done  to  them- 
selves, or  from  the  irritation  of  dust  or  gravel ;  they  swell  prodigiously, 
and  the  haw  is  protuded  over  the  eye,  and  cannot  return.  Ulceration 
soon  begins  to  appear,  and  a  fungous  growth  springs  up.  Sometimes 
this  seems  to  be  as  a  kind  of  epizootic.  I  have  seen  more  than  a  dozen 
gteers  on  one  farm  with  the  caruncle  on  the  bulb  of  the  haw  thus  pro- 


DISEASES  OF  THE  EYELIDS.  291 

truded,  ulcerated,  and  much  enlarged,  in  consequence  of  a  fungous  growth 
on  it;  and  there  has  sometimes  been  caries  of  the  cartilage.  Every  means 
should  be  adopted  to  save  this  part,  for  the  removal  of  it  will  inconveni- 
ence and  torment  the  animal  as  long  as  he  lives. 

If  the  disease  is  connected  with  inflammation  of  the  ej'e  generally,  all 
will  subside  with  that  inflammation,  and  this  may  be  hastened  by  the  ap- 
plication of  a  Goulard  wash,  or  diluted  tincture  of  opium.  If  it  appears 
to  be  a  disease  originally  of  the  part  itself,  the  zinc  lotion  must  be  dili- 
gently used,  (two  grains  of  white  vitriol  dissolved  in  an  ounce  of  water, 
and  the  vitriol  gradually  increased  to  four  grains;  the  application  of  it  con- 
fined as  much  as  possible  to  the  part,  and  the  liquid  not  being  suffered  to 
get  to  the  sound  part  of  the  eye.)  A  perseverance  in  the  use  of  the  zinc 
wash  will  often  do  wonders.  When  it  seems  to  lose  its  power,  a  lotion 
of  corrosive  sublimate  may  be  adopted,  first  of  the  strength  of  half  a 
grain  to  an  ounce  of  water,  and  gradually  increased  to  two  grains. 

If,  after  all,  it  becomes  necessary  to  extirpate  the  part,  the  beast  must 
be  cast;  an  assistant  must  keep  open  the  eye  with  his  fingers;  a  crooked 
needle,  armed  with  strong  silk,  must  be  passed  through  the  cartilage,  by 
means  of  M'hich  the  part  may  be  drawn  out  as  far  as  possible;  and  then, 
with  a  pair  of  crooked  scissors,  the  haw  may  be  neatly  dissected  out.  If 
the  ulceration  has  extended  to  any  of  the  parts  behind,  or  to  the  neigh- 
bouring tissues,  they  also  must  be  removed.  Considerable  bleeding  will 
probably  follow  the  operation,  and  some  inflammation  of  the  neighboiiring 
parts;  but  they  must  be  subdued  by  proper  means.  If  fungus  should 
sprout,  it  must  be  touched  with  the  caustic;  but  there  is  little  danger  at- 
tending the  operation. 

The  ejelids  are  more  subject  to  disease  in  the  ox  than  in  any  other  do- 
mestic animal.  If  any  foreign  body  gets  into  the  eye,  and  remains  loner 
there,  the  eyelids  never  fail  to  partake  of  the  irritation;  they  become  hot 
and  tender,  and  very  much  thickened.  Sometimes  the  eyelid  will  con- 
tinue thickened  after  the  inflammation  of  the  eye  has  subsided.  Fomenta- 
tions will  be  indicated  here.  Occasionally  there  is  oedematous  swelling  of 
the  eyelid,  and  especially  where  the  pasture  is  damp  and  marshy.  These 
enlargements  are  too  little  thought  of,  and  left  to  nature  to  relieve;  but  they 
indicate  a  certain  degree  of  general  debility,  and  a  disposition  in  the  eyes 
to  take  on  disease.  We  have  seen  many  old  cattle  whose  eyelids  were 
either  distended  with  fluid  infiltrated  into  the  cellular  texture,  or  from 
which  a  portion  of  the  fluid  had  been  removed  by  absorption,  but  a  depo- 
sit remained,  indicated  by  the  impression  of  the  finger  being  left  upon  the 
lid.  These  cattle  were  always  more  or  less  out  of  condition,  or  would 
not  fatten  kindly,  or  had  lately  had  inflammation  of  the  eyes,  or  were  at- 
tacked by  it  soon  afterwards. 

A  curious  appearance — we  can  scarcely  call  it  a  disease — has  been  ob- 
served in  the  eyelids  of  fat  bullocks.  They  have  been  emphysematous. 
A  certain  portion  of  gas  has  been  infiltrated  into  the  cellular  tissue.  It  is 
said  that  in  France  this  has,  now  and  then,  been  the  consequence  of  the 
rogueries  of  cattle-dealers.  When  there  have  been  too  many  hollows,  or 
salient  points,  about  the  catUe,  a  perforation  has  been  made  through  the 
skin,  a  little  pipe  introduced,  and  a  quantum  sufl'.  of  air  blown  into  the 
cellular  substance,  a  portion  of  Avhich,  by  degrees,  found  its  way  into  the 
eyelids.  We  do  not  believe  that  tricks  like  these  are  attempted  here; 
although  we  shall  have  to  expose  not  a  few  of  the  dishonest  and  brutal 
practices  of  cattle-dealers.  If  this  natural  emphysema  is  supposed  to  be 
a  dissight,  a  slight  scarification  may  be  made  on  the  lid,  and  the  gas  gra- 
dually pressed  out. 


290  CATTLE. 

the  approach  of  danger  from  every  quarter.  He  is  oftener  the  pursued 
than  the  pursuer,  and  therefore  requires  a  lateral,  instead  of  a  somewhat 
forward  direction  of  the  eyes.  The  eyes  are  prominent,  in  order  to  in- 
crease the  field  of  vision,  and  they  are  rendered  thus  prominent  by  the  mass 
of  fat  which  is  accumulated  at  the  back  of  them.  A  prominent  eye  is 
reckoned  a  good  point  in  a  beast ;  it  shows  the  magnitude  of  this  mass 
of  fat,  and  therefore  the  probability  of  fat  being  accumulated  elsewhere. 
This  prominence,  however,  should  not  be  accompanied  by  a  ferocious  or 
unquiet  look ;  for  breeders  have  agreed  that  neillier  the  grazing  nor  the 
milking  beast  can  have  too  placid  a  countenance,  or  be  too  quiet  and  docile 
in  her  habits. 

THE    EYELIDS  AND  THEIR  DISEASES. 

The  eye  is  supported  and  covered  by  the  lids,  which  were  designed  to 
answer  the  same  purpose  as  in  the  horse,  viz.,  to  close  at  the  approach 
of  danger,  and  so  afford  considerable  protection  to  the  eye ;  to  supply  it 
with  that  moisture  which  is  necessary  to  preserve  its  transparency  ;  to 
defend  it  from  the  light  when  diseat^ed ;  and  to  droop  over  it,  and  permit 
the  animal  to  enjoy  the  repose  which  nature  requires.  At  the  edge  of  each 
of  the  lids  is  a  cartilage,  to  preserve  their  form,  and  to  enable  them  to  close 
accurately  ;  and  along  these  edges  are  numerous  little  openings,  which 
pour  out  an  unctuous  fluid  that  defends  them  from  the  acrimony  of  the  tears. 

Cattle  are  very  subject  to  a  pustular  eruption  on  the  edges  of  the  eye- 
lids, accompanied  sometimes  by  great  soreness,  and  considerable  ulcera- 
tion. It  bids  defiance  to  every  application,  except  the  mild  nitrated 
ointment  of  mercury,  and  occasionally  it  does  not  yield  even  to  that ;  yet 
on  the  approach  of  winter,  it  frequently  disappears  spontaneously.  It 
indicates  a  foul  habit  of  body,  and  is  often  connected  with  mange  ;  and 
unless  proper  means  are  taken,  it  will  assuredly  return  in  the  following 
spring.  Purges  of  sulphur  will  be  found  useful ;  but  if  the  animal  is  so 
fond  of  a  mash,  as  not  to  refuse  one  with  a  powder  in  it,  a  course  of  altera- 
tive medicine  will  be  most  serviceable.  The  powder  should  consist  of  one 
part  of  jElhiop's  mineral,  two  of  nitre,  and  four  of  sulphur;  and  should 
be  given  in  doses  of  from  half  an  ounce  to  an  ounce  every  night,  according 
to  the  age  and  size  of  the  beast. 

Warts  on  the  eyelids  are  best  removed  by  the  scissors — the  root  being 
afterwards  touched  with  the  nitrate  of  silver. 

The  ox  has  the  same  contrivance  as  the  horse  for  cleansing  the  eye 
from  annoying  substances.  A  flat  piece  of  cartilage,  of  a  semicirculat 
form,  is  placed  within  the  corner  of  the  eye.  No  muscular  apparatus  is 
attached  to  it;  but  when  its  use  is  required,  the  eye  is  drawn  back  by 
the  retractor  muscle,  and  the  mass  of  fat  at  the  inner  side  of  the  eye  is 
forced  ferward,  and  drives  the  haw  before  it  over  the  eye.  When  the 
retractor  ceases  to  act,  the  fatty  substance  returns  to  its  place,  and  again 
draws  back  the  haw  within  the  corner  of  the  eye. 

This  part  of  the  eye  is  more  disposed  to  disease  in  the  ox  than  in  the 
horse.  The  little  portion  of  fleshy  substance  towards  the  inner  edge  of 
the  cartilage,  and  the  caruncle,  or  small  f.eshy  body,  placed  at  the  corner 
of  the  eye  to  give  a  proper  direction  lo  the  tears,  take  on  inflammation 
froro  sympathy  with  the  eye  generally,  or  from  some  injury  done  to  them- 
selves, or  from  the  irritation  of  dust  or  gravel ;  they  swell  prodigiously, 
and  the  haw  is  protuded  over  the  eye,  and  cannot  return.  Ulceration 
soon  begins  to  appear,  and  a  fungous  growth  springs  up.  Sometimes 
this  seems  to  be  as  a  kind  of  epizootic.  I  have  seen  more  than  a  dozen 
gteers  on  one  farm  with  the  caruncle  on  the  bulb  of  the  haw  thus  pro- 


DISEASES  OF  THE  EYELIDS.  291 

truded,  ulcerated,  and  much  enlarged,  in  consequence  of  a  fungous  growth 
on  it;  and  there  has  sometimes  been  caries  of  the  cartilage.  Every  means 
should  be  adopted  to  save  this  part,  for  the  removal  of  it  will  inconveni- 
ence and  torment  the  animal  as  long  as  he  lives. 

If  the  disease  is  connected  with  inflammation  of  the  e-^e  generally,  all 
will  subside  with  that  inflammation,  and  this  may  be  hastened  by  the  ap- 
plication of  a  Goulard  wash,  or  diluted  tincture  of  opium.  If  it  appears 
to  be  a  disease  originally  of  the  part  itself,  the  zinc  lotion  must  be  dili- 
gently used,  (two  grains  of  white  vitriol  dissolved  in  an  ounce  of  water, 
and  the  vitriol  gradually  increased  to  four  grains;  the  application  of  it  con- 
fined as  much  as  possible  to  the  part,  and  the  liquid  not  being  suffered  to 
get  to  the  sound  part  of  the  eye.)  A  perseverance  in  the  use  of  the  zinc 
wash  will  often  do  wonders.  AVhen  it  seems  to  lose  its  power,  a  lotion 
of  corrosive  sublimate  may  be  adopted,  first  of  the  strength  of  half  a 
grain  to  an  ounce  of  water,  and  gradually  increased  to  two  grains. 

If,  after  all,  it  becomes  necessary  to  extirpate  the  part,  the  beast  must 
be  cast;  an  assistant  must  keep  open  tlie  eye  with  his  fingers;  a  crooked 
needle,  armed  with  strong  silk,  must  be  passed  through  the  cartilage,  by 
means  of  which  the  part  may  be  drawn  out  as  far  as  possible;  and  then, 
with  a  pair  of  crooked  scissors,  the  haw  may  be  neatly  dissected  out.  If 
the  ulceration  has  extended  to  any  of  the  parts  behind,  or  to  the  neigh- 
bouring tissues,  they  also  must  be  removed.  Considerable  bleeding  will 
probably  follow  the  operation,  and  some  inflammation  of  the  neighbouring 
parts;  but  they  must  be  subdued  by  proper  means.  If  fungus  should 
sprout,  it  must  be  touched  with  the  caustic;  but  there  is  little  danger  at- 
tending the  operation. 

The  eyelids  are  more  subject  to  disease  in  the  ox  than  in  any  other  do- 
mestic animal.  If  any  foreign  body  gets  into  the  eye,  and  remains  long 
there,  the  eyelids  never  fail  to  partake  of  the  irritation;  they  become  hot 
and  tender,  and  very  much  thickened.  Sometimes  the  eyelid  will  con- 
tinue thickened  after  the  inflammation  of  the  eye  has  subsided.  Fomenta- 
tions will  be  indicated  here.  Occasionally  there  is  (edematous  swelling  of 
the  eyelid,  and  especially  where  the  pasture  is  damp  and  marshy.  These 
enlargements  are  too  little  thought  of,  and  left  to  nature  to  relieve;  but  they 
indicate  a  certain  degree  of  general  debility,  and  a  disposition  in  the  eyes 
to  take  on  disease.  We  have  seen  many  old  cattle  whose  eyelids  were 
either  distended  with  fluid  infiltrated  into  the  cellular  texture,  or  from 
which  a  portion  of  the  fluid  had  been  removed  by  absorption,  but  a  depo- 
sit remained,  indicated  by  the  impression  of  the  finger  being  left  upon  the 
lid.  These  cattle  were  always  more  or  less  out  of  condition,  or  would 
not  fatten  kindly,  or  had  lately  had  inflammation  of  the  eyes,  or  were  at- 
tacked by  it  soon  afterwards. 

A  curious  appearance — we  can  scarcely  call  it  a  disease — has  been  ob- 
served hi  the  eyelids  of  fat  bullocks.  They  have  been  emphysematous. 
A  certain  portion  of  gas  has  been  infiltrated  into  the  cellular  tissue.  It  is 
said  that  in  France  this  has,  now  and  then,  been  the  consequence  of  the 
rogueries  of  catfle-dealers.  When  there  have  been  too  many  hollows,  or 
salient  points,  about  the  cattle,  a  perforation  has  been  made  through  the 
skin,  a  little  pipe  introduced,  and  a  quantum  suff.  of  air  blown  into  the 
cellular  substance,  a  portion  of  which,  by  degrees,  found  its  way  into  the 
eyelids.  We  do  not  believe  that  tricks  Uke  these  are  attempted  here; 
although  we  shall  have  to  expose  not  a  few  of  the  dishonest  and  brutal 
practices  of  cattle-dealers.  If  this  natural  emphysema  is  supposed  to  be 
a  dissight,  a  slight  scarification  may  be  made  on  the  lid,  and  the  gas  gra- 
dually pressed  out. 


292  CATTLE. 

The  eye  of  the  ox  generally  is  larger  and  flatter  than  that  of  the  horse, 
but  the  transparent  cornea  is  more  convex.  The  pupil  is  of  a  transverse 
oblong  form;  and  the  iris  is  dark,  but  somewhat  varying  with  the  colour 
of  the  animal.  The  inner  construction  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  horse, 
and  the  diseases  have  too  much  athnity. 

It  is  on  account  of  the  cornea  of  the  ox  being  so  convex,  and  the  lens 
also  more  than  usually  convex,  that  many  cattle  appear  to  be  short-sighted, 
at  least  while  they  are  young.  Every  one  accustomed  to  cattle  must  have 
observed  how  close  the  herd  generally,  and  the  steers  and  heifers  particu- 
larly, wdl  approach  to  a  stranger,  before  they  appear  to  have  made  a  satis- 
factory examination  of  him. 

OPHTHALMIA. 

Ophthalmia  is  as  frequent  in  the  ox  as  in  the  horse.  When  it  can  be 
removed,  it  is  by  the  same  means  as  in  the  horse,  and  in  other  cases  it 
is  equally  obstinate.  It  has  the  same  periodical  character,  and  will  disap- 
pear and  return  until  it  lias  its  natural  termination — blindness.  The  cases 
of  simple  ophthalmia,  however,  proceeding  from  the  introduction  of  fo- 
reign bodies  into  the  eyes,  blows,  or  being  the  accompaniment  of  other 
diseases,  and  then  yielding  to  medical  treatment,  are  more  numerous  in  the 
ox  than  in  the  horse,  and  therefore,  as  it  is  not  always  possible  in  the  early 
stage  to  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other,  the  disease  may  be  attacked 
with  more  confidence. 

The  means  of  cure  are  tlie  same,  bleeding  and  physic,  as  the  constitu- 
tional treatment;  and  fomentations,  cold  lotions — opium,  in  the  form  of 
the  vinous,  or  the  dilute  spirituous  tincture — saturnine  lotions — zinc  lo- 
tions, as  local  applications;  the  opium  during  the  acute  stage,  the  lead  re- 
sorted to  as  soon  as  the  inflammation  begins  to  subside,  and  the  zinc  as  a 
tonic,  when  the  inflammation  is  nearly  subdued.  The  chief  difference  in 
the  mode  of  treatment  is  the  necessity  of  having  recourse  to  the  tonic  lo- 
tion somewhat  sooner  for  the  ox  than  would  be  deemed  prudent  for  the 
horse.  The  increased  strength  of  the  vascular  system  in  the  ox  will  ac- 
count for  this:  inflammatory  diseases  speedily  run  their  course  in  these 
animals;  and  debility,  whether  general  or  local,  treads  closely  on  the  heels 
of  undue  action. 

The  periodical  nature  of  the  disease  being  once  apparent,  the  proprietor 
should  be  immediately  informed  of  the  state  of  the  case,  that  he  may  at 
once  send  the  animal  to  the  butcher,  or  hasten  to  prepare  it  for  sale;  and 
there  is  one  fact  that  cannot  be  too  deeply  impressed  on  the  mind  of  the 
breeder,  that  ophthalmia  is  as  certainly  hereditary  in  cattle  as  it  is  in  the 
horse. 

OTHER  DISEASES  OF  THE  EYE. 

There  is  a  singular  disease  of  the  eye,  which  cannot  properly  be  called 
ophthalmia,  that  is  sometimes  epizootic  among  cattle,  and  sadly  frightens 
the  owner  when  it  first  appears.  Young  catde  pasturing  on  wet  and 
woody  ground  are  suddenly  seized  with  swellings  of  the  tongue  and 
throat,  and  eruptions  about  the  membrane  of  the  mouth.  At  the  same 
time  the  eyes  become  intensely  inflamed,  and  superficial  ulcers  appear  on 
the  cornea.  The  cow-leach  is  sent  for  in  haste,  and  he,  thinking  that  des- 
perate cases  require  desperate  remedies,  applies  his  caustic  or  his  astringent 
lotions.  He  adds  fuel  to  fire,  the  inflammation  grows  more  intense,  and 
several  of  the  cattle  become  blind.  A  little  experience  would  have  taught 
him  that  this  was  only  one  of  nature's  methods,  a  rather  singular  one 
indeed,  of  getting  rid  of  something  that  offended  the  constitution;  and  that 


FRACTURE  OF  THE  SKULL.  293 

his  wisest  way  would  be  to  let  her  pretty  nearly  alone.  The  skilful  prac- 
titioner foments  with  warm  water,  or,  if  the  eyes  are  closed,  perhaps  he 
applies  an  evaporating  lotion  of  cold  water,  with  a  little  spirit,  and  possibly 
he  gives  gende  physic;  and  he  soon  has  the  satisfaction  to  see  the  inflam- 
mation disappearing,  and  the  ulcers  gradually  healing,  the  process  of  which 
he  somewhat  hastens  by  a  very  weak  zinc  wash. 

The  ox  is  subject  to  Cataract,  but  it  is  not  often  seen,  because  periodi- 
cal ophthalmia  is  not  so  frequent  in  him  as  in  the  horse  ;  and  as  soon  as  the 
existence  of  that  disease  is  ascertained,  ihe  animal  is  prepared  for  slaugh- 
ter; yet  there  are  few  herds  in  which  there  is  not  found  a  beast  with  cara- 
ract  in  one  eye. 

GuTTA  SERENA,  or  palsy  of  the  optic  nerve — blindness  in  one  or  both 
eyes,  yet  the  perfect  transparency  of  the  eye  preserved — is  a  disease  of  rare 
occurrence  among  cattle,  and  partly  for  a  similar  reason,  that  it  is  no 
sooner  recognised  than  the  beast  is  destroyed.  A  blind  horse  may  be  use- 
ful for  many  purposes,  a  blind  ox  is  good  for  nothing. 

Cancer  of  the  eye,  or  a  perfect  change  of  the  mechanism  of  the  eye 
into  a  fleshy,  half-decomposed  substance  that  ulcerates  and  wastes  away, 
or  from  which  fungous  growths  spring  that  can  never  be  checked,  is  a 
disease  of  occasional  occurrence.  The  remedy  would  be  extirpation  of  the 
eye,  if  it  were  deemed  worth  while  to  attempt  it. 

A  very  curious  disease  of  the  eye  has,  in  a  few  instances,  been  observed. 
The  common  symptoms  of  ophthalmia  appear,  as  injection  of  the  conjunc- 
tiva, dimness  of  the  cornea,  weeping,  and  swelling  of  the  lids.  These  are 
properly  attended  to,  but  the  inflammation  increases;  and,  on  very  close 
examination,  a  small  white  worm,  about  the  size  of  a  hair,  and  an  inch  in 
length,  is  found  swimming  in  the  aqueous  humour,  or  that  fluid  which  is 
immediately  behind  tlie  cornea.  Now  it  is  at  once  evident  that  the  only  way 
to  get  rid  of,  or  to  destroy  this  worm,  is  to  puncture  the  cornea,  and  let  it 
out;  and  this  method  has  been  resorted  to.  In  some  cases,  however,  not 
many  days  pass  before  another  worm  makes  its  appearance,  and  the  opera- 
tion is  to  be  performed  a  second  time,  and  the  horse  eventually  loses  that 
eye.  A  veterinary  surgeon,  Mr.  Chaignaud,  who  seems  to  have  had  most 
experience  about  this,  says,  that  three  or  four  days  before  the  appearance  of 
the  worms,  one  or  two  minute  bodies,  of  a  reddish-white  colour,  are  seen  at 
the  bottom  of  the  anterior  chamber  of  the  eye.  He  also  says  that  the 
disease  appears  about  June,  and  is  not  seen  after  December.  We  con- 
fess that  the  malady  has  not  fallen  under  our  observation;  but  in  a  work  on 
British  cattle,  every  disease,  of  which  there  is  authentic  record,  should  be 
described.  There  is  no  difficulty  about  these  animalcules  getting  into 
the  eye,  for  there  are  undisputed  instances  of  their  passing  through  the 
smallest  capillaries,  and  being  found  in  almost  every  tissue. 

fracture  of  the  skull. 
One  class  of  the  diseases  of  the  head  to  which  cattle  are  exposed  will 
fall  under  the  title  of  compression  of,  or  pressure  upon,  the  brain.  Although 
it  is  a  curious  fact,  that  portions  of  the  external  or  cineritious  part  of  the 
brain  may  be  cut  away  without  the  animal  being  conscious  of  it,  yet  the 
slighest  pressure  cannot  be  made  upon  the  brain  without  impairment  of 
consciousness,  or  loss  of  the  power  of  voluntary  motion.  A  curious 
illustration  of  this  occurred  to  a  veterinary  surgeon.  Notwithstanding  the 
protection  which  tlie  divided  plates  of  the  frontal  bones,  together  with  the 
interposed  elastic  bony  walls  afllord,  the  horn  of  a  vicious  beast  will 
sometimes  do  mischief.  It  had  penetrated  both  plates  in  the  head  of  a 
cow,  but  she  was  seen  grazing  as  usual,  with  a  greasy  bloody  fluid  running 

26* 


294  CATTLE. 

from  the  nostril.  The  finger  was  incautiously  introduced  to  ascertain  the 
depth  of  the  wound,  when  the  cow  fell  as  by  a  stroke  of  lightning;  but 
after  lying  two  or  three  seconds  insensible,  she  got  up  and  began  to  graze 
again.  She  fed  and  ruminated  for  two  days,  and  then,  on  being  taken  out 
to  the  water,  she  had  no  sooner  quitted  the  stable  than  she  began  to  turn 
slowly  round  and  round  from  the  left  to  the  right.  She  was  stopped,  and 
led  a  little  further  on,  when  she  commenced  the  same  rotatory  motion  and 
in  the  same  direction.  She  was  immediately  destroyed;  the  horn  had  pene- 
trated deep  into  the  brain,  and  almost  to  the  base  of  it. 

The  very  construction  of  the  skull  of  the  ox,  which  gives  a  degree  of 
security  from  ordinary  danger,  deprives  us  of  a  valuable  means  of  relief, 
incase  of  compression  of  the  brain  from  fracture.  In  the  human  being, 
and  in  some  situations  in  the  horse,  a  hole  may  be  made  with  a  trephine  at 
a  little  distance  from  the  depressed  portion  of  the  bone,  and  then  a  slightly 
curved  unyielding  piece  of  iron  introduced,  which,  acting  on  the  principle 
of  the  lever,  raises  the  depressed  bone  to  its  proper  situation.  This  dou- 
ble plate  of  the  frontal,  and  the  distance  interposed  between  the  two  plates, 
renders  it  impossible  to  use  such  an  instrument  with  success  on  the  ox, 
and  therefore  the  animal  should  always  be  consigned  to  slaughter.  . 

ON    HYDATIDS    AND    TUMOURS    IN    TME    BRAIN. 

The  sheep  is  subject  to  a  disease  strangely  termed  turnsick,  in  which 
the  animal  goes  round  and  round  in  the  same  way  as  the  cow  with  the 
fractured  skull.  The  cause  of  this  peculiar  motion  has  been  satisfactorily 
traced  to  an  animalcule,  called  an  hydatid,  pressing  upon  the  brain,  and 
many  strange  operations  have  been  had  recourse  to,  in  order  to  remove  or 
destroy  the  parasite. 

The  cow  will  sometimes  exhibit  the  same  symptoms.  First,  some  de- 
gree of  fever  comes  on — she  perhaps  scarcely  eats — rumination  is  sus- 
pended— the  muzzle  is  dry — the  ears  and  roots  of  the  horns  hot — the 
breathing  laborious,  and  the  hair  rough.  It  is  fever  without  any  evident 
local  determination.  Perhaps  she  is  bled  and  physicked;  but  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  the  thing  begins  to  speak  for  itself;  she  turns  round  and 
round,  and  always  in  the  same  direction:  it  is  pressure  upon  the  brain; 
and,  remembering  what  he  sees  in  his  sheep,  the  farmer  at  once  despairs, 
for  it  is  plain  enough  that  no  operation  can  relieve  such  an  animal  from  the 
hydatid. 

Let  him  not,  however,  despair.  It  is  evidendy  pressure  on  the  brain; 
but  is  the  pressure  of  the  hydatid  the  only  one  that  can  affect  the  brain,  or 
produce  this  peculiar  motion?  Would  not  effusion  of  blood,  or  of  any  fluid, 
on  some  circumscribed  portion  of  the  brain,  produce  the  same  effect? 
There  may  have  been  a  somewhat  too  great  determination  of  blood  to  the 
head,  and  some  litde  vessel  may  have  given  way.  It  is  worth  trying  for 
a  day  or  two  at  least,  and  the  cow  will  not  be  much  the  worse  for  slaugh- 
ter in  that  time.  She  should  be  bled  again,  and  that  copiously;  and  a 
stronger  dose  of  physic  should  be  given.  In  some  instances,  perhaps  we 
may  be  justified  in  saying  in  the  majority  of  cases,  the  animal  will  do  well. 
A  somewhat  spare  diet  at  the  time,  and  for  a  while  afterwards,  will  be 
plainly  indicated.  Success  will  not,  however,  attend  every  case,  and  in 
some  countries,  much  oftener  than  in  Great  Britain,  cattle  have  hydatids 
on  the  brain. 

It  is  a  disease,  however,  peculiar  to  young  cattle.  It  seldom  attacks 
any  beast  after  he  is  a  year  and  a  half  old.  Bartholin,  an  old  writer, 
states  that,  in  1661,  a  great  many  beasts  perished  from  a  species  of  phrensy, 
and  that  when  they  were  examined,  vesicular  worms  were  found  in  the 


WATER  IN  THE  HEAD.  S95 

brain.  In  Switzerland,  attacks  of  the  hydatid  are  said  not  to  be  unfrequent 
among  cattle ;  and  as  soon  as  the  beasts  begin  their  circular  walk,  they  are 
caught  and  struck  somewhat  hardly  on  the  head,  and  between  the  horns, 
with  a  hammer,  and  the  operator  judges  of  the  situation  of  the  hydatid  by 
the  shrinking  of  the  animal,  and  the  hoUowness  of  the  sound. 

Now,  we  apprehend  that  enough  has  been  said  of  the  hollow  between 
the  plates  of  the  frontals,  and  occasional  inflammation  of  the  lining  mem- 
brane, and  collections  of  pus  about  the  roots  of  the  horns,  to  satisfy  the 
reader  with  regard  to  the  real  nature  of  this  supposed  hydatid.  The 
shrinking  will  point  out  the  spot  at  which  the  membrane  is  inflamed  ;  and 
the  suspension  of  the  hollow  sound  will  indicate  where  the  pus  is  collected. 
There  the  operator  makes  an  opening  into  the  skull,  and  a  fluid  escapes, 
which  he  conceives  to  be  the  contents  of  the  hydatid. 

Veterinary  writers,  in  those  countries  where  the  hydatid  in  cattle  is 
known,  very  properly  remark  that  it  may  be  discovered  in  young  stock  in  the 
same  manner  that  it  is  in  sheep,  by  the  softening  of  the  bone  at  a  particular 
part ;  because  the  frontal  sinuses  are  not  fully  developed  in  young  beasts. 
The  hydatid  may  then  be  punctuated  with  an  awl  in  the  common  way,  or 
better  got  at  with  the  trephine  ;  but  for  our  own  parts  the  chance  of /;e?7na- 
7ient  cure  is  so  slight  in  sheep,  that  we  should  be  inclined  to  recommend 
that  the  young  cattle  thus  aflfected  should  be  immediately  destroyed. 

WATER  IN  THE  HEAD. 

There  is  another  species  of  pressure  on  the  brain,  to  which  young  an 
very  young  cattle  are  confessedly  subject,  and  that  sometimes  even  in  the 
foetal  state,  we  mean  hydrocephalus,  or  water  in  the  head.  The  fluid 
is  usually  found  between  the  membranes,  and  it  exists  in  so  great  a 
quantity,  and  enlarges  the  cranium  to  such  a  degree,  that  parturition  is 
rendered  difficult  and  dangerous ;  and  it  is  often  necessary  to  destroy  the 
progeny  in  order  to  save  the  life  of  the  mother.  There  should  be  no 
hesitation  about  this,  for  a  calf  with  water  in  the  head  will  never  be  good 
for  any  thing. 

A  calf  was  born  with  a  large  tumour  on  the  frontal  bone — it  was  weak 
— it  staggered  as  it  walked — it  was  unable  to  raise  its  head  to  seize  the 
teat,  but  it  sucked  heartily  when  it  was  held  to  the  teat,  and  the  head  sup- 
ported. The  tumour  was  punctured  on  the  third  day,  and  two  pints  and 
a  half  of  fluid  escaped.  The  calf  then  walked  of  its  own  accord  to  the 
mother,  held  up  its  head  for  the  first  time,  and  sucked  its  fill.  For  three 
days  it  seemed  to  be  going  on  well — when  a  bloody  pus  began  to  flow 
from  the  wound — the  animal  refused  to  suck — tetanus  supervened,  and  the 
calf  died. 

We  have  sometimes,  yet  not  often,  seen  hydrocephalus  appear  after 
birth  in  very  weakly  calves ;  but  we  do  not  recollect  an  instance  in  an 
healthy  one ;  and  in  almost  every  case  it  has  been  fatal :  therefore  as  indi- 
cating weakness,  and  rapidly  undermining  the  powers  of  the  constitution, 
prudence  would  immediately  consign  such  an  animal  to  death. 

In  the  adult  animal,  the  pressure  of  a  serous  fluid  on  the  brain  will 
occasionally  be  a  source  of  general  disease,  or  death  ;  but  it  will  then  be 
an  accumulation  of  fluid  in  the  ventricles  of  the  brain,  rather  than  between 
the  membranes,  and  not  indicated  by  any  change  in  the  size  or  form  of 
the  skull.  The  symptoms  will  very  much  resemble  those  of  apoplexy, 
which  we  are  presently  lo  describe,  except  that  they  are  of  a  milder  cha- 
racter, and  the  malady  is  slower  in  its  progress — and  the  plexus  choroides, 
or  network  of  minute  arteries  and  veins  in  the  ventricles,  are  usually  con 
siderably  enlarged. 


296  CATTLE. 


Cattle  are  very  subject  to  sudden  determination  of  blood  to  the  head. 
They  are  naturally  plethoric ;  they  are  continually  under  the  influence  of 
a  stimulating  and  forcing  system ;  and  that  Avilhout  the  exercise  by  means 
of  which  the  injurious  effects  of  that  system  might  in  a  great  measure  be 
counteracted.  The  food  of  the  horse  is  regulated  by  this  consideration, 
that  while  he  obtains  muscular  power  equal  to  the  work  that  we  require 
from  him,  there  shall  be  no  useless  accumulation  of  fat  to  impede  him  in 
that  work  ;  whereas  the  very  object  in  our  management  of  the  ox,  is  to 
clothe  him  willi  as  much  flesh  and  fat  as  possible  ;  therefore  it  is  that  he 
is  so  subject  to  all  the  diseases  connected  with  a  redundancy  of  blood,  and 
to  apoplexy  among  the  rest. 

There  are  few  premonitory  symptoms  in  these  cases.  The  animal  is 
struck  all  at  once.  The  disease  is  called  in  many  parts  of  the  country 
blood-striking.  Had  the  beast  been  closely  observed,  it  might  have  been 
perceived  that  he  was  more  than  usually  indisposed  to  move — that  the 
breathing  was  a  little  laborious,  and  the  eye  somewhat  protruded  ;  but  the 
herdsman  takes  no  notice  of  trifles  like  these.  The  animal  seems  to  be 
struck  all  at  once — he  falls — he  breathes  heavily  and  stertorously — he 
struggles  with  greater  or  less  violence,  and  then  dies — sometimes  in  five 
minutes — oftener  after  the  expiration  of  a  few  hours. 

If  there  is  time  to  do  any  thing,  the  beast  should  be  bled,  and  as  much 
blood  should  be  taken  away  as  can  be  got.  A  pound  and  a  half  of  Epsom 
salts  should  next  be  given,  and  Avithout  any  carminative  ;  and  this  followed 
up  with  doses  of  half  a  pound  until  the  physic  operates ;  its  action  should 
afterwards  be  maintained  by  six-ounce  doses  of  sulphur  every  morning. 

The  congestion  of  blood  in  the  vessels  of  the  brain  being  removed,  and 
also  the  congestion  which,  to  a  certain  degree,  prevails  every  where,  the 
beast  should  be  slaughtered  ;  for  he  is  liable  to  a  return  of  the  complaint 
from  causes  which  would  not,  previous  to  his  first  attack,  have  in  the 
slightest  degree  affected  him. 

PHRENITIS. 

The  PHRENSY  or  sough  in  cattle  is  too  well  known  to  the  farmer  and  the 
practitioner.  There  is  generally,  at  first,  much  oppression  and  heaviness ; 
the  animal  can  scarcely  be  induced  to  move ;  the  eyes  are  protruded  and 
are  red  ;  the  respiration  is  hurried  ;  and  delirium,  more  or  less  intense, 
rapidly  succeeds.  The  beast  rushes  at  every  thing  in  its  way  ;  it  mis- 
chievously seeks  out  objects ;  it  is  in  incessant  action,  galloping  about 
with  its  tail  arched,  staggering,  falling,  bellowing  hideously  ;  its  skin 
sticking  to  its  ribs,  and  the  sensibility  of  the  spine  strangely  increased. 
There  is  even  in  health  a  peculiar  formation  of  the  eye  of  the  ox,  or  a 
sensibility  of  the  retina  to  certain  colours,  which  makes  the  beast  dislike 
a  brilliant  red  object  ;*  under  this  disease  it  raises  him  to  the  highest  pitch 
of  fury. 

*  The  following  anecdote,  related  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  will  illustrate  this  antipathy 
to  red  which  cattle  sometimes  exhibit,  and  at  the  same  time  give  the  reader  some  idea 
of  the  conversational  peculiarities  and  powers  possessed  by  that  great  man.  The  story 
was  told  by  him  a  year  or  two  before  his  death. 

'Talking  of  a  mischievous  bull  puts  me  in  mind  of  a  similar  case,  which  I  myself 
witnessed  many  years  ago  in  Edinburgh.  I  was  proceeding  from  the  old  to  the  now 
town,  by  tiie  earthen  mound,  at  the  head  of  which  I  was  led  tor  a  few  minutes  to  look  at 
a  bull  that  had  got  into  an  inclosure  there,  after  the  unmerciful  butelier-lads  had  driven 
it  fairly  mad.  The  crowd  that  gathered  on  the  outside  of  the  fence  increased  the  brute's 
fierceness.  At  last  they  began  to  cast  ropes  over  its  horns  and  around  its  neck,  thereby 
to  pull  it  to  a  strong  hold,  that  it  might  be  slain  in  the  place  where  it  was,  which  drove 
it  to  its  most  desperate  fury.     Its  eyes  now  glared  madness ;  there  were  handfuls  of  foam 


PHRENSY.  297 

As,  however,  the  previous  oppression  and  stupidity  were  much  less  in 
the  ox  than  in  the  horse,  so  is  the  succeeding  violence  increased;  not  even 
a  rabid  ox  is  a  more  fearful  animal,  and  it  is  somewhat  more  difficidt  to 
distinguish  between  these  two  diseases  in  the  ox  than  in  the  horse.  In 
the  early  stage  of  phrenitis,  although  there  may  be  lowness  or  oppression, 
there  is  nothing  like  apoplexy,  or  want  of  consciousness.  Besides,  with 
all  his  fury,  there  is  more  method  in  the  madness  of  the  rabid  than  the 
phrenitic  ox.  The  latter  will  run  at  every  thing  which  presents  iis^lf,  but 
it  is  a  sudden  impulse;  the  former  will,  as  it  were,  plot  mischief,  and  will 
endeavour  to  lure  his  victims  within  his  reach.  A  much  greater  quantity 
of  foam  will  also  be  discharged  from  the  mouth  of  the  rabid  than  the 
phrenitic  ox. 

The  causes  are  much  the  same  as  those  of  apoplexy,  too  stimulating 
food,  and  too  great  redundancy  of  blood;  to  which  may  generally  be  added 
some  immediately  exciting  cause,  as  hard  and  rapid  work  in  sultry  wea- 
ther, over-driving,  &;c.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  London,  too  many  in- 
stances of  phrenitis  occur  from  the  latter  cause.  It  once  used  to  be  the 
sport  of  brutes  in  human  shape  to  excite  it,  by  selecting  a  beast  from  the 
herd,  and  driving  it  furiously  from  street  to  street. 

As  to  the  treatment  of  phrenitis  there  is  some  difficulty.  Is  any  treat- 
ment practicable?  Is  human  life  to  be  hazarded?  Cases  will  occur  in 
which  a  bullet  would  be  the  best  remedy;  but  then  the  flesh  will  be  in 
such  a  congested  state  that  it  cannot  be  sold.  If  the  beast  can  be  ma- 
naged or  approached  during  a  momentary  remission  of  the  symptoms, 
bleeding  should  be  attempted,  and  if  a  vein  can  be  opened,  it  should  be 
suffered  to  bleed  on  as  long  as  it  will.  Physic,  if  it  can  be  given,  will  be 
indicated.  Sometimes  the  beast  labours  under  an  insatiable  thirst,  and  as 
his  taste  is  not  now  very  exquisite,  he  may  be  cheated  with  water  in 
which  Epsom  salts  have  been  dissolved.  If  there  is  time  to  get  down  one 
hornful  of  drink,  a  scruple  or  half  a  drachm  of  the  farina  of  the  Croton 
nut  may  be  administered,  mixed  with  a  little  gruel.  All  other  medicines 
are  completely  out  of  the  question.  If  bleeding  and  physic  will  not 
save  the  ox,  nothing  will.  Use  should  also  be  made  of  any  temporary 
respite  to  confine  the  animal;  or,  if  possible,  to  get  him  into  some   place 

flying  from  its  mouth:  with  its  fore  feet  it  pawed  the  ground,  throwing  lumps  of  earth  as 
high  as  the  adjoining  houses,  and  it  bellowed  so  as  to  make  one  quake.  It  was  any  thing 
but  an  agreeable  sight,  so  I  moved  away  homewards.  But  before  I  got  to  the  foot  of 
the  mound,  an  alarming  shout  caused  me  to  look  back,  when  I  perceived  the  animal  at 
no  great  distance  behind  me,  coming  on  with  all  its  rage.  I  had  just  time  to  spring  to 
the  top  of  the  wall  that  lined  tlie  footpath,  and  to  behold  its  future  progress. 

'  I  shudder  to  tliis  hour  when  I  think  of  what  immediately  1  saw.  Among  the  people 
that  were  near  me  and  in  jeopardy,  was  a  young  lady,  and,  as  you  have  said,  she  wore  a 
red  mantle,  which  is  a  very  offensive  colour  to  many  of  the  brute  creation.  As  I  did,  she 
also  made  for  the  wall,  but  had  neither  time  nor  strength  to  gain  its  top  ere  the  infuriated 
animal  drove  towards  her.  She  turned  her  back,  however,  to  the  inaccessible  eminence, 
as  if  to  see  the  full  extent  of  her  fate,  and  then  stood  as  nailed  to  it,  save  only  her  arms, 
which  she  threw  aloft  in  her  despair,  vvhicli  would  have  been  as  fragile  in  defence  as  a 
rotten  reed.  Her  tender  body  would  have  been  nothing  against  a  force  that  could  have 
broken  bars  of  brass,  and  horns  that  might  have  transfixed  an  animal  of  its  own  size.  As 
I  liave  said,  directly  towards  the  unprotected  young  lady  the  bull  drove  forward:  with 
intentest  eye  he  came  on,  he  mistook  his  mark  not  an  inch;  for  as  the  multitude  behind 
him  yelled  their  horror,  he  dashed  with  prodigious  strength  and  madness  against  her. 

'  Was  it  not  a  miracle  that  the  dear  young  woman  escaped  unhurt  and  untouched  ? 
Yet,  it  was  true;  for  the  terrific  animal  struck  at  her  so  accurately,  that  a  horn  smote 
the  dead  wall  on  either  hand,  thus  embracing,  but  from  their  great  length  shielding,  her 
person  from  even  the  slightest  danger.  Hut  tlie  staunch  wall  withstood  the  tremendous 
thrust,  and  sent  back  with  rebounding  force,  to  a  great  distance,  the  huge  and  terrible 
brute,  throwing  him  prostrate,  never  to  rise  again;  for  numberless  destructive  weapons 
were  plunged  into  him,  ere  he  had  time  to  recover  from  the  recoil. 


298  CATTLE. 

where  he  cannot  do  much  harm  to  himself  or  to  any  one  else.  Some 
persons  have  recommended  setons  of  black  liellebore  root,  inserted  in  the 
dewlap,  and  when  these  begin  to  act,  they  generally  do  so  to  some  effec- 
tual purpose;  but  the  animal  will  usually  have  recovered,  or  be  dead,  be- 
fore the  seton  begins  to  discharge. 

The  phrensy  having  been  subdued,  the  next  consideration  is,  what  is 
to  be  done  with  the  beast.  No  more  dependence  can  be  placed  on  him 
than  on  the  one  that  had  recovered  from  a  fit  of  apoplexy.  The  purging 
system  should  be  continued  to  a  moderate  degree,  and  the  fever  medicine 
should  be  given  to  abate  the  quickness  of  the  circulation;  and  tlien,  when 
the  congested  blood  is  got  pretty  well  out  of  the  system,  and  the  flesh  be- 
gins to  look  well,  and  has  become  healthy,  the  sooner  he  is  disposed  of  the 
better. 

TETANUS,  OR  LOCKED  JAW. 

The  nerves  proceeding  from  the  spinal  chord  are  of  two  kinds,  those  by 
Avhich  the  power  of  voluntary  motion  is  conveyed  to  the  limbs,  and  those 
by  which  the  impression  of  surrounding  objects  are  conveyed  to  the 
mind.  We  will  treat  first  of  the  diseases  of  the  nerves  of  motion.  There 
is  a  fluid  or  influence  conveyed  from  the  brain,  through  the  medium  of 
the  spinal  chord,  to  the  various  parts  of  the  body,  and  by  means  of  which 
those  parts  are  moved.  In  a  state  of  health,  that  influence  is  communi- 
cated in  a  uniform  succession  of  undulations,  or  pulses.  In  disease,  it 
may  rush  on  violently  and  without  interruption;  if  that  is  only  partial  and 
has  relation  to  a  single  muscle,  or  one  set  of  muscles,  the  animal  is  said 
to  be  cramped;  if  this  violent  and  uninterrupted  action  extends  over  the 
frame,  he  labours  under  tetanus;  if  the  stream  of  influence  is  rapid  and 
strong,  but  there  are  suspensions,  he  has  fits;  and  if  the  nervous  influence 
is  altogether  withheld,  there  is  palsy. 

Tetanus  is  not  of  frequent  occurrence  in  cattle,  but  it  is  seldom  that  a 
beast  recovers  from  it.  Its  approach  is  very  insidious,  and  rarely  observed 
by  the  herdsman  until  the  mischief  is  done.  The  animal  is  off  its  food, 
ceases  to  ruminate,  is  disinclined  to  move,  and  stands  with  its  head  pro- 
truded, but  there  is  no  dryness  of  the  muzzle,  or  heat  of  the  horn,  or  cold- 
ness of  the  ears;  and  nothing  is  done.  The  next  day  the  beast  is  found  in 
the  same  state;  it  has  scarcely  moved,  and  the  herdsman  begins  to  be  a 
little  alarmed  and  mentions  the  case  to  the  owner.  The  animal  is  now 
standing  straddling  behind,  he  can  scarcely  be  induced  to  alter  his  position, 
and,  if  he  is  made  to  turn,  he  turns  all  together.  The  linger  is  put  into  the 
mouth,  and  it  is  found  that  the  jaw  is  locked;  a  discovery  which  might 
have  been  made  two  or  three  days  before,  and  when  the  ox  might  have 
been  saved. 

Working  cattle  are  most  subject  to  tetanus,  because  they  maybe  pricked 
in  shoeing;  and  because,  after  a  hard  day's  work,  and  covered  with  per- 
spiration, they  are  sometimes  turned  out  to  graze  during  a  cold  and  wet 
night.  Overdriving  is  not  an  uncommon  cause  of  tetanus  in  cattle.  The 
drovers,  from  long  experience,  calculate  the  average  mortality  among  a 
herd  of  cattle  in  their  journey  from  the  north  to  the  southern  markets; 
and  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  diseases,  and  with  the  greatest  number  of 
victims,  stands  '  locked  jaw,'  especially  if  the  principal  drover  is  long  ab- 
sent from  his  charge. 

The  treatment  of  such  a  disease  must  be  of  the  promptest  character. 
The  animal  should  be  bled  until  the  pulse  falters,  or  rather  until  the 
patient  blows,  staggers,  and  threatens  to  fall.  There  is  nothing  so  likely 
to  relax  spasm  of  every  kind,  and  to  have  some  effect  even  in  this  exces- 
sive and  universal  one,  as  bleeding  almost  to  fainting.     We  have  known 


TETANUS,  OR  LOCKED  JAW.  299 

twenty,  and  even  twenty-four  pounds,  taken  from  the  beast  before  the  de- 
sired effect  was  produced,  and  these  are  the  cases  which  oftenest  do  well, 
when  the  constitution  resists  the  bleeding  as  long  as  it  can,  and  then  gives 
way. 

One  effect,  not  always  so  lasting  as  we  could  wish,  follows  the  bleeding; 
the  spasm  is  somewhat  relaxed,  and  the  jaws  can  be  opened  a  little  way. 
Advantage  must  be  immediately  taken  of  this  to  pour  in  a  dose  of  physic. 
That  which  is  most  active,  and  lies  in  the  smallest  compass,  is  the  best 
here;  and  half  a  drachm,  or  two  scruples  of  the  farina  of  the  Croton  nut 
should  be  given  in  a  little  gruel  with,  if  it  can  be  then  administered,  or  as 
soon  as  it  can,  a  pound  or  a  pound  and  a  half  of  Epsom  salts  in  solution. 
This  must  be  followed  up  until  the  bowels  are  well  opened.  All  other 
medicine,  all  other  means,  will  be  thrown  away  until  brisk  purging  is  pro- 
duced. 

There  is  sometimes  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  in  this.  We  shall  have 
occasion  to  show  hereafter  that  the  direction  which  a  fluid  takes,  or  the 
stomach  into  which  it  goes,  is  uncertain.  It  may  pass  on  at  once  through 
the  third  and  fourth  stomachs,  and  produce  its  effects  on  the  bowels;  or  it 
may  accumulate  in  the  paunch,  without  producing  any  effect  whatever. 
The  manner  in  which  it  is  given  may  have  some  influence  here.  If  the 
attendant  is  in  a  great  hurry  to  take  advantage  of  the  relaxation  of  the 
spasm,  and  pours  down  the  whole  drink  as  quickly  as  he  can,  and  as  it 
were  in  one  body,  it  is  very  likely  to  find  its  way  into  the  paunch.  If  he 
goes  quietly  to  work,  and  gives  a  little  at  a  time,  or  suffers  it  to  run 
gently  down  the  throat,  it  will  probably  flow  into  the  fourth  stomach  and 
the  intestinal  canal.  The  explanation  of  this  will  be  given  in  its  proper 
place. 

The  bowels  must  be  opened.  After  the  first  dose  of  Epsom  salts  and 
Croton  farina,  half-pound  doses  of  the  salts  should  be  given  every  six 
hours  until  the  desired  effect  is  produced;  but  the  first  day  having  passed, 
the  Epsom  salts  may  be  changed  with  advantage  for  common  salt.  Injec- 
tions should  likewise  be  administered  every  third  hour,  and  in  sufficient 
quantity,  (four  or  six  quarts  at  least,)  and  in  each  of  them  half  a  pound 
of  Epsom  salts  should  be  dissolved.  If  four  or  six  doses  of  medicine 
have  been  given,  and  the  animal  continues  to  be  constipated,  the  pulse, 
the  ear,  and  the  horn,  should  be  examined  as  to  the  degree  of  fever;  and 
if  any  degree  of  it  is  indicated,  or  if  the  pulse  does  not  plainly  denote  de- 
bility, a  second  bleeding  must  be  resorted  to,  and  carried  on  as  before  un- 
til the  circulation  is  evidently  affected. 

If  the  animal  still  remains  constipated,  it  is  clear  enough  that  the  phy- 
sic is  accumulated  in  the  paunch;  and  that  that  stomach  is  not  disposed  to 
act.  Strong  doses  of  aromatics  and  tonics  must  noAV  be  added  to  the 
physic,  in  order  to  rouse  the  paunch,  if  possible,  to  the  expulsion  of  its 
contents,  and  should  that  fail,  recourse  must  be  had  to  the  assistance  of  the 
stomach  pump.  The  oesophagus-tube  must  be  introduced  into  the  gullet, 
and  carried  down  into  the  rumen,  and  warm  water  must  be  pumped  in  un- 
til that  stomach  is  filled  and  overflows;  i?nd  then  the  contents  will  either 
be  returned  by  vomiting,  or  pass  through  the  third  into  the  fourth  stomach, 
and  so  into  the  intestines,  and  the  wished-for  purgative  effect  will  follow. 
This  instrument  is  invaluable  to  the  proprietor  of  eatde;  and  on  the  small- 
est farm,  would  soon  repay  the  expense  of  the  purchase. 

Purging  being  established,  an  attempt  must  be  made  to  allay  the  irrita- 
bility of  the  nervous  system  by  means  of  sedatives;  and  the  best  drug 
that  can  be  administered,  we  should  perhaps  be  warranted  in  saying  the 
only  effectual  one,  is  opium.     The  crude  opium  dissolved  in  warm  water, 


300  CATTLE. 

and  suspended  by  means  of  mucilage  of  gum,  or  the  yolk  of  an  egg,  will 
be  the  preferable  form  in  which  to  give  it.  The  dose  sliould  be  a  drachm 
three  times  every  day,  and  increased  to  a  drachm  and  a  half  on  the  third 
day,  if  the  effect  of  the  smaller  dose  is  not  evident.  At  the  same  time 
the  action  of  the  bowels  must  be  kept  up  by  Epsom  sails,  or  common 
salt,  or  sulphur,  and  the  proportions  of  the  purgaiive  and  the  sedative 
must  be  so  managed  that  the  constitution  shall  be  under  the  influence 
of  both.  It  may  occasionally  be  necessary  to  suspend  the  sedative  for  a 
dose  or  for  a  day,  when  costiveness  threatens  to  prevail.  The  animal 
should  be  supported  by  mashes,  which  it  will  sometimes  contrive  to  eat, 
or  at  least  to  suck  up  the  moisture  from  them;  and  as  soon  as  there  is  any 
remission  of  the  spasm,  the  beast  may  be  turned  out  in  a  field  near  at  hand 
during  the  day,  and  taken  up  at  night. 

A  seton  of  black  hellebore  root  in  the  dewlap  may  be  of  service.  It  is 
introduced  into  a  new  system — a  part  not  under  the  influence  of  the  dis- 
ease— and  it  often  causes  a  great  deal  of  inflammation  and  swelling.  The 
back  and  the  loins  may  also  be  covered  with  sheepskins,  frequently 
changed,  in  order  to  excite  constant  perspiration,  and,  if  possible,  produce 
relaxation  in  the  part  principally  attacked :  but  the  chief  dependence 
should  be  placed  on  the  copious  bleeding  at  firs'i;  a  recurrence  to  it  if  tlie 
spasm  becomes  yet  more  violent,  or  fever  appears;  and  the  joint  influence 
of  the  sedative  and  purging  medicine. 

If  the  disease  terminates  successfully,  the  beast  will  be  left  sadly  out 
of  condition,  and  he  will  not  thrive  very  rapidly.  He  must,  however,  be 
got  into  fair  plight,  as  quickly  as  prudence  will  allow;  and  then  sold;  for 
he  will  rarely  stand  much  more  work  afterwards,  or  carry  any  great  quan- 
tity of  flesh. 

CHOREA. 

Of  this  disease,  so  frequent  m  the  dog,  either  after  distemper,  or  con- 
nected with  it,  and  an  aflfection  resembling  which  we  sometimes  recognise 
in  the  horse  under  the  name  of  stringhalt,  we  know  nothing  in  cattle. 

EPILEPSY. 

This  is  a  disease  of  rare  occurrence,  but  one  not  easy  to  treat  when 
it  does  appear.  It  attacks  animals  of  all  ages,  but  chiefly  those  under  three 
years  old.  There  are  few  symptoms  to  indicate  the  approach  of  the  fit, 
except,  perhaps,  a  little  dulness  or  heaviness  which  precedes  many  other 
diseases,  or  which  might  be  merely  accidental,  or  the  result  of  very  trifling 
indisposition.  All  at  once,  the  beast  begins  to  stagger — he  falls;  some- 
times he  utters  the  most  frightful  bellowings;  at  other  times  he  makes  no 
noise,  but  every  limb  is  convulsed;  the  heaving  of  the  flanks  is  particu- 
larly violent;  the  force  with  which  the  abdominal  muscles  act  would 
scarcely  be  credited  unless  seen;  the  jaws  are  either  firmly  clenched,  or 
there  is  grinding  of  the  teeth,  and  a  frothy  fluid  is  plentifully  discharged 
from  the  mouth,  mixed  with  portions  of  the  food,  which  seem  to  have  been 
prepared  for  rumination.     The  faeces  and  the  urine  flow  invokintarily. 

Sometimes  these  symptoms  do  not  continue  more  than  a  few  seconds; 
at  other  times  the  fit  lasts  several  minutes,  and  then  the  convulsions  become 
less  violent — they  gradually  cease,  and  the  beast  gels  up,  looks  about 
him,  seems  to  be  unconscious  of  what  has  happened — at  length  he  joins 
the  herd,  and  begins  to  graze  as  before. 

This  disease  is  usually  to  be  traced  to  some  mismanagement  with  re- 
gard to  the  food.  It  oftenest  attacks  young  cattle  in  high  condition,  and 
who  have  lately  been  turned  on  better  pasture  than  usual,  or  who  have 
been  exposed  to  some  temporary  excitement  from  over-driving,  or  the  heat 


PALSY.  301 

of  the  weather.  It  is  a  species  of  vertigo,  or  staggers — a  sudden  deter- 
mination of  blood  to  the  head;  and  if  the  farmer  does  not  take  warning, 
mischief  will  result. 

A  very  serious  part  of  this  business  is,  that  the  habit  of  fits  is  soon 
formed.  The  first  is  frequently  succeeded  by  a  second,  and  at  length 
three  or  four  will  occur  in  the  course  of  a  day. 

Bleeding,  physic,  and  short  commons  will  comprise  the  treatment 
here  ;  and  the  last  is  the  most  important  of  all.  Perhaps,  however,  if 
the  beast  were  designed  for  the  market  at  no  distant  period,  the  owner 
will  deem  it  prudent  to  hasten  that  time. 

PALSY. 

We  shall  not  treat  here  of  that  loss  of  power  over  the  hind  limbs  which 
occasionally  follows  parturition,  under  the  term  '  dropping  after  calving;' 
nor  that  partial  and  sometimes  total  inability  to  move  the  hind  limbs, 
which  is  the  slow  effect  of  rheumatism,  or  swelling  of  the  joints;  but  that 
difficulty  to  move  the  hinder  limbs  chiefly  which  is  to  be  attributed  to 
other  causes,  or  perhaps  cannot  be  traced  to  any  particular  cause,  except 
that,  in  the  great  majority  of  instances,  it  is,  after  all,  more  or  less  con- 
nected with  a  rheumatic  affection. 

There  are  many  low,  woody,  niprshy  situations,  the  cattle  in  which  are 
notoriously  subject  to  palsy.  It  is  frequent  every  where  during  a  cold, 
ungenial  spring;  and  there  are  seasons  in  which  it  assumes  the  character 
of  an  epizootic.  Old  beasts,  and  those  that  have  been  worked,  are  parti- 
cularly subject  to  it;  and  especially  when  they  are  cruelly  turned  out  to 
gather  their  scanty  food  during  a  cold  night,  after  a  hard  day's  work.  It 
is  lamentable  to  think  how  many  of  the  diseases  of  our  quadruped  servants 
derive  their  origin  from  our  negligence  or  cruelty.  A  damp  alid  unwhole- 
some cowhouse,  from  which  the  litter  is  rarely  removed,  but  putrid  effluvia 
mingle  with  the  aqueous  vapour  that  is  continually  rising,  is  a  fruitful 
source  of  palsy,  and  especially  if  to  this  is  added  the  baneful  influence  of 
scanty  and  bad  food  and  stagnant  wa!-3r.  Old  cows,  whose  milk  has  been 
dried  and  who  cannot  be  made  to  carry  much  flesh,  are  very  subject  to 
this  complaint. 

Palsy  is  usually  slow  in  its  progress.  There  appears  to  be  a  general 
debility;  perhaps  referable  to  the  part  about  to  be  attacked  more  than  to 
any  other;  and  it  will  be  afterwards  recollected,  that  there  was  a  giving 
Avay,  or  trembling  of  that  part,  and  sometimes,  but  not  always,  a  coldness 
of  it.  The  hind  limbs  are  the  parts  which  are  most  frequently  attacked. 
It  is  at  first  feebleness  which  increases  to  stiffness,  awkwardness  of  motion, 
and  at  length  to  total  loss  of  it.  We  have  seen  a  few  instances  in  which 
the  fore  limbs  have  been  the  principal  seat  of  the  disease,  but  then  the 
hind  limbs  have  always  participated  in  the  affection.  In  no  case,  how- 
ever, have  we  seen  any  affection  of  one  side  of  the  animal  and  not  of  the 
other;  this  is  a  difference  in  the  symptoms  of  palsy  in  the  human  being 
and  the  brute,  for  which  we  are  not  able  satisfactorily  to  account. 

In  many  parts  of  the  kingdom  this  complaint  is  traced  to  a  most  ridi- 
culous cause.  The  original  evil  is  said  to  be  in  the  tail;  and  all  maladies 
of  this  kind,  involving  the  partial  or  total  loss  of  motion  of  the  hind  limbs 
of  the  animal,  are  classed  under  the  name  of  tail-ill  or  tail-slip.  Our 
friend  Mr.  Dick,  of  Edinburgli,  has  taken  up  this  subject  in  a  very  inte- 
resting point  of  view,  in  the  14th  Number  of  the  Quarterly  Journal  of 
Agriculture;  and  the  public  are  much  indebted  to  him  for  dispelling  a 
false  and  injurious  and  cruel  superstition.  The  farmer  and  the  cowdeech 
believe  that  the  mischief  passes  along  the  cow's  tail  to  the  back,  and  that 
21 


302  CATTLE. 

it  is  on  account  of  somctliing  wrong  in  llie  tail  that  she  loses  the  use  of 
Iier  legs;  and  then  some  set  to  work,  and  cut  the  cow's  tail  ofT:  while 
others,  less  cruel,  or  more  scientific,  make  an  incision  into  the  uuder  sur- 
face, and  allow  the  woiind  to  bleed  freely,  and  then  fill  it  up  with  a  mix- 
ture of  tar  and  salt,  and  we  know  not  what. 

In  some  parts  of  tlie  country,  the  practitioner  is  not  content  with  this 
treatment,  but,  supposing  there  is  witchcraft  in  the  business,  he  has  re- 
course to  some  charm  in  addition  to  the  cutting  and  dressing.  This 
charm  consists  in  binding  a  small  piece  of  the  rowan  tree  on  the  extre- 
mity of  the  tail,  and  making  a  black  cat  pass  tlijee  times  round  the  cow's 
body,  over  her  back,  and  under  her  belly,  which  (if  it  happens  to  be  a 
strange  cat,  as  is  often  the  case  from  the  necessity  of  tlie  colour,  being 
black)  so  em  ages  tlie  animal,  that  she  inew.s  and  scratches  with  all  the 
fury  to  which  she  is  so  easily  excited,  until  she  escapes  from  the  hands  of 
the  necromancers,  leaving  them  convinced  that  the  devil  has  gcit  into  the 
cat. 

Mr.  Dick,  with  a  kind  consideration,  for  which  he  deserves  much 
credit,  condescends  to  reason  the  case  with  these  foolish  people,  and  what 
he  says  is  so  much  to  the  purpose,  that  we  cannot  refrain  from  introducing 
it  here.  '  The  disease,  in  ordinary  cases,  is  said  to  consist  in  a  softening 
of  the  bones  about  the  extremity  of  the  tail,  and  is  to  be  distinguished 
by  the  point  of  the  tail  being  easily  doubled  back  upon  itself,  and  having 
at  this  doubling  a  soft  and  rather  a  crepitating  kind  of  feel.  But  what 
is  the  real  state  of  the  case?  The  tail  is  lengthened  out  to  the  extent  of 
about  three  feet,  and  is  formed  like  a  common  whip.  Towards  the  ex- 
tremity, the  bones  terminate  gradually,  becoming  insensibly  smaller  as 
they  proceed  downwards.  At  this  part  is  said  to  be  found  a  soft  space — 
the  (ail-slip.  Beyond  tliis  again,  a  firm  swelling  cartilaginous  portion 
is  found,  covered  with  hair  to  brush  off  the  flies  within  its  reach.  Now 
why  have  we  the  long  column  of  bones;  the  termination  with  a  soft  space 
of  a  few  inches;  this  thickened,  hard,  cnrtilaginous  part  at  the  very  extre- 
mity, and  that  extremity  covered  with  hair,  but  with  a  view  to  form  a 
M'hip  to  drive  ofl;',  and  with  the  greatest  possible  eftect,  the  insects  whicli 
wound  and  torment  the  animal? 

'  Here  the  column  of  bones  forms  the  shaft  or  handle  of  the  whip — the 
soft  part,  the  connexion  between  the  handle  and  the  thong,  while  the 
thickened  extremity  may  be  easily  recognised  to  represent  the  thong,  and 
the  hairs  to  form  the  lash,  or  point;  so  that  we  have  a  M'hip  to  drive  away 
the  flies,  and  so  complete  a  one,  that  the  coachman  may  borrow  a  lesson 
from  its  construction.' 

We  trust,  therefore,  that  our  readers  will  never  be  found  again  looking 
at  the  tail  of  the  cow  for  an  explanation  of  palsy,  or  any  other  complaint; 
(for  we  believe  this  tail-slip  is  supposed  to  be  connected  with  various 
other  maladies;)  but  we  will  allow  them  to  examine  it  once  more,  in  order 
to  admire  its  adaptation  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  required,  and  the 
peculiar  contrivance  of  this  supposed  diseased  part,  for  the  more  cflectual 
accomplishment  of  this  natural  purpose. 

It  may,  however  be  asked — is  not  relief  sometimes  given  by  these 
operations  on  the  tail? — Very  probably.  AVe  do  not  know  what  would 
make  a  cow  get  up  and  use  her  limbs  if  the  punishment  of  the  knife,  and 
the  rubbing-in  of  tar  and  salt  failed;  and  we  can  very  readily  conceive 
that  the  loss  of  blood  would  often  be  beneficial,  but  not  more  because 
taken  from  the  tail  than  from  any  other  part. 

The  most  frequent  cause  of  palsy  is  the  turning  out  of  beasts  of  every 
kind,  but  particularly  cows,   too  early  to   grass,  after  they  have  been 


NEUROTOMY.  303 

housed  during  the  winter  and  first  part  of  the  spring.  AVe  have  known 
one-fourth  of  the  stock  completely  chilled  and  palsied  behind  in  the 
course  of  two  or  three  nights.  The  general  health  has  not  been  much 
affected,  except  that,  perhaps,  hoose  has  come  on ;  but  the  beasts  have  lain 
three  or  four  weeks  (we  recollect  one  that  lay  three  months)  before  they 
recovered  the  use  of  their  limbs. 

The  treatment  of  this  disease  would  be  half  summed  up  in  one  word — 
comfort.  The  cattle  should,  if  possible,  be  immediately  removed  into  a 
warm,  but  not  close,  cow-house,  and  well  littered  up,  and  perhaps  a  rug 
thrown  over  them,  It  has  been  proposed  to  sling  them,  but  they  are 
rarely  comfortable  in  the  slings,  and  very  frequendy  galled.  If  they  are 
well  littered  up,  turned  twice  in  the  day,  and  so  laid  that  the  faeces  and 
urine  will  flow  from  them,  they  will  be  much  better  without  the  slings. 

Physic  should  be  the  first  thing  administered.  This  species  of  palsy 
is  usually  attended  by  considerable  constipation,  which  must  be  over- 
come; but  witb  the  physic,  a  good  dose  of  cordial  medicine  should  always 
be  mixed.  We  would  give  an  ounce  of  powdered  ginger,  and  we  would 
crown  the  whole  with  a  half  pint  at  least  of  good  sound  ale.  Except  in 
diseases  of  a  decidedly  inflammatory  nature,  or  of  such  a  state  of  nervous 
irritability,  as  tetanus,  the  physic  of  cattle  should  be  mixed  with  aro- 
matics,  and  frequently  with  ale  too.  It  is  to  the  administration  of  these 
cordials  in  cases  of  fever  that  we  so  peremptorily  object;  there  is  no 
occasion  that  fuel  should  be  then  added  to  fire ;  but  in  general  cases,  there 
is  something  in  the  constitution  of  the  cow  with  which  mild  cordial  medi- 
cine does  not  disagree. 

The  patient  does  not  quite  refuse  to  eat  in  palsy,  but  there  is  usually  an 
indiflerence  to  food.  This  is  another  reason  for  giving  a  little  cordial 
with  the  physic.  The  beast  should  be  coaxed  to  eat — the  food  which  is 
in  season  should  be  offered  to  it,  and  frequendy  changed.  Two-drachm 
doses  of  antimonial  powder  has  been  recommended  as  a  diaphoretic, 
but  we  have  not  much  faith  in  the  action  of  this  drug  on  catde.  Good 
hand-rubbing,  and  plenty  of  it,  should  he  used  two  or  three  times  every 
day  about  the  loins ;  a  stimulating  liniment  may  also  be  applied,  con- 
sisting of  equal  parts  of  spirits  of  turpentine,  camphorated  spirit,  and 
hartshorn.  The  chief  dependence  is  on  keeping  the  bowels  open,  and  the 
animal  comfortable;  and  then  in  a  variable  period,  from  ten  days  to  a 
month,  he  will  usually  get  up  again. 

There  is  an  account  in  one  of  the  French  journals  of  the  cure  of  a  pa- 
ralytic ox,  by  the  administration  of  nux  vomica.  We  are  not  aware  that 
it  has  been  tried  by  any  English  veterinarian.  The  strychnine  would  be 
worth  a  trial  where  the  purgative  comfortable  system  fails ;  but  tliat  suc- 
ceeds so  often,  that  we  should  be  loth  to  have  recourse  to  any  thing  else 
in  the  first  instance.  The  nux  vomica  effected  a  cure,  but  the  doses  were 
enormous,  consisting  of  more  than  an  ounce  each. 

NEUROTOMY. 

Veterinary  surgeons  have  lately  adopted  an  admirable  method  of  re- 
lieving the  pain  which  the  horse  must  otherwise  endure  from  several 
diseases  of  the  foot.  They  cut  out  a  portion  of  the  nerve  of  the  leg.  They 
cannot  interfere  with  the  motion  of  the  limb,  because  there  are  no  muscles 
beneath  the  knee  for  the  nerve  to  supply;  but  they  cut  off  the  communi- 
cation of  the  feeling  of  pain.  If  a  nerve  concerned  with  feeling  is  divided, 
the  impressions,  whether  of  pleasure  or  of  pain,  made  on  it,  below  the  di- 
vision, cannot  be  conveyed  to  the  brain,  and  therefore  the  animal  is  to- 


304  CATTLE. 

tally  unconscious  of  ihem.     Many  a  valuable  animal  is  thus  relieved  from 
torture,  and  perhaps  his  services  are  retained  for  many  a  year. 

We  know  not  why  this  should  not  be  applied  to  catde.  The  working^ 
ox  is  subject  to  several  diseases  of  the  feet,  the  consequence  of  shoeing  and 
hard  labour,  and  which  are  as  painfvd  and  as  difilcull  to  treat  as  those  of 
the  foot  of  the  horse.  From  the  division  of  his  foot,  and  the  hardness 
and  occasional  inequality  of  the  ground,  and  the  consequent  inequality  of 
pressure  on  the  two  pasterns,  he  is  subject  to  sprains  of  the  fetlock  joint, 
and  injuries  of  the  shank-bone,  which  are  rarely  or  never  seen  in  the  horse. 
Enlargements  of  the  lower  head  of  these  bones  are  frequently  found  in  the 
ox,  that  have  no  parallel  in  the  disorganization  of  the  fore  limbs  of  the 
horse.  While  labouring  under  these  diseases,  the  animal  is  capable  of 
little  work,  and  will  not  carry  much  flesh.  Besides  this  there  are  diseases 
which  may  be  said  to  be  natural  to  cattle,  and  which  are  productive  of  a 
great  deal  of  pain,  and  materially  lessen  the  proiit  that  we  derive  from 
these  animals.  There  is  not  a  farmer  who  has  not  had  cows  in  his  dairy 
that  have  lost,  for  a  time,  full  half  of  their  milk,  on  account  of  the  pain 
which  tender  or  diseased  feet  have  occasioned.  There  is  not  a  grazier 
who  has  not  occasionally  lost  the  advantage  of  three  and  four  months' 
feeding  from  the  same  cause.  In  the  London  dairies  tender  feet  is  often  a 
most  serious  ailment;  and  compels  the  milkman  to  part  with  some  of  his 
best  cows,  and  in  very  indifferent  condition  too. 

Why  should  not  the  operation  of  neurotomy  be  resorted  to  here?  There 
is  nothing  difficult  in  it  to  any  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the  anatomy 
of  the  part;  and  its  beneficial  effect  cannot  admit  of  dispute.  It  is  like- 
wise free  from  many  of  the  objections  which  attend  the  same  operation  on 
the  horse.  The  alteration  in  the  going  of  the  animal,  and  the  jolting  and 
somewhat  dangerous  uncertainty  of  action  would  not  be  regarded,  or  at 
all  observed  here.  The  ox  seldom  v/ould  be  subject,  and  the  cow  never 
would,  to  that  hard  and  rapid  work  which,  the  sense  of  pain  being  removed, 
has  a  tendency  to  batter  and  bruise  the  parts,  increase  the  iuflammatiou^^' 
and  aggravate  the  evil. 

The  operation  is  thus  performed : — The  ox  is  cast  and  secured,  the  hair 
having  been  previously  cut  from  the  limb  or  limbs  to  be  operated  upon. 
The  leg  is  then  to  be  removed  from  the  hobbles,  and  distended,  and  a 
tight  ligature  passed  round  it  beneath  the  knee,  to  prevent  bleeding. 
Then,  on  the  centre  of  the  back  of  the  leg,  (the  cut,  p.  308,  No.  1,  repre^ 
sents  the  left  leg,)  but  a  little  inclining  towards  the  inside,  and  about  2| 
inches  above  the  fetlock,  the  artery  will  be  felt  for,  and  recognized  by  its 
pulsation.  Lying  immediately  inside  the  artery,  towards  the  other  leg, 
is  the  vein,  and  close  to  that  the  nerve;  so  that  the  nerve  will  be  iound 
about  one-sixth  part  of  an  inch  within  the  artery.  The  artery,  we  repeat,, 
is  recognized  by  its  pulsation — the  vein  by  its  yielding  to  the  pressure  of 
the  finger,  and  the  nerve  by  its  being  a  hard,  unyielding  body.  The  ope- 
rator then  makes  a  cautious  incision,  an  imch  and  a  half  in  length  upon 
the  nerve,  taking  care  merely  to  cut  through  the  integument.  The  cel- 
lular substance  is  dissected  through,  and  the  nerve  exposed.  A  crooked 
needle,  armed  with  silk,  is  next  passed  under  it,  to  raise  it  a  little;  it  is 
dissected  from  the  cellular  substance  beneath,  and  about  three-qnartei-s  of 
an  inch  of  it  cut  out;  the  first  incision  being  made  at  the  upper  part,  in 
which  case  the  second  cut  will  not  be  felt.  There  is  only  one  nerve  to  be 
excised  here,  because  the  operation  is  to  be  performed  a  little  above  the 
bifurcation  of  the  nerve. 

The  edges  of  the  wound  are  now  brought  together;  a  small  bit  of  tow 


NEUROTOMY. 


305 


or  lint  is  placed  over  them,  and  upon  tliat  a  bandage  is  drawn  tolerably 
tiffht.  The  wound  should  not  be  examined  for  the  first  three  days,  after 
which  it  may  be  dressed  with  healing  ointment,  or  the  tincture  of  aloes. 
In  about  three  weeks  it  will  be  quite  healed,  but  the  relief  Avill  be  imme- 
diate, and  the  milk  of  the  cow  will  return,  and  the  grazing  beast  will  be- 
gin to  fatten  in  the  course  of  a  day  or  two. 

We  give  a  cut  (No.  1)  of  the  lateral  and  posterior  part  of  the  leg  and 
foot  of  the  ox,  showing  the  distribution  and  relative  situation  of  the  blood- 


[Leg  and  Foot  of 

No.  1.  19. 

1.  The  tendon  of  the  extensor  of  the  foot. 

2.  Capsular  ligaments  of  the  fetlock  joint. 

3.  Capsular  ligaments  of  the  |)astcrn  joint.      20. 
*    4.  Tendon  of  the  perforans  muscle. 

5.  Lig-amentous  portions. 

6.  Tendons  of  the  perforans  and  pcrfora-      21. 

tus  muscles.  [phalangeus. 

7.  Division  of  the  tendon  of    the  carpo- 

8.  The  lateral  external  artery  of  the  canon,      22. 

or  shank. 

9.  The  mesian  and  posterior  artery  of  tlie 

fetlock. 

10.  The  lateral  internal  artery,     [arteries.        1. 

11.  The  posterior  branches  of  the  plantar 

12.  The  lateral  external  veiuof  tlie  canon.        2. 

13.  The  lateral  internal  vein  of  the  canon.        3. 

14.  The  lateral  vein  of  the  pastern.  4. 
15 


16, 


17 


A  branch  which  is  formed  by  the  plan- 
tar veins,  and  the  venous  reservoir 
of  the  plantar. 

The  vascular  reservoir,  covered  in  part 
by  the  coronet. 

The  plantar  nerve  before  its  bifurcation. 
18.  Nervous  branches,  which  after  having 
parted  from  the  preceding,  take  a 
direction,  the  one  backward  and 
downward  to  the  lateral  and  external 
part  of  the  fetlock,  and  the  other 
downward  to  the  internal partof  the 
same  joint. 

27* 


the  Ox. 


Tlie  mesian  division  of  the  same  nerve. 

It  pursues  its  course  by,  the  artery 

of  the  same  name. 
A  continuation  of  the   plantar  nerve, 

accompanying  the  internal  lateral 

artery. 
The  sensible  laminas  of  the  cofBn  bone, 

corresponding  with  the   horny    la- 
mince  of  the  hoof. 
The  usual  horny  excrescence  at  the 

posterior  part  of  the  fetlock. 

No.  2. 

The  tendons  of  the  extensor  of  the  pas- 
tern below  the  bifurcation. 

The  tendons  of  the  extensor  of  the  foot. 

Internal  lateral  ligaments. 

The  capsular  ligaments  of  the  fetlock 
joint. 

The  capsular  ligaments  of  the  pastern 
joints. 

A  portion  of  Integument,  which  unites 
the  two  hoofs  at  their  superior  and 
internal  part.  The  blood-vessels 
brought  principally  into  view,  are, 
the  superficial  veins  of  the  leg  above; 
the  anastomosis  of  the  profound  and 
superficial  veins  below,  between  the 
figures  2,  2;  and  the  superficial 
plantar  arteries  and  veins,  still  lower 
down. 


306  CATFLE. 

vessels  and  nerves  of  those  portions  of  leg,  fetlock,  and  foot.  Besides 
these  there  is  only  one  superficial  nerve  accompanying  the  superficial  vein 
down  to  the  centre  of  the  great  metacarpal,  or  rather,  in  the  young  animal, 
the  suture  or  union  between  the  two  bones,  few  or  none  of  whose  fibres 
extend  below  the  fetlock,  and  which  may  be  easily  got  at  and  divided  in 
disease  of  that  joint. 

The  cut  (No.  2)  is  introduced  to  show  how  few  nervous  branches  ex- 
tend down  the  front  of  the  lower  part  of  the  leg;  and  how  completely  the 
object  of  neurotomy  will  be  accomplished  by  the  division  of  the  nerve  at 
the  posterior  part  of  the  leg,  in  the  manner  tliat  we  have  recommended  it 
to  be  done.  The  figures  may  illustrate  the  anatomy  of  the  fore-part  of 
the  fetlock  and  pasterns  of  the  ox.  The  nerves  are  represented  by  a  plain 
black  line  as  in  No.  I. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  cut,  that  there  will  be  plenty  of  room 
for  fanciful  theory  as  to  the  precise  portion  of  the  foot  which  is  diseased, 
and  the  branch  of  the  nerve  which  it  will  be  proper  to  excise.  There  are 
the  two  lateral  and  the  median  tnmks  for  the  operator  to  choose  from;  but 
as  he  who  is  wise,  ivhen  operating  on  a  beast  of  draught  or  slow  ae.fion, 
will  always  make  sure  of  his  case,  and  excise  the  nen^e  above  the  fetlock 
in  the  horse,  so  the  prudent  man  will  operate  on  the  ox  sufficiendy  above 
the  fetlock,  and  rather  above  than  below  the  situation  marked  17  in  the 
cut,  and  before  the  division  of  the  nerve. 

RABIES. 

There  is  one  more  disease  of  the  nervous  system,  the  most  fearful  of 
the  list,  viz.  Rabies.  When  a  rabid  or  mad  dog  is  wandering  about,  la- 
boring under  an  irrepressible  disposition  to  bite,  he  seeks  out  first  of  all 
his  own  species,  he  travels  out  of  his  road  to  attack  them:  but  if  his 
road  lies  by  a  herd  of  cattle  he  will  attack  the  nearest  to  him,  and  if  he 
meets  with  mwh  resistance  he  will  set  upon'  the  whole  herd  and  bite  as 
many  of  them  as  he  can. 

Many  nostrums  have  been  celebrated  as  preventing  the  appearance  of 
the  disease,  but  no  confidence  can  be  placed  on  one  of  them.  Let  the 
farmer  save  his  money,  and  perhaps  the  life  of  the  beast,  by  giving  cre- 
dence to  this.  There  are  old  women  in  many  a  village  who  prepare  won- 
drous preventive  drinks,  but  the  stories  of  their  success  are  mere  '  old 
women's  stories'  and  nothing  else. 

When  there  is  any  suspicion  that  a  beast  has  been  bitten,  the  wound 
should  be  carefully  searched  for.  If  any  one  was  by  when  the  attack  was 
made,  he  probably  will  be  able  to  point  out  the  limb  that  was  most  in  dan- 
ger, or  that  was  actually  seized. 

The  wound  being  discovered,  the  hair  must  be  cut  from  the  edges  of  it, 
and  the  lunar  caustic  (nitrate  of  silver,)  the  stick  being  reduced  to  a  point, 
introduced  into  it,  and  brought  in  contact  with,  and  made  thoroughly  to 
act  upon,  every  part  of  it.  If  there  is  any  doubt  about  the  probability  of  the 
caustic  coming  into  contact  whh  every  part  of  the  wound,  it  must  be  en- 
larged with  the  knife,  so  as  to  give  free  access  to  the  substance  applied. 
This  is  the  only  preventive,  and  the  caustic  being  freely  used  upon  the 
whole  of  the  wound,  and  there  being  no  other  wound,  the  beast  is  safe. 
But  who,  on  an  animal  thickly  covered  with  hair,  will  venture  to  say  that 
there  is  no  other  wound?  It  also  unfortunately  happens  that  the  slightest 
scratch  neglected  is  as  dangerous  as  a  lacerated  wound. 

In  this  state  of  uncertainty,  therefore,  the  fanner  must  look  out  for  the 
worst.  If  the  disease  is  to  appear  at  all,  it  will  be  about  the  expiration  of 
the  fifth  week,  although  there  will  be  no  absolute  security  in  less  than 
double  the  number  of  months. 

Then  the  beast  will  appear  dull,  languid,  feverish,  scarcely  grazing,  and 


RABIES.  307 

idly  ruminating.  These  may  be  the  precursors  of  many  a  different  illness, 
and  the  previous  circumstances  alone  could  excite  suspicion  of  what  is 
about  to  follow.  The  eyes  become  anxious,  protudcd,  red — there  is  con- 
siderable discharge  of  saliva,  and  to  this  succeeds  a  thirst  that  can  scarcely 
be  quenched.  There  is  no  hydrophobia,  no  dread  of  water  at  any  time. 
This  is  a  circumstance  which  cannot  be  too  strongly  impressed  on  the 
mind,  and  which  may  preserve  him  from  danger,  anxiety,  and  fear,  who 
has  to  do  with  domesticated  animals  of  any  kind — that  the  constant  and 
characteristic  dread  of  water  is  confined  to  the  human  being.  The  horse 
and  the  ox,  and  the  sheep,  occasionally  exhibit  a  momentary  dislike  to 
fluids  but  generally  they  will  drink  to  the  last,  and  their  desire  of  water 
is  increased  rather  than  diminished  by  the  disease.  The  dog  never  has 
dread  of  water. 

As  in  the  dog,  so  also  in  the  ox,  the  disease,  from  some  cause  unknown 
to  us,  takes  on  two  essentially  different  characters.  The  dog,  labouring 
under  what  sportsmen  call  dumb  madness,  is  frequenUy  harmless  through 
every  stage  of  the  complaint;  so  in  the  ox,  the  symptoms  that  we  have 
mentioned  are  succeeded  by  frequent  and  pitiful  lowings — a  continual 
and  painful  attempt  to  evacuate  the  faeces.  Staggering  and  weakness  of 
the  loins  appear  on  the  second  or  third  day,  and  this  is  soon  succeeded  by 
palsy  of  the  hinder  extremities.  The  animal  sits  on  its  haunches,  making 
ineffectual  attempts  to  rise — looking  woefully  around  it,  and  eagerly  plung- 
ing its  muzzle  into  the  water,  Avhen  placed  within  its  reach,  but  it  makes  no 
attempt  to  do  mischief.  At  other  times,  the  early  symptoms  are  succeeded 
by  a  dreadful  state  of  excitation.  The  animal  is  eager  to  do  every  kind  of 
mischief;  he  stands  across  the  path  bellowing  incessantly,  and  tearing  up 
the  ground  with  his  horns.  In  a  few  cases,  the  quiet  and  melancholy  mad- 
ness suddenly  changes  into  that  of  a  ferocious  character.  There  is  no 
cure  now ;  no  nostrums  will  have  avail  here :  and  the  animal  should  be 
destroyed  as  scon  as  possible.  One  circumstance  also  should  be  care- 
fuMy  remembered.  The  poison  in  all  rabid  animals  seems  to  reside  in 
the  saliva;  and  the  saliva  of  an  ox  is  as  dangerous  as  that  of  a  dog.  We 
inoculated  a  dog  with  the  saliva  of  a  rabid  bull,  and  it  also  became 
rabid  and  died.  Dr.  Ashburner  inoculated  a  fowl  from  the  saliva  of  a 
labid  cow,  and  two  months  afterwards  the  fowl  had  a  wild  and  strange 
appearance,  and  its  eyes  were  blood-shot:  it  ran  at  the  other  fowls,  and 
became  gradually  paralytic  and  died. 

The  rabid  ox  may  attempt  to  do  more  mischief  with  its  horns  than  its 
teeth,  but  occasionally  it  will  bite ;  or,  if  it  should  not,  yet  it  must  not  be 
meddled  with  too  much.  This  dangerous  foam  is  continually  running 
fronj  the  mouth;  it  may  fall  on  a  sore  place,  and  it  is  then  as  dangerous 
as  if  it  had  entered  the  circulation  by  means  of  a  bite. 

The  knowledge  that  the  virus  is  confined  to  the  saliva  will  settle  an- 
iiother  matter  that  has  occasionally  been  the  cause  of  considerable  uneasi- 
ness. A  cow  has  been  observed  to  be  somewhat  alien  for  a  day  or  two, 
but  she  has  been  milked  as  usual ;  her  milk  has  been  mingled  with  the 
rest,  and  has  been  used  for  domestic  purposes  as  heretofore.  She  is  at 
length  discovered  to  be  rabid.  Is  the  family  safe?  Can  the  milk  of  a 
rabid  cow  be  drunk  with  impunity?  Yes,  perfectly  so,  for  the  poison  is 
confined  to  the  saliva.  The  livers  of  hundreds  of  rabid  dogs  have  been 
eaten  in  days  of  ignorance,  dressed  in  all  manners  of  ways,  but  usually 
fried  as  nicely  as  possible,  as  a  preventive  against  madness.  Some  mis- 
creants have  sent  the  flesh  of  rabid  catfle  to  the  market,  and  it  has  been 
eaten  without  harm ;  and  so,  although  not  very  pleasant  to  think  about, 
the  milk  of  the  rabid  cow  may  be  drunk  without  the  slightest  danger. 


308  CATTLE. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE  ANATOMY,  USES,  AND  DISEASES  OF  THE  NOSTRILS 
AND  THE  MOUTH. 

The  nasal  cavity  of  the  ox  contains  the  apparatus  for  the  sense  of  smell, 
and  is  also  devoted  to  the  purpose  of  respiration.  It  is  one  of  the  com- 
mencements of  that  succession  of  passages  by  which  the  air  is  conveyed 
to  and  from  the  lungs ;  but  as  the  ox  pardy  bretithes  through  the  mouth 
there  are  found  in  the  cavity  of  his  nose,  contrivances  for  the  greater 
perfection  of  the  smelling,  which  could  not  have  existence  in  the  nasal 
cavity  of  the  horse. 

THE  NASAL  BONES. 

From  the  great  developement  of  the  frontal  bones,  in  order  to  form  a 
secure  basis  for  the  horn,  all  the  bones  of  the  face  are  proportionately 
diminished,  and  pushed  out  of  their  situation;  and  therefore  the  nasal 
bones  in  the  ox  (b,  p,  273,  and  q,  p.  274)  are  little  more  than  a  third  so 
large  as  those  of  the  horse,  {p  q,  p.  66,  and  a,  p.  68  '  Horse'.)  They  are 
connected,  as  described  in  the  horse,  with  each  other,  and  with  the  fron- 
lals  (c,  p.  273  and  b,  p.  274.)  with  the  lacrymals  (c,  p,  273,)  with  the  superior 
maxillaries  («,  p.  273  and  x,  p.  274,)  and  witli  the  anterior  maxillaries  (z, 
p.  274.)  They  are  pushed  down  quite  out  of  their  place,  and  not  being  so 
jnuch  in  a  situation  of  danger,  for  a  blow  aimed  at  the  head  of  the  ox- 
would  usually  fall  higher,  there  is  not  the  intricate  and  mortoised  con- 
nexion with  any  of  the  other  bones  except  the  frontals,  which  is  found  in 
the  horse.  They  are  broad  in  proportion  to  their  length;  and  as,  on 
account  of  the  construction  of  the  mouth  of  the  ox,  the  muzzle  of  that 
animal  was  destmed  to  be  broader  than  the  muzzle  of  the  horse,  each 
bone  terminates  in  two  points,  with  a  hollow  between  them;  and  as  the 
inside  points  of  the  two  lie  in  contact  with  each  other,  t!ie  nasal  bones 
may  be  considered  as  actually  en  ling  in  three  points  instead  of  one,  and 
occupying  a  considerably-extende^-i  surface.  It  is  thus  wide  for  the  greater 
attachment  of  muscle  and  cartilage ;  for  the  muzzle  must  be  broad  and 
thick  and  strong  in  order  to  compress  and  hold  the  grass  iirmly,  until  it 
is  partly  cut  and  parUy  torn  by  the  pressure  of  the  incisors  of  the  lower 
jaw  on  the  pad  that  will  be  presently  described,  and  which  occupies  the 
place  of  the  teeth  in  the  upper  one. 

If  the  nasal  bone  is  more  closely  examined,  it  will  be  found  that  it  does 
not  consist,  in  its  under  surface,  of  one  continuous  arch  as  in  the  horse; 
but  that  there  is  an  additional  channel  hollowed  out  of  it,  and  running 
along  the  crown  of  the  arch.  It  can  be  seen  above  (r,  p.  274.)  Tliis  is 
an  addition  to  the  upper  meatus  or  passage  of  the  nose  (seen  in  cut 
p.  68,  Horse)  above  the  upper  turbinated  bone,  and  which  has  nothing  to 
do  Avith  the  act  of  breathing,  but  terminates  in  a  blind  pouch,  so  that  the 
air  shall,  as  it  were,  loiter  there,  and  any  odoriferous  particles  which  it  car- 
ries, make  a  stronger  impression  on  the  membrane  oi  the  nose.  Only  a 
very  small  meatus  could  be  spared  to  the  horse,  because  the  nostrils  were, 
the  only  air-passages  he  had ;  but  a  larger  one  can  be  given  to  the  ox, 
for  a  portion  of  the  air  enters  and  is  expired  through  the  mouth.  Therefore, 
and  for  other  reasons  that  will  be  stated  presently,  the  ox  has  an  acuter 
sense  of  smell  than  the  horse. 


THE  SENSE  OF  SMELLING.  309 


THE  OTHER  BONES  OF  THE  NOSE. 


Compare  together  this  meatus  or  bhnd  passage  above  s,  in  p.  68, 
*  Horse,'  and  above  r  in  p.  274  of  this  treatise. 

The  superior  maxillary  bone,  although  much  smaller  than  in  the  horse, 
forms  the  greater  part  of  the  wall  and  iloor  of  the  nasal  cavity.  It  con- 
tains the  upper  grinders  on  either  side.  Its  floor  does  not  consist  of  a 
single  plate  of  bone,  but  of  sinuses  or  cells,  like  those  of  the  frontal  parietal 
and  occipital  bones.  The  same  principal  seems  to  be  pursued — lightness 
■where  it  could  be  obtained  consistendy  with  strength,  as  a  compensation 
for  the  weight  of  the  horn.  This  bone  is  represented  at  a,  p.  273,  and  x, 
p.  274,  and  may  be  compared  with  the  same  bone  at  /,  p.  66,  '  Horse.' 

The  anterior  maxillary,  {z,  p.  274.)  containing  no  incisor  teeth,  is  a 
very  small  bone  compared  with  that  of  the  horse.  We  shall  have  to  speak 
more  of  it  presendy. 

The  palatine  bone  (p,  p.  274)  is  larger  in  the  ox  than  in  the  horse,  and 
occupies  a  greater  portion  of  the  palate  and  the  floor  of  the  nose. 

CONTENTS  OF  THE    NASAL  CAVITY. 

The  nasal  cavity  contains  the  septum,  a  cartilaginous  division  extending 
from  the  suture  in  the  roof  between  the  nasals,  to  a  long  bone  in  the  form 
of  a  groove,  and  named  the  vomer,  and  placed  on  the  floor;  and  from  the 
top  of  the  nasals  to  the  aethmoid  bone,  dividing  the  nose  into  two 
equal  parts.  In  the  horse,  the  division  was  perfect,  there  was  no  direct 
communication  between  the  two  nostrds,  and  this  was  designed  to  limit 
the  ravages  of  that  most  dreadful  of  all  the  disorders  to  which  the  horse  is 
subject — glanders;  but  the  ox,  being  in  a  manner  exempt  from  glanders, 
or  at  least  from  any  disease  bearing  the  dreadfully  contagious  and  fatal 
character  of  glanders  in  the  horse,  there  is  no  necessity  for  this  perfect 
division,  and  therefore  the  vomer,  when  it  has  reached  about  half  way  up 
the  cavity,  begins  to  leave  the  floor;  and  it  separates  from  the  floor  more 
and  more,  as  it  approaches  the  posterior  part  of  the  nostrils,  leaving  a 
free  and  extensive  communication  between  them.  This  gives  room  for 
still  more  effectual  provision  to  be  made  for  the  perfection  of  the  sense  of 
smell,  and  which  we  will  now  describe. 

THE  SENSE   OF  SMELLING. 

The  olfacfory,  or  first  pair  of  nerves,  connected  with  tlic  sense  of  smell- 
ing, is  abundandy  larger  in  the  quadruped  than  in  the  human  being;  for 
in  the  one  it  is  merely  connected  with  occasional  pleasure,  or  perchance 
annoyance;  in  the  other  it  is  connected  with  life  itself.  The  same  nerve 
diflers  in  size  in  diflerent  quadrupeds,  according  to  the  necessity  that  each 
has  for  an  acute  sense  of  smell.  The  brain  of  the  ox  is  not  more  than 
half  the  size  of  that  of  the  horse,  and  he  docs  not  possess  the  intelligence 
of  the  horse;  but,  as  we  have  before  observed,  not  being  so  much  domes- 
ticated— being  oftener  sent  into  the  fields  to  shift  for  himself — or,  if  worked 
by  day,  being  usually  turned  out  at  night,  he  has  occasion  for  acuter  smell, 
and  his  olfactory  nerve  is  nearly  as  large  as  that  of  the  horse;  and  (which  is 
the  right  way  of  judging,)  comparing  the  bulk  of  the  two  brains,  it  is  a 
great  deal  larger. 

This  nerve  comes  in  contact  with  a  thin  plate  of  bone,  the  cribriform 
plate,  (perforated  like  a  cullender,)  of  the  asthmoid  bone,  and  which  di- 
vides the  nasal  cavity  from  that  of  the  skull;  the  somewhat  thickened 
portion  of  another  bone  interposed  between  these  plates  is  seen  at  n, 
p.  274.  The  pulpy  matter  of  the  nerve  is  pressed  through  the  holes  of  this 
bone,  and  spread  over  a  portion  of  the  membrane  of  the  nose.     It  is  the 


310  CATTLE. 

impression  which  is  made  by  the  odoriferous  particles  of  bodies  striking 
on  this  diffused  pulpy  matter,  that  produces  the  sense  of  smell;  and  in 
proportion  to  the  extent  of  surface  over  which  the  nerve  is  spread,  is  the 
acuteness  of  the  smell. 

The  ox  partly  breathing  through  the  mouth,  and  the  air  passage  being 
widened  by  the  removal  of  a  portion  of  the  septum,  provision  can  lie  made 
for  the  more  extensive  diffusion  of  the  nervous  pulp.  Nearest  to  the  skull, 
and  situated  at  the  upper  part  of  the  nasal  cavity,  are  the  cells  of  the 
aethmoid  bone,  (r,  p.  274,)  and  if  these  are  compared  with  the  cells  of  the 
same  bone  in  the  horse,  {I,  p.  68,)  the  superior  development  of  them  in 
the  ox  will  be  evident.  The  lower  cell  of  the  aethmoid  labyrinth  is  so 
much  lengthened  in  the  ox,  that  it  is  sometimes  described  as  a  third  turbi- 
nated bone.  It  is  represented  at  k,  p.  274,  Below  these  are  the  two  tur- 
binated bones,  (s  and  t,  p.  274,)  both  of  them,  and  especially  the  lower  one, 
considerably  more  developed  than  in  the  horse.  Each  of  these  bones  is 
composed  of  a  labyrinth  of  cells,  divided  from  each  other  by  wafer-like 
plates  of  bone,  perforated  like  the  cribriform  plate  of  the  rethmoid  bone — 
lined  by  the  Schneiderian  membrane,  with  the  nervous  pulp  spread  over 
or  identified  with  that  membrane — and  a  thousand  communications  be- 
tween the  membranes  in  every  part,  by  means  of  the  gauze-like  perforated 
structure  of  the  plates. 

This  membrane  is  either  covered  with  an  unctuous  fluid,  or  the  air 
passages  are  so  complicated  that  the  pure  atmospheric  air  alone  is  suffered 
to  pass;  the  slightest  odoriferous  particle  or  solid  substance  of  any  kind 
is  arrested.  The  contirmed  snuff-taker  will  afford  a  sufficient  illustration  of 
this.  However  enormous  may  be  his  pincli,  and  with  whatever  force  he 
may  sniff"  it  up,  not  an  atom  finds  its  way  to  the  lungs,  or  even  into 
the  larynx;  the  whole  is  arrested  by  some  portion  or  other  of  the 
Schneiderian  membrane.  This  is  not  only  a  wise  provision  for  the  per- 
fection of  the  sense  of  smelling — it  not  only  secures  the  contact  of  every 
particle  with  the  membrane  of  the  nose,  and  its  temporary  lodgment  there, 
but  it  protects  the  air  passages  from  many  a  source  of  annoyance,  danger, 
and  death.  Considering  the  numerous  deleterious  substances  which,  under 
one  form  or  another,  are  floating  in  the  air,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  con- 
ceive how  any  animal  could  live  an  hour  without  some  such  protection  to 
the  lungs  as  this  affords. 

Nature,  then,  has  provided  an  acute  sense  of  smell  for  the  ox:  it  was 
wanted.  It  was  necessary  that  the  animal  should  detect  the  peculiar 
scent  of  every  plant,  as  connected  either  with  nutrition  or  destruction. 
Instinct  perhaps  teaches  him  much,  but  he  is  more  indebted  to  the  lessons 
of  experience.  In  the  spring  of  the  year,  when  the  scent  of  the  infant 
plant  is  scarcely  developed,  cattle  are  often  deceived  with  regard  to  the 
nature  of  the  herbage;  they  are  subject  to  peculiar  complaints  of  indiges- 
tion; and  they  are  sometimes  poisoned. 

When  the  great  Linnoeus  visited  Tornea,  the  inhabitants  complained 
of  a  distemper  that  had  killed  many  of  their  cattle,  and  especially  when  first 
turned  out  into  the  meadows  in  the  spring.  He  soon  traced  the  disorder 
to  the  water-hemlock,  which  grew  abundantly  there,  and  which  in  the 
spring  the  cattle  did  not  know  how  to  avoid.  The  power  of  instinct  is 
great  in  animals  that  have  not  been  reclaimed  from  a  state  of  nature;  but 
in  proportion  as  they  become  domesticated,  instinct  ceases  to  prompt, 
and  they  are  dependent  on  our  guidance,  or  on  the  lessons  which  expe- 
rience teaches.  Thus  when  our  calves  and  lambs  are  taken  too  soon 
from  the  dam,  and  turned  with  little  or  no  experience  into  the  pasture, 
they  eat  indiscriminately  of  every  herb  that  presents  itself,  and  many  of 


POLYPUS  IN  THE  NOSE.  311 

them  are  lost.  Had  they  been  suffered  to  browse  a  Utde  while,  or  a  little 
longer  with  the  mother,  she  would  have  taught  them  to  distinguish  the 
sweet  and  wholesome  herbage  from  the  deleterious  and  destructive ;  and 
their  keen  sense  of  smell  would  have  imprinted  the  lesson  for  ever  on 
their  minds.  This  is  a  point  of  agricultural  economy  not  sufficiently 
attended  to. 

BLEEDING  FROM  THE  NOSE. 

AVorking  oxen,  and  especially  those  that  are  in  tolerably  high  condition, 
are  occasionally  subject  to  bleeding  from  the  nose,  and  sometimes  very 
profuse  bleeding.  If  he  is  too  hardly  and  too  long  worked  during  the 
heat  of  a  summer's  day,  nasal  haemorrhage  may  occur;  we,  however, 
have  been  accustomed,  whatever  may  be  the  excuse  of  the  story  of  the 
servant,  to  trace  the  bleeding  to  blows  inflicted  on  the  nasals  or  on  the 
muzzle  by  a  bnUul  drover  or  ploughman,  far  oftener  than  to  any  other 
cause.  It  is  not  often  that  any  unpleasant  consequences  have  ensued. 
The  bleeding  has  gradually  ceased,  except  in  one  case,  when  it  returned 
again  and  again,  and  would  have  destroyed  the  beast  had  not  the  result 
of  the  case  been  somewhat  anticipated. 

LEECHES  IN  THE  NASAL  CAVITY. 

We  had  often  heard  of  leeches  having  fastened  on  the  muzzle,  and  then 
crept  into  the  nostril  of  the  ox  when  drinking  at  a  stagnant  pool,  and 
M'hich  the  ox  is  strangely  fond  of  doing.  One  of  these  blood-suckers  having 
once  introduced  himself  into  the  cavity,  will  usually  shift  from  place  to 
place,  biting  here  and  there,  and  causing  a  very  considerable  haemorrhage. 
The  beast  will  tell  us  plainly  enough  the  cause  of  the  bleeding,  by  the 
uneasiness  which  he  will  express,  and  by  his  continually  snorting  and 
tossing  his  head  about. 

On  examining  the  nostril  in  a  good  hght,  the  leech  may  sometimes  be 
seen.  It  was  so  in  a  case  that  we  recollect;  and  covering  the  end  of 
the  finger  with  a  little  salt,  we  were  enabled  to  introduce  it  sufficiently 
high  to  detach  the  blood-sucker  from  his  hold.  At  other  times  when  a 
leech  is  suspected,  salt  and  water  may  be  injected  up  the  nostril.  At  all 
events,  however,  when  he  is  fully  bloated,  the  intruder  Avill  detach  him- 
self; and,  except  he  has  crept  up  the  superior  nicatus,  through  which 
there  is  no  air  passage,  he  will  be  expelled  by  the  sneezing  of  the  ox. 
Only  temporary  inconvenience  can  result  from  this  accident,  for  the 
bleeding  will  in  due  time  slop,  even  from  so  vascular  a  membrane  as  that 
of  the  nose. 

POLYPUS  IN  THE  NOSE. 

This  is  a  lare  disease  in  the  horse,  and  still  rarer  in  the  ox.  We  have 
seen  only  one  case  of  it;  and  that  might  have  been  said  to  be  more 
polypus  in  the  pharynx  than  in  the  nasal  cavity,  had  not  its  pedicle  been 
traced  into  that  cavity,  and  seemingly  attached  to  the  upper  part  of  the 
inferior  turbinated  bone.  A  cow  was  anxious  to  eat;  and  was  otherwise 
in  good  health;  but  occasionally  she  was  unable  to  swallow,  and  the 
pellet  was  returned  with  an  effort  resembling  vomiting.  This  increased 
untd  she  was  scarcely  able  to  eat,  and  was  rapidly  losing  flesh.  The  case 
indicated  some  disease  of  the  back  part  of  the  mouth,  or  the  commence- 
ment of  the  gullet;  and  we  caused  one  of  the  pieces  of  wood  through 
which  the  tube  of  the  stomach-pump  is  passed  into  the  mouth,  to  be 
made  with  an  aperture  sufficiently  large  for  the  hand  to  go  through.  The 
cow  was  secured  and  the  mouth-piece  fixed,  and  the  hand  passed  into  the 
fauces,  when  a  round  body,  moveable  and  attached  by  a  cord,  was  felt — an 


312  CATTLE, 

evident  polypus,  the  pedicle  of  which  could  be  traced  upwards  and  for- 
wards into  the  cavity  of  tlie  nose,  but  the  termination  of  wliich  could  not 
be  reached.  It  was  seized  with  a  pair  of  strong  forceps  with  deeply 
roughened  blades,  and  attempted  to  be  removed  by  tortion,  i.  e.,  by  twist- 
ing it  round  and  round  until  it  broke.  At  the  third  turn  the  pedicle  gave 
way,  and  a  polypus  nearly  half  a  pound  in  weight  was  brought  out. 
Polypi  should  be  removed  by  a  ligature  round  the  pedicle,  and  as  near 
to  the  root  as  possible,  or  by  tortion,  and  by  the  former  whenever  it  can 
be  effected. 


By  this  term  is  meant  inflammation  of,  and  defluction  from,  the  nasal 
cavity,  or  the  cells  with  which  it  is  connected ;  when  the  same  affection 
extends  to  the  fauces,  it  becomes  catarrh.  Catarrh  is  usually  connected 
with  coryza,  and  is  the  natural  consequence  or  progress  of  it;  but  simple 
coryza  may  and  does  occasionally  exist  in  the  ox.  We  are  too  often 
teased  and  frightened  by  a  discharge  from  the  nostrils,  mucous,  purulent, 
fcetid,  and  excoriating,  and  imaccompanied  by  coKgh.  It  is  seen  in 
crowded,  and  over-heated  cow-houses;  it  arises  from  imprudent  exposure 
to  extreme  cold,  and  it  is  frequently  produced  by  the  dust  and  gravel  of 
the  road.  The  ox  was  not  designed  to  be  exposed  like  the  horse  to  this 
last  annoyance;  and  he  ha?  no  false  nostril  to  turn  off  the  current  of 
minute  and  irritating  particles  from,  the  more  susceptible  parts  of  the  nasal 
cavity.  Therefore,  oxen  driven  any  considerable  distance  to  fair  or  market 
in  sultry,  dusty  weather,  usually  suffer  from  coryza.  Dairymen  whose 
cows  have  to  travel  half  a  mile  or  more  on  a  dusty  road,  wonder  that, 
with  all  their  care,  their  cattle  should  have  such  frequent  discharge  from 
the  nose,  and  that  this  should  sometimes  run  on  to  boose.  The  cause  is 
plain  enough,  although  little  suspected  by  them. 

There  is  a  periodical  coryza  in  cattle.  During  the  winter  season,  and 
probably  from  our  mismanagement — from  undue  exposure  of  the  animals 
to  cold,  or  to  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  there  is  considerable  nasal 
gleet,  not  interfering  much  with  health,  but  unpleasant  to  the  eye  and 
annoying  to  the  animal,  and  which,  in  despite  of  the  most  careful  treat- 
ment, Avill  remain.  When,  however,  the  genial  warmtli  of  spring  returns, 
it  sometimes  graduaUy  disappears.  This,  however,  is  one  of  the  most 
favourable  cases;  fo^  it  will  occur  that,  from  some  improper  management, 
hoose  or  cough  lias  gradually  become  connected  with  the  nasal  discharge. 
The  farmer  has  not  observed  this  connexion,  nor  is  he  alarmed  allhougli 
the  cough  should  remain  when  the  nasal  discharge  ceases:  nay,  he  cares 
little  about  it,  although  the  cough  should  be  a  frequent  and  harassing 
one,  if  the  beast  does  but  carry  its  usual  flesh,  and  yields  its  full  quantity 
of  milk:  when,  however,  the  milk  fails,  and  the  cow  begins  to  lose  condi- 
tion, he,  for  the  first  time,  looks  about  him,  and  then  it  is  too  late.  We 
shall  return  to  this  point  again  and  again;  for  it  is  the  source  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  mischief  attendant  on  chest  affections  in  cattle. 

We  are  now,  however,  speaking  of  coryza,  inflammation  of,  and  dis- 
charge from,  the  membrane  of  the  nose.  It  is  a  matter  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance for  the  proprietor  of,  or  the  attendant  upon  cattle,  to  assure  himself 
that  it  is  simple  coryza.  He  should  carefully  examine  whether  there  is 
any  cough,  especially  whether  that  cough  is  painful — any  increased  la- 
bour of  breathing — any  diminution  of  appetite — suspension  of  rumina- 
tion— fever?  The  pulse,  felt  at  the  left  side,  and  the  temperature  of  the 
root  of  the  horn,  will  best  ascertain  this  last  particular. 

If  there  is  nothing  of  these,  still  we  have  inflammation,  and  of  a  cha- 


FARCY.  313 

racter  that  soon  connects  itself  with  some  or  all  of  them;  therefore  a  mash 
may  be  given  in  the  evening,  and  a  few  doses  of  cooling  medicine. 

The  best  fever  medicine  for  cattle  is  nearly  the  same  as  that  recom- 
mended for  the  horse,  but  in  doses  of  only  half  the  quantity.  Half  a 
drachm  each  of  powdered  digitalis  and  emetic  tartar,  and  iwo  drachms 
each  of  nitre  and  sulphur,  will  constitute  the  medium  fever-powder,  to  be 
given  as  occasion  may  require,  and  increased  or  diminished  in  quantity, 
according  to  the  size  and  age  of  the  beast,  and  the  intensity  of  the  disease. 
This  should  be  given  in  the  form  of  drink,  for  reasons  that  will  hereafter 
be  stated. 

If  the  proprietor  or  the  practitioner  is  assured  that  it  is  simple  coryza, 
he  may  add  half  a  drachm  of  sulphate  of  copper  (blue  vitriol,)  finely  pow- 
dered, to  the  other  ingredients.  This  drug  seems  to  have  a  peculiar  and 
a  very  beneficial  termination  to  the  Schneiderian  membrane,  and  is  very 
useful  in  pure  inflammation,  or  ulceration  of  that  membrane,  or  discharge 
from  it.  A  very  slight  degree  of  hoose,  however,  and  particularly  of 
painful  hoose,  should  be  received  as  a  sufficient  indication  that  the  fever- 
powders  alone  are  to  be  used. 

If  the  coryza  degenerates  into  catarrh,  bronchitis,  or  inflammation  of 
the  lungs,  the  proper  treatment  will  be  indicated  when  those  diseases  are 
talien  into  consideration. 

GLANDERS. 

Of  this  dreadful  disease  of  the  membrane  of  the  nose  in  the  horse,  we 
have  never  met  with  a  case  in  catde.  Some  singular  accounts  are  on 
record,  hut  they  are  of  doubtful  authority.  We  acknowledge  that  this  is 
not  a  point  fairly  setded,  and  it  deserves  peculiar  attention  from  the  pro- 
prietors o^  cattle. 


There  are  cases,  however,  the  authenticity  of  which  cannot  be  doubted, 
which  bear  a  closer  resemblance  to  farcy.  One  of  the  most  frequent  and 
decisive  characters  of  farcy  in  the  horse,  is  inflammation,  and  thickening 
of  the  absorbents,  and  particularly  at  the  situation  of  the  valves.  They 
have  a  corded  feeling  through  a  certain  portion  of  their  course;  and  little 
tumours,  buds  or  buttons,  appear  at  a  greater  or  less  distance  from  each 
other  along  the  cord. 

There  were  four  oxen  in  a  farmer's  yard,  each  of  which  had  consider- 
able cough,  and  a  large  corded  absorbent  could  be  traced  in  each  from 
the  fedock  up  to  the  forearm.  Farcy-buttons  were  evident,  not  only  to 
the  touch,  but  to  the  eye,  through  the  whole  extent  of  the  corded  vessel. 
Most  of  them  were  hard,  scirrhous;  and  others  had  suppurated  and  ulce- 
rated. The  hot  iron  was  applied  to  the  buds,  the  wounds  healed,  the 
cordiness  of  the  absorbents  gradually  diminished,  and  the  cough  disap- 
peared. 

Two  months  afterwards,  however,  the  farcy-buttons  and  the  corded 
absorbents  were  seen  again,  and  the  cough  returned  at  the  same  time. 
The  same  means  were  adopted  widi  the  same  results.  All  appeared  to  be 
cured.  Two  of  them  were  sold,  and  on  the  other  two  the  disease  did  not 
return,  nor  was  it  communicated  to  any  of  the  catde  that  grazed  in  the 
same  pasture.  It  should  be  observed  that  these  cases  diil  not  all  appear 
at  the  same  time,  but  a  space  of  three  years  occurred  between  the  first 
and  the  last. 

Was  this  farcy? — need  the  farmer  entertain  serious  apprehension  of 
this  fatal  disease  breaking  out  in  his  herd?  The  practitioner  to  whom 
28 


314  CATTLE, 

they  occurred  related  tliem  as  cases  of  farcy;  but  we  confess  that  we  are 
very  rrmch  of  opinion  that  he  was  mistaken.  We  have  seen  many  cases 
of  this  inflammation  of  the  absorbents,  where  farcy  couhl  not  be  suspected. 
If  an  ox  has  had  foul  in  the  foot,  or  deep  and  painful  ulcers  about  any  of 
the  joints,  the  corded  absorbent  is  seen  above,  and  the  little  buttons  on 
each  of  the  valves.  The  foul  in  the  foot,  or  the  ulcerated  joints,  having 
disappeared,  the  corded  absorbent  has  also  gradually  vanished,  yet  not 
always;  for  we  recollect  cases  in  which  the  buttons  have  burst,  and  de- 
generated into  ulcers,  exceedingly  difficult  to  heal,  and  the  matter  from 
which  has  corroded  and  ulcerated  the  neighbouring  parts.  In  other  in- 
stances we  have  known  inflammation  extending  up  the  leg,  and  involving 
the  whole  of  the  cellular  membrane,  and  even  destroying  the  animal  by 
the  constitutional  disturbance  which  it  created.  There  was  no  farcy  in 
these  cases;  it  was  not  for  a  moment  suspected;  and  the  decided  pre- 
ponderance of  our  opinion,  and  we  are  happy  in  being  able  to  record  it, 
is,  that  cattle  are  exempt  from  glanders  and  farcy. 

THE  BONES  OF  THE  MOUTH. 

The  sides  and  the  greater  part  of  the  roof  of  the  mouth  are  formed  by 
the  superior  maxilUtry,  or  upper  jaw,  seen  at  a,  p.  273,  and  x,  p.  274. 
This,  like  the  other  bones  of  the  face,  is  materially  diminished  in  size  by 
the  great  development  of  the  frontal  bones.  It  articulates  with  the  lacry- 
mal  bone  at  r,  p.  273,  and  the  malar  bone  at  d.  The  ridge  which  runs 
down  from  the  malar  bone,  in  the  horse,  for  the  attachment  of  the  masse- 
ter  muscle,  and  which  may  be  seen  below  A",  (p.  66,  Horse,)  is  wanting; 
but  the  surface  of  the  bone  is  roughened  and  tuberculated,  to  answer  the 
same  purpose.  Immediately  above  the  foremost  of  the  upper  grinders  in 
the  cut  of  the  skeleton,  p.  273,  is  a  little  black  mark,  representing  the 
foramen,  or  hole  through  which  the  nerves  and  blood-vessels  proceed,  to 
supply  the  lower  part  of  the  face. 

The  superior  maxillary  consists  of  two  plates,  irregularly  separated  from 
each  other;  the  outer  forms  the  external,  and  the  other  the  internal  wall 
of  the  mouth,  as  seen  at  x,  p.  274;  and  then  extending  upwards,  and  as- 
suming an  arched  form,  the  commencement  of  which  is  seen  at  x,  it  con- 
stitutes the  greater  part  of  the  bony  roof  of  the  mouth.  The  inferior  cells 
of  the  external  part  contain  the  back  teeth,  or  grinders;  the  superior  ones 
are  the  maxillary  sinuses;  and  in  the  ox  there  is  a  new  set  of  cells, 
formed  by  a  separation  of  the  plates  of  the  bone,  between  the  roof  of  the 
mouth  and  the  lloor  of  the  nasal  cavity. 

The  palatine  bone,/),  p.  274,  occupies  considerably  more  of  the  roof  of 
the  mouth  than  it  does  in  the  horse. 

The  anterior  maxillary  bone  is,  compared  Avith  that  of  the  horse,  a 
very  insignificant  one;  there  is  neither  the  firm  and  complicated  connexion 
with  the  superior  maxillary,  nor  are  there  any  tusks,  or  incisor  teeth. 
There  are  likewise  considerable  apertures,  one  of  which  is  seen  between  a,' 
and  z,  p.  274,  which  leave  a  somewhat  extensive  part  of  the  roof  of  the 
mouth  and  floor  of  the  nose  occupied  only  by  cellular  substance  and  mem- 
brane. There  is  little  strength  required  in  the  part,  and  therefore  there  is 
little  provision  for  it. 

At  the  base  or  floor  of  the  mouth  is  the  inferior  maxillary,  or  lower 
jaw  [j,  p,  273.)  It  also  partakes  of  the  shortness  of  the  bones  of  the 
face,  and  is  somewhat  altered  in  form.  It  contains  the  only  incisor  teetli 
which  cattle  have,  eight  in  number,  and  six  molar  teeth  on  each  side.  It 
has  not  the  tuberosity  which  is  found  in  the  lower  jaw  of  the  horse,  («, 
p.  63,  Horse,)  but  goes  back  in  a  manner  straight  to  the  angle,  where  it 


THE  LIPS.  315 

turns  to  take  an  upper  direction  towards  its  joint  with  the  temporal  bone. 
The  consequence  of  this  is,  that  the  muscles,  both  on  the  inside  and  the 
outside,  are  smaller  and  weaker.  Power  is  not  wanted;  for  the  grinders 
are  little  if  at  all  used  in  the  first  gathering  and  mastication  of  the  food, 
and  the  act  of  rumination  is  generally  very  leisurely  and  lazily  performed. 

This  difference  in  the  form  of  the  jaw  throws  the  submaxillary  artery 
further  back  in  cattle  than  in  the  horse.  It  is  to  be  sought  for  a  couple  of 
inches  nearer  to  the  angle  of  the  jaw,  and  sometimes  it  is  scarcely  to  be 
discovered. 

Below  0-,  p.  273,  is  seen  the  process  of  this  bone,  shorter  than  in  the 
horse,  round  which  the  temporal  muscle  is  wrapped,  and  by  which  this 
bone  is  moved;  and  a  litde  lower  is  the  shallow  cavity  of  the  temporal 
bone,  into  which  the  proper  head. of  this  bone  is  received,  and  with  which 
it  forms  a  joint.  The  ridges  at  either  end  of  this  cavity  in  the  horse  (see 
p.  136)  are  very  materially  lowered  here,  so  as  to  allow  more  latitude  of 
motion,  and  admit  of  the  grinding  action  by  which  rumination  is  princi- 
pally characterised.  The  muscle,  being  inserted  so  near  to  the  joint,  acts 
with  great  mechanical  disadvantage;  but,  although  smaller  than  in  the 
horse,  it  is  sufficiently  powerful  for  every  purpose  that  is  required. 

THE  CHEEKS. 

The  outer  walls  of  the  mouth  are  the  ehseks  and  lips.  The  cheeks 
consist  principally  of  muscle,  (the  masscter  and  the  buccinator  muscles.) 
They  are  covered  externally  by  the  common  integument,  or  skin;  and 
lined  by  the  membrane  of  the  mouth.  There  is  likewise  considerable 
glandular  substance  in  their  composition,  and  these  glands  have  distinct 
openings  into  the  mouth,  and  assist  in  supplying  it  with  moisture. 

THE  LIPS. 

The  lips  form  the  anterior  opening  of  the  mouth;  they  close  it,  and  as- 
sist in  gathering  and  retaining  the  food.  They  likewise  consist  of  muscu- 
lar, glandular,  and  cellular  texture;  and  of  much,  and  in  the  upper  lip 
especially,  of  condensed  substance  almost  resembling  cartilage.  The 
muscles  give  them  the  power  of  motion,  and  particularly  that  of  forcibly 
seizing  and  compressing  the  food.  This  is  especially  necessary  in  the  ox, 
because  there  are  no  upper  front  teeth,  and  for  this  purpose  also  the  car- 
tilaginous matter  was  added  to  them,  and  most  of  all  to  the  upper  lip. 
Simple  muscular  substance  would  be  too  yielding  to  retain  the  grass,  when 
it  was  to  be  forcibly  separated  from  the  stalk  or  root.  On  account  of  this 
peculiar  function  of  the  upper  lip  of  the  ox,  it  is  wider  and  flatter  than 
that  of  the  horse,  in  order  that  it  may  be  brought  better  into  contact  with 
the  herbage,  and  gathered  in  sufficient  quantities. 

Being  so  much  employed  for  this  purpose,  there  is  a  Avant  of  feeling 
about  the  lips  of  catde  very  diflerent  from  the  acute  sensitiveness  of  those 
parts  in  the  horse.  The  ox  is  seldom  used  for  the  saddle.  The  Nagore 
oxen,  described  p.  268,  are  sometimes  ridden,  but  their  pace  is  slow  and 
steady,  and  they  are  guided  by  reins  perforating  the  septum  of  the  nose. 
The  damsels  in  the  Mandara  valleys,  (p.  5,)  when  they  ride  to  market  in 
all  their  finery,  and  contrive  to  torture  their  horned  palfreys  into  something 
like  caperings  and  curvetings,  also  effect  their  purpose  by  means  of  a 
leathern  thong  passed  through  the  cartilage  of  the  nose.*     The  ox  is  not 

*  The  Chili  coachman,  when  he  starts  his  sis-in-hand  team,  guides  his  oxen  in  the 
same  manner,  but  he  has  a  singular  way  of  getting  them  along: — '  A  thin  pole,  about 
five  feet  long,  projected  horizontally,  is  lashed  to  the  roof  of  the  cart,  having  at  its  extre- 
mity a  grooved  hole,  through  which  the  string  passes:  a  goad  is  made  of  a  hollow  cane, 


316  CATTLE. 

required  to  be  alive,  as  it  were,  to  the  slightest  motion  of  his  driver  or 
rider,  and  to  anticipate  his  very  thoughts;  but  his  muzzle  is  to  be  con- 
tinually in  contact  with  the  ground,  among  smooth  and  rough  herbage — 
things  pleasing  and  annoying;  and  therefore  all  acute  feeling  is  withheld 
from  him,  and,  consequently,  he  is  rarely  seen  using  his  lips  as  substitutes 
for  hands,  and  forming  his  opinion  of  the  objects  around  him  by  the  indi- 
cations which  they  afford  him,  as  we  continually  observe  in  the  horse. 
There  can  be  scarcely  greater  difference  than  in  the  habits  of  these  two 
animals  in  this  respect. 

The  excess  of  glandular  substance  in  the  lips  of  the  ox  is  easily  ac- 
counted for.  They  must  not  only  afford  their  share  of  the  natural  mois- 
ture of  the  mouth,  but  they  are,  from  their  situation,  form,  ami  use,  ex- 
posed to  various  nuisances.  Insects  will  be  continually  crawling  about 
the  muzzle,  and  dirt  and  gravel  will  accumulate  on  it.  If  the  grass  is  to 
be  firmly  held  between  the  pad  in  the  upper  jaw  and  the  teeth  m  the 
lower,  and  the  upper  lip  must  materially  assist  in  the  firmness  of  the  grip, 
it  must  of  necessity  be  continually  in  absolute  contact  with  the  ground, 
and  cannot  always  be  in  the  cleanest  state.  Nature  has  given  the  best  of 
all  defences  against  this.  The  outer  covering  of  the  upper  lip  is  thickly  stud- 
ded with  glands,  and  a  fluid  can  be  seen  pouring  out  (ivni  lUem.  If  an 
ox,  standing  and  ruminating,  is  watched,  drops  as  clear  as  crystal  are  seen 
coursing  one  another  down  his  muzzle,  and  falling  on  the  ground.  The 
upper  lip,  in  lieaith,  is  always  wet;  the  insect  cannot  then  fasten,  and  dirt 
CClTuiot  accumulate;  or  if  the  one  should  adhere,  or  the  other  begin  to  col- 
lect, the  long  tongue  of  the  beast  is  protruded,  it  passes  over  the  moisten- 
ed surface,  and  all  is  clear  again. 

We  take  considerable  notice  of  the  secretion  from  these  glands  when  we 
endeavour  to  form  some  judgment  of  the  health  of  the  animal,  and  the 
degree  of  disease.  While  the  muzzle  is  moist,  i.  e.,  while  the  natural  se- 
cretions are  going  forward,  there  is  no  great  constitutional  disturbance,  and 
consequently  no  great  danger;  in  proportion  as  that  secretion  is  lessened, 
there  is  general  sympathy  with  some  local  affection;  and  when  it  becomes 
altogether  suspended,  it  is  an  indication  of  so  much  universal  derange- 
ment, that  it  behoves  us  to  look  about  us.  There  is  nothing  more  in  this 
secretion  than  in  any  other,  but  it  is  one  which  is  easily  observed,  and  the 
changes  in  which  can  be  accurately  marked. 

THE  MEMBRANE  OF  THE  MOUTH. 

This  is  thin  and  delicate,  compared  with  the  external  integument.  Every 
part  of  the  mouth  is  lined  with  it,  and  it  contains  numerous  glands,  occa- 
sionally rising  into  little  papillae,  from  which  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
usual  moisture  of  the  mouth  is  derived.  The  gums  and  the  bars  are  co- 
vered by  this  membrane,  but  they  are  denser  and  less  sensible. 

forty  feet  long-,  the  butt-end  being  about  four  inches  in  diameter,  while  the  smaller  rans 
tapering  to  a  point.  The  front  end  is  generally  made  of  a  piece  of  willow,  secured  to 
the  end  of  the  cane,  and  is  armed  at  the  tip  with  an  iron  point,  neatly  and  curiously 
lashed  on  by  strips  of  horse-hide.  This  goad  is  hung  in  a  kind  of  inverted  stirrup  at- 
tached to  the  end  of  the  before-mentioned  string,  by  pulling  of  which  the  driver,  as  he 
sits  in  the  cart,  can  elevate  or  depress  at  his  pleasure  the  stirrup  which  serves  as  the 
fulcrum  of  his  goad,  and  supports  it  nearly  in  equilibrio,  as  the  thick  butt-end  counter- 
balances the  lighter  longer  end  tending  forward:  thus  suspended,  the  point  can  easily 
be  thrust  forward  or  sideway,  so  as  to  goad  the  haunches  of  the  forward  yoke  of  oxen: 
about  five  feet  from  tlie  extremity,  another  small  goad,  armed  with  iron,  hangs  pendent 
by  a  string,  so  that  by  giving  the  cane  a  sideway  motion,  and  lifting  the  butt  end,  the 
point  can  be  dexterously  directed,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  driver,  upon  the  haunches  of 
the  second  pair  of  oxen;  a  short  lance  held  in  his  hand  serves  to  goad  forward  the  shaft- 
yoke.' — Muir's  Travels  in  Chili  and  La  Plata,  vol.  i.  p.  244, 


THE  PAD  ON  THE  UPPER  JAW-BONE.  317 

THE  EARS. 

These  consist  of  a  firm  substance  of  a  cartilaginous  nature,  adhering  to 
the  bones  of  the  roof  of  the  mouth,  by  numerous  little  cords,  penetrating 
into  these  bones.  They  are  thus  hard  and  adherent,  that  the  food  may 
be  rolled  against  the  palate,  and  formed  into  proper  masses  for  swallowing, 
whether  in  the  first  or  second  mastication.  The  palate  is  divided  into 
numerous  ridges  running  across  the  mouth,  and  on  the  posterior  edge  of 
which  there  is  a  fringed  border,  consisting  of  papillae  of  no  little  consis- 
tence and  strength,  and  all  pointing  backward;  so  that  the  food  is  permitted 
to  travel  backward,  in  this  process  of  formation  into  pellets,  but  cannot 
again  get  into  the  fore  part  of  the  mouth. 

THE  PAD  ox  THE  ANTERIOR  MAXILLARY  BONE. 

These  bars  are  flatter,  harder,  and  more  irregular  in  the  ox  than  in  the 
horse,  and  these  papilte  at  the  edges  of  the  bars  are  very  considerably 
stronger.  The  bars  thicken  towards  the  fore  part  of  the  mouth,  and  there 
they  accumulate  into  a  pad,  or  cushion,  which  covers  the  convex  extre- 
mity of  the  anterior  maxillary  bone.  This  pad  is  of  a  somewhat  more 
fibrous  and  elastic  nature  than  the  bars,  and  stands  in  the  place  of 
upper  incisor  or  cutting  teeth.  The  grass  is  collected  and  rolled  together 
by  means  of  the  long  and  moveable  tongue;  it  is  firmly  held  between  the 
lower  cutting-teeth,  and  the  pad,  the  cartilaginous  upper  lip  assisting  in 
this;  and  then  by  a  sudden  nodding  motion  of  the  head,  in  which  the 
pterigoid  muscles  are  the  chief  agents,  the  little  roll  of  herbage  is  either 
lorn  or  cut  ofl',  or  partly  both  torn  and  cut. 

The  intention  of  this  singular  method  of  gathering  the  food,  it  is  some- 
what difficult  satisfactorily  to  explain.  It  is  peculiar  to  ruminants,  who 
have  one  large  stomach,  in  which  the  food  is  kept  as  a  kind  of  reservoir 
until  it  is  ready  for  the  action  of  the  other  stomachs.  While  it  is  kept 
there  it  is  in  a  state  of  maceration;  it  is  exposed  to  the  united  influence  of 
moisture  and  warmth,  and  the  consequence  of  this  is,  that  a  species 
of  decomposition  sometimes  commences,  and  a  vast  deal  of  gas  is 
extricated. 

That  this  should  not  take  place  in  the  natural  process  of  retention  and 
maceration,  nature  possibly  established  this  mechanism  for  the  first  gather- 
ing of  the  food.  It  is  impossible  that  half  of  that  which  is  thus  procured 
can  be  fairly  cut  through;  part  will  be  torn,  and  no  little  portion  will  be 
torn  up  by  the  roots.  If  cattle  are  observed  while  they  are  grazing,  it 
will  be  seen  that  many  a  root  mingles  with  the  blades  of  grass;  and  these 
roots  have  sometimes  no  inconsiderable  quantity  of  earth  about  them. 
The  beast,  however,  seems  not  to  regard  this;  he  eats  on,  dirt  and  all, 
until  his  paunch  is  filled. 

It  was  designed  that  this  earth  should  be  gathered  and  swallowed.  It 
was  the  meaning  of  this  mechanism.  A  portion  of  absorbent  earth  is 
found  in  every  soil,  sufficient  not  only  to  prevent  the  evil  that  would  result 
from  occasional  decomposition,  by  neutralizing  the  acid  principle  as  ra- 
pidly as  it  is  evolved;  but  perhaps,  by  its  presence,  preventing  that  de- 
composition from  taking  place.  Hence  the  eagerness  with  which  stall-fed 
cattle,  who  have  not  the  opportunity  of  plucking  up  the  roots  of  grass, 
evince  for  mould.  It  is  seldom  that  a  cow  will  pass  a  newly-raised  mole- 
hill without  muzzling  into  it,  and  devouring  a  considerable  portion  of  it. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  when  there  is  any  degree  of  indigestion.  The 
mould  here  is  comminuted  to  the  greatest  degree,  and  probably  possesses 
peculiar  freshness.  When  describing  the  Kyntore  ox,  at  page  104,  we 
remarked  that  he  always  had  a  basket  of  earth  standing  by  him,  of  which 
he  occasionally  ate  a  considerable  quantity,  and  which  operated  as  a  gentle 
28* 


318  CATTLE. 

purgative.  When  decomposition  commenced,  and  the  acescent  principle 
began  to  be  developed,  and  the  animal  felt  uneasiness  on  that  account,  he 
had  recourse  to  the  mould;  and  the  acid  uniting  itself  to  the  earth,  the 
uneasy  feeling  was  relieved,  and  a  purgative  neutral  salt  was  manufactured 
in  the  paunch. 

THE  TEETH. 

The  mouth  likewise  contains  the  principal  agents  in  mastication,  the 
teeth.  The  mouth  of  the  ox  when  full  contains  thirty-two  teeth;  eight 
incisors  in  the  lower  jaw,  and  three  molars  in  each  jaw  above,  and  below, 
and  on  either  side.  'J'he  incisor  teeth  are  admirably  adapted  to  perform 
their  function.  If  there  are  no  corresponding  ones  opposed,  but  merely 
an  elastic  pad,  they  must  possess  an  edge  of  considerable  sharpness  in 
order  to  perform  this  half-cutting,  half-tearing  process.  With  a  blunt 
edge  there  could  be  no  cutting  at  all  in  such  a  case;  but  all  the  grass 
would  be  torn  up  by  the  roots,  and  the  pasture  destroyed,  and  the  animal 
overdone,  absolutely  choaked  with  this  absorbent  earth.  The  part  of  the 
tooth  above  the  gum  is  covered  with  enamel  both  to  produce  and  retain 
this  necessary  sharpness.  The  crown  of  the  tooth,  or  that  part  of  it 
which  is  above  the  gum,  presents  a  surface  somewhat  convex  externally, 
but  rising  straight  from  the  gum,  while  towards  the  mouth,  it  has  a  con- 
cave face,  diminishing  gradually  in  thickness  as  it  recedes  from  the  gum, 
and  terminating  in  an  edge,  than  which  in  the  young  animal  few  scissors 
are  sharper.  The  elastic  nature  of  the  pad  preserves  it  from  laceration; 
but  the  less  elastic  substance  interposed,  the  grass  on  which  the  animal 
is  browsing,  is  partly  cut  through. 

The  molar  teeth  are  as  well  adapted  for  the  mingled  laceration  and 
grinding  of  the  grassy  fibres  which  are  submitted  to  their  action.  Instead 
of  the  flat  and  somewhat  uneven  and  roughened  surface  of  the  molars  of 
the  horse,  presenting  proper  millstones  for  the  grinding  of  corn,  or  dried 
and  hardened  fibre,  there  are  two  oblique  surfaces,  those  on  the  lower 
jaw  taking  a  direction  upwards  and  from  without,  inwards,  and  those  in 
the  upper  jaw  slanting  in  an  opposite  direction,  while  the  upper  surface  of 
the  tooth  is  sawn  into  deep  grooves.  There  are  three  in  the  last  molar, 
the  edges  of  which,  from  cones  of  enamel  sunk  deep  into  the  substance  of 
the  tooth,  are  as  sharp  as  knives,  and  cannot  be  roughly  meddled  with 
without  laceration,  and  these  receive  corresponding  projecting  portions 
from  the  opposite  teeth.  From  the  prolonged,  although  leisurely  action 
of  machines  like  these,  it  happens  that  the  food  is  reduced  to  a  state  of 
extreme  comminution,  in  order  that  every  particle  of  nourishment  may  be 
extracted  from  it.  The  horse  requires  only  that  portion  of  nutriment, 
which  is  easily  extracted  and  for  the  purpose  of  present  exertion;  and  his 
dung  is  more  than  half  composed  of  vegetable  fibres;  the  ox,  on  whose 
flesh  we  subsist,  must  extract  every  particle  of  matter  which  the  food 
contains,  and  therefore  not  a  fibre  is  seen  in  the  faeces.  The  dung  of  the 
first  is  excellent  for  manure;  that  of  the  second,  except  it  be  a  stall-fed 
beast,  is  comparatively  of  Uttle  worth. 

THE  AGE  OF  CATTLE  AS  INDICATED  BY  THE  TEETH. 

When  describing  the  horns  of  cattle  (p.  279,)  we  spoke  of  the  usual  and 
incorrect  method  of  estimating  their  age  by  the  horns.  Far  surer  marks 
are  presented  in  the  teeth,  and  where  there  can  be  little  deception  from 
the  frauds  of  dealers;  for  their  interest  would  generally  lead  them  to  give 
a  more  youthful  appearance  than  nature  has  allowed. 

The  mouth  of  the  new-born  calf  presents  an  uncertain  appearance, 
depending  on  the  mother  having  exceeded  or  fallen  short  of  the  average 
period  of  utero-gestation.     Sometimes  there  will  no  be  vestige  of  teeth. 


THE  TEETH. 


319 


but  generally,  either  two  central  incisors  will  be  protruding  through  the 
gums,  or  they  wMU  have  arisen  and  attained  considerable  bulk. 

About  the  middle  or  close  of  the  second  week  a  tooth  will  be  added  on 
either  side,  making  four  incisors. 


Birth.  Second  week. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  third  week  the  animal  will  have  six  temporary 
incisors  or  front  teeth. 


Third  week.  Month. 

At  a  month,  the  full  number  of  the  incisors  will  have  appeared.  These 
are  the  temporary  or  milk  teeth.  The  enamel  will  be  seen  covering  the 
whole  of  the  crown  of  the  tooth,  but  not  entering  into  its  composition  as 
in  the  horse,  and  it  will  be  observed  that  the  edge  is  exceedingly  sharp. 
The  only  indication  of  increasing  age  will  be  the  wearhig  down  of  these 
sharp  edges,  and  the  appearance  of  the  bony  substance  of  the  tooth  be- 
neath. The  two  corner  teeth  will  be  scarcely  up  before  the  centre  teeth 
will  be  a  litde  worn.  At  two  months,  the  edge  of  the  four  central  teeth 
will  be  evidently  worn;  yet  as  the  wearing  is  not  across  the  top  of  the 
tooth,  but  a  very  litUe  out  of  the  line  of  its  inner  surface,  the  edge  will 
remain  nearly  or  quite  as  sharp  as  before.  At  three  months  the  six  cen- 
tral teeth,  and  at  four  months  the  whole  set  will  be  worn,  and  the  central 


CATTLE. 


ones  most  of  all;  but  after  the  second  or  third  month,  the  edge  of  the 
tooth  will  begin  to  wear  down,  and  there  will  be  more  of  a  flat  surface 
with  a  broad  line  in  the  centre. 

About  this  time  a  new  change  will  begin,  but  very  slowly  to  be  seen. 
The  central  teeth  will  not  only  be  worn  down  on  their  edges,  but  the 
whole  of  the  tooth  will  appear  diminished,  a  kind  of  absorption  will  have 
commenced.  There  will  be  a  little  but  increasing  space  between  them. 
The  face  of  the  tooth  will  likewise  be  altered,  the  inner  edge  will  be 
worn  down  more  than  the  outer,  and  the  mark  will  change  from  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  broad  line  to  a  triangular  shape.  The  commencement  ot 
this  alternation  of  form  and  diminution  of  size  may  be  traced  to  about  the 
fourth  month,  and  our  cut  gives  a  representation  of  the  two  central  inci- 
sors at  eight  months.  The  central  teeth  are  now  not  above  half  the  size 
of  the  next  pair,  and  they  are  evidently  lessened. 


Eight  months.  Eleven  months. 

At  eleven  months  the  process  of  diminution  will  have  extended  to  the 
four  central  teeth  in  the  manner  represented  in  the  cut.  The  vacuities 
between  them,  will  now  be  evident  enough. 

This  cut  gives  the  mouth  of  a  young  steer  fifteen  months  old. 


Fifteen  months. 


Eighteen  months. 


THE  TEETH. 


321 


The  last  cut  presented  us  with  the  curious  and  diminutive  appearance  of 
all  the  incisors  in  a  bullock  eighteen  months  old.  It  would  appear  diffi- 
cult for  him  to  obtain  sufficient  food  to  support  himself  in  good  condition. 
It  is  somewhat  so,  and  it  may  be  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  these  changes 
in  the  teeth,  and  the  difficulty  of  grazing,  that  young  beasts  are  subject  to 
so  many  disorders  from  seven  or  eight  months  and  upwards,  and  are  so 
often  out  of  condition.  They  contrive,  however,  to  make  up  for  this  tem- 
porary disadvantage  by  diligence  in  feeding;  and,  to  allude  for  a  moment 
to  another  animal,  we  have  known  many,  not  only  a  broken-rnouthed,  but 
a  toothless  ewe  thrive  as  well  as  any  of  the  flock,  for  she  was  grazing  all 
the  day,  and  ruminating  all  night. 

At  this  time,  eighteen  months  old,  the  corner  teeth  will  not  be  more 
than  half  their  natural  size;  the  centre  ones  will  be  yet  more  diminished; 
and,  as  the  cut  very  faithfully  represents,  the  vacuities  between  them  will  be 
almost  equal  to  the  width  of  the  teeth.  The  faces  of  the  teeth  also,  such 
faces  as  remain,  will  be  lengthened;  the  triangular  mark  will  diminish, 
and  principally  in  the  central  teeth;  while  another,  more  or  less  deeply 
shaded,  will  begin  to  appear  around  the  original  mark. 

All  this  while,  the  second  set  of  teeth,  the  permanent  ones,  have  been 
growing  in  their  sockets,  and  approaching  towards  the  gums;  but  not  as 
is  said  to  be  generally  the  case  with  other  animals,  and  with  the  human 
being  in  particular,  pressing  upon  the  roots  of  the  milk  teeth,  and  causing 
them  to  be  absorbed,  until,  at  length,  losing  all  hold  in  the  socket, 
they  fall  out.  The  process  of  absorption  commences  here  in  the  whole 
milk-tooth,  and  as  much  in  the  crown  or  body  of  it  as  at  its  root. 

The  process  of  general  diminution  seems  now  for  awhile  retarded  ; 
it  is  confined  to  the  central  teeth,  and  they  gradually  waste  away  until 
they  are  no  larger  in  the  body  than  crow-quills.  About  the  expiration  of 
the  second  year,  or  a  litde  before,  the  milk  teeth  are  pushed  out  or  give 
way,  and  the  two  central  permanent  teeth  appear. 

This  cut  gives  the  mouth  of  a  two-year  old  beast,  the  two  permanent 
central  incisors  are  coming  up,  and  the  other  six  milk  teeth  remain.  The 
bone  in  front  of  the  lower  jaw  is  taken  away,  in  order  that  the  alveoli,  or 


Two  Years 


Three  Years. 


CATTLE. 


cells  for  the  teeth,  may  be  exposed.  The  second  pair  of  incisors  have 
almost  attained  their  proper  size,  but  have  not  assumed  their  proper  form. 
The  third  pair  are  getting  ready,  but  the  jaw  is  not  yet  sufficiently  widened 
for  the  development  of  the  fourth  pair. 

The  process  of  absorj)tion  will  still  be  suspended  with  regard  to  the 
two  outside  pairs  of  milk  teeth,  but  will  be  rapid  with  regard  to  the  second 
pair,  and  a  little  before  the  commence uient  of  the  third  year  they  will 
disappear.  This  cut  represents  the  three-year  old  beast,  with  four  perma- 
nent incisors  and  four  milk  teeth. 

Now  the  remaining  milk  teeth  will  diminish  very  fast,  but  they  show 
no  disposition  to  give  way,  and  at  four-years  old  there  will  be  six  perma- 
nent incisors,  and  often  apparently  no  milk  teedi,  but  if  the  mouth  is 
examined,  the  tooth  that  should  have  disappeared,  and  the  tooth 
that  is  to  remain  until  the  next  year,  are  huddled  together  and  concealed 
behind  the  new  permanent  tooth.  They  are  often  a  source  of  annoyance 
to  the  animal;  and  the  tooth  whose  turn  it  was  to  go  must  be  drawn. 
The  four-year-old  mouth  then,  as  represented  in  this  cut,  should  contain 
six  permanent  incisors  and  two  milk  teeth. 


Four  Years. 


Five  Years. 


At  the  commencement  of  the  fifth  year  the  eight  permanent  incisors 
will  be  up;  but  the  corner  ones  will  be  small.  This  cut  gives  a  five-year 
old  mouth,  or  perliaps  one  a  month  or  two  after  five  years;  so  that  the 
beast  cannot  be  said  to  be  fidl-movlhed,  i.  e.,  all  the  incisors  fully  up, 
until  it  is  six  years  old.  It  will  be  seen,  however,  in  this  mouth  of  five 
years,  that  the  two  central  pairs  are  beginning  to  be  worn  down  at  the 
edges,  and  that  in  a  Hat  direction,  or  somewhat  inclining  towards  the 
inside. 

At  six-years  old,  the  teeth  are  all  fully  grown,  but  this  mark  has  extended 
over  the  whole  set,  and  all  the  teeth  are  a  little  fiattened  at  the  top;  while 
on  the  two  centre  ones  tliere  begins  to  be  a  distinct  darker  line  in  the 
middle,  bounded  by  a  line  of  harder  bone.* 

*  We  are  perfectly  aware  against  what  authority  we  arc  contendinjr  wlien  we  thus 
compute  tlie  age  of  cattle  by  the  appearance  of  the  teeth.  The  pleasing  author  of  the 
'  Illustrations  of  Natural  History'  gives  the  beast  a  full  mouth  at  three  years  old,  and 
so  does  Buffon  and  the  editor  of  the  Encyclopedia  Metropolitana.  Mr.  Parkinson  says 
that  the  mouth  is  full  at  four,  altliough  he  acknowledges  that  the  teeth  are  not  perfectly 
up  until  the  animal  is  six  years  old.  We  have  no  hesitation,  however,  in  appealing  to 
tiie  experience  of  the  breeders  of  cattle,  for  the  general  accuracy  of  our  account. 


THE  TEETH. 


323 


From  this  time  the  age  can  only  be  guessed  at,  and  not  decidedly- 
affirmed;  and  a  great  deal  will  de- 
pend upon  the  manner  in  which  the 
animal  is  fed.  The  beast  that  is  most 
out,  and  that  is  compelled  most  to 
use  his  incisor  teeth,  will  have  them 
worn  farthest  down.  Perhaps,  as  a  I 
general  rule,  but  admitting  of  many 
an  exception,  it  may  be  said  that,  at 
seven  j'ears  old,  this  line  is  becoming 
broadest  and  more  irregular  in  all 
of  the  teeth;  and  that  a  second  and 
broader,  and  more  circular  mark  ap- 
pears within  the  centre  of  the  former 
one,  and  most  distinct  in  the  central, 
or  two  central  pairs — and  which  at 
eight  years,  has  spread  over  the  six 
central  incisors.  Six  Years. 

A  year  afterwards,  however,  a  change  takes  place  which  cannot  be  mis- 
taken. The  process  of  absorption  has  again  commenced,  and  precisely 
where  it  did  when  the  animal  was  four  months  old,  viz.,  in  the  central 
incisors;  but  it  is  slow  in  its  progress,  and  it  is  never  carried  to  the  extent 
to  which  we  observed  it  in  the  milk  teeth.  It  is,  however,  sufficiently 
plain,  and  the  two  central  teeth  are  evidently  smaller  than  their  neigh- 
bours. A  considerable  change  has  also  taken  place  on  the  surface  of  the 
teeth;  the  two  dark  marks  are  rubbed  into  one  in  all  but  the  corner  teeth. 

At  ten,  the  four  central  incisors  are  diminished  in  size,  and  the  mark  is 
becoming  smaller  and  fainter.     The  ^.-  r  '  ''^^ 

cut  represents  the  mouth  at  this  age.      y^J^:'', 

At  eleven,  the  six  central  ones  are  ;^^^^  '"'"'   '''^ 
smaller;   and   at  twelve,  all  of  them  ^j^j^J 
are  very  considerably  diminished;  but  0^        Mjll^^^'"  t 
not,  as  we  have  already  observed,  to  «|ji         m//';0 
the  same  extent  as  in  the  young  beast.  ¥^\vi       Wvl-'^M 
The  mark  is  now  also  faint,  or  nearly  ^s^nn^     W';i!    Vm 
obliterated,  except  in  the  corner  teetli,     '^\    ^■lljlj}.  Ii/iji 
and  the  inside  edge  is  worn  down  to       ^\     'IJil  "III/ 
the  gum. 

The  beast  is  now  getting  old;  the 
teeth  continue  to  diminish,  and  it  is 
not  often  that  the  animal,  after  four- 
teen or  sixteen  years  old,  is  able  to 
maintain  his  full  condition.     He  must 

then   be    taken   up  and  partly  fed  in  Ten  Years, 

the  house:  yet  there  are  many  instances  in  which  favourite  bulls  have 
been  kept  untd  they  were  more  than  twenty  years  old;  and  we  know  a 
cow  of  the  same  age  Avho  pastures  with  the  rest  of  the  dairy,  and  gives  a 
fair  quantity  of  milk. 

Some  writers  have  asserted,  that  a  good  cow  will  usually  continue  good 
until  that  age;  but  the  dairyman  would  discover  his  error,  both  in  the 
quantity  and  the  quality  of  his  milk,  if  he  received  it  as  a  general  rule,  that 
a  good  cow  will  continue  to  breed  and  give  milk  until  tw^enty  years  old. 
Mr.  Watkinson,  however,  had  a  cow  that  for  seventeen  years  gave  him 
from  ten  to  twenty  quarts  of  milk  every  day;  was  in  moderate  condition 
when  taken  up;  six  months  in  fattening;  and,  being  then  twenty  years  old, 


S24  CATTLE. 

was  sold  for  more  than  18/.  Mr.  Jolin  Holt,  of  Walton,  In  liancashire, 
had  a  healthy  cow-calf  presented  to  him,  whose  dam  was  in  her  thirty- 
second  year,  and  could  not  be  said  to  have  been  properly  out  of  milk  for 
the  preceding  fifteen  years. 

This  method,  then,  of  judging  of  the  age  of  cattle  by  the  teeth,  is  more 
satisfactory  than  by  the  horns,  and  little  of  the  imposition  can  be  practised 
to  which  the  buyer  is  sometimes  exposed,  whether  the  animal  is  young  or 
old.  It  is  true,  that  from  six  to  nine  we  can  only  guess  at  the  age;  but 
we  can  form  a  shrewd  guess,  and  can  scarcely  be  out  more  than  a  few 
months. 

With  regard  to  the  horn  we  are  subject  to  imposition  at  all  times;  we 
are  obliged  to  ask  questions  as  to  the  first  calf;  and,  when  the  animal  gets 
old,  the  supposed  rings  often  present  a  mass  of  confusion  of  which  the 
best  judges  can  make  nothing. 

The  grinders  will  rarely  be  examined  to  ascertain  the  age  of  a  beast. 
They  are  too  difficult  to  be  got  at;  and  the  same  dependence  cannot  be 
placed  upon  them.  The  calf  is  generally  born  with  two  molar  teeth,  and 
sometimes  with  three  in  each  jaw  above  and  below.  The  fourth  appears 
about  the  expiration  of  the  eighth  month,  and  the  fifth  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  about  which  time  the  first  molar  is  shed.  The  second  is  displaced 
at  the  end  of  the  second  year,  and  so  with  the  rest,  at  intervals  of  a  year; 
but  the  sixth  molar,  which  is  from  the  beginning  a  permanent  tooth,  does 
not  appear  until  the  sixth  year. 

THE  TONGUE. 

The  tongue  occupies  the  base  of  the  mouth.  It  is  firmly  held  in  its 
situation  by  muscles  principally  derived  from  the  os  hyoides,  a  singidar 
bone  common  to  it  and  to  the  larynx.  It  is  composed  of  the  union  of 
these  muscles,  which  extend  their  fibres  through  every  part  of  it,  and  with 
which  is  intermingled  a  considerable  quantity  of  fatty  matter,  which  gives 
to  the  tongue  its  peculiar  taste  and  appearance  when  cut  into.  It  is 
covered  by  the  membrane  of  the  mouth,  but  curiously  modified;  it  resem- 
bles more  the  cuticle  or  scarf-skin,  but  the  internal  layer  is  fibrous  and 
sensitive,  and  between  the  two  is  a  soft,  reticulated  substance  which  serves 
as  a  bed  for  the  papilla;,  or  little  eminences  scattered  all  over  the  tongue, 
some  of  which,  at  least,  are  supposed  to  be  the  terminations  of  the  gusta- 
tory nerve,  or  that  branch  of  the  fifth  pair  on  which  the  sense  of  taste 
depends.  The  use  of  the  tongue,  generally,  is  to  dispose  of  the  food 
between  the  grinders  daring  mastication;  to  collect  it  afterwards,  and,  by 
the  assistance  of  the  bars,  form  it  into  a  pellet  for  swallowing:  it  is  also 
the  main  instrument  in  drinking,  and  the  canal  through  \vhich  the  fluid 
passes  in  the  act  of  drinking.  The  outer  covering  of  the  tongue  of  the 
ox  possesses  a  hardness  and  roughness  not  found  on  that  of  the  horse. 
The  peculiar  way  in  which  the  food  is  gathered  renders  this  necessary; 
and  while  the  horse  expresses  his  friendship  for  his  companion  by  nibbling 
him  with  his  teeth,  two  cows  will  rub  and  rasp  each  other  with  their 
tongues  for  an  hour  or  two  at  a  time. 

In  the  ox,  however,  it  answers  other  purposes;  it  helps  to  collect  the 
grass  together  and  form  it  into  a  roll  before  it  is  brought  between  the  pad 
of  the  upper  jaw  and  the  incisor  teeth  of  the  lower  one;  it  serves  to  clean 
the  muzzle  from  annoyances  to  which  it  is  exposed  by  means  of  dirt  or 
insects;  and  it  likewise  wipes  from  the  nostril  tlie  filth  that  is  discharged 
from  it  in  various  diseases  of  the  membrane  of  the  nose  or  the  air 
passages,  to  which  the  ox  is  so  subject.  The  mouth  is  shorter  than  that 
of  the  horiB:  the  tongue,  as  it  lies  in  the  mouth,  is  shorter,  and  yet  it  is 


TONGUE. 


325 


able  to  discharge  all  those  functions,  which  are  only  imperfectly  performed 
and  some  of  them  cannot  be  performed  at  all,  by  the  tongue  of  the 
horse.     The  following  cuts  will  explain  this: — 


1.  The  spur. 

2.  The  basis,  or  greater  cornu  or  horn. 

3.  The  inferior  lateral  cornu. 

4.  The  superior  lateral  cornu. 

5.  The  epiglottis. 

6.  The  arytasndid  cartilage. 


7.  The  thyroid  cartilage. 

8.  The  cricoid  cartilage. 

9.  The  Rings  of  the  trachea. 

10.  The  interposed  ligamentous  substance 

between  the  rings. 

11.  The  Rimas  glottidis. 


1.  The  spur. 

2.  The  basis,  or  greater  cornu  or  horn. 

3.  The  inferior  lateral  cornu. 
3'.  The  middle  cornu. 

4-  The  superior  lateral  cornu. 

5.  The  epiglottis. 

G.  The  arytffinOid  cartilage. 


7.  The  thyroid  cartilage. 

8.  The  cricoid  cartilage. 

9.  Rings  of  the  trachea. 

10.  The  interposed  ligamentous  substance 

between  the  rings. 

11.  The  Riniee  glottidis,  or  entrance  into  the 

windpipe. 


Of  the  support  which   the  os  hyoides,  resembling  the   Greek  letter 

upsilon,  gives  to  the  larynx,  and  its  connexion  with  all  the  motions  of  that 

autiful  cartilaginous  box  in  the  common  function  of  breathing,  or  in  the 


326  CATTLE. 

production  of  the  voice,  and  also  in  the  contractions  of  the  pharynx,  we 
shall  treat  hereafter.  We  have  now  to  do  with  the  tongue.  The  reader 
will  remark  the  spur  projecting  from  the  centre  of  the  body  of  this  bone 
in  the  horse,  Jig.  1.  It  is  from  two  to  three  inches  in  extent,  and  it 
penetrates  deeply  into  the  root  and  body  of  the  tongue;  and  from  its 
sides,  roughened  for  the  purpose,  there  spring,  through  the  whole  extent 
of  the  bone,  powerful  muscles,  (the  genio-hyo-glossi  muscles,  belonging 
to  the  chin,  the  hyoid  bone  and  the  tongue,)  whose  object  is  to  draw  down 
the  tongue  within  the  mouth,  and  limit  its  action. 

Why  this  in  addition  to  muscles  likewise  confining  the  tongue  which 
are  common  to  other  animals?  Why  this  in  the  horse  alone,  at  least  to 
any  thing  like  the  same  extent?  Because  he  was  designed  to  be  subjected 
to  the  government  of  the  bit.  Because  he  was  to  be  ridden  and  driven 
at  our  pleasure.  A  tongue  of  considerable,  or  of  loose  motion,  would  be 
an  inconvenience  to  him.  Under  the  unequal  pressure  of  the  bit,  it  would 
roll  from  one  side  to  the  other,  and  be  excoriated  or  lacerated  by  the  teeth. 
But  thus  tied  down  by  the  spur,  or  appendix  of  the  hyoid  bone,  it  forms 
a  useful  pad  on  which  the  bit  may  rest,  and  on  which  it  may  be  worked. 
Without  this  contrivance  the  jaw,  which  even  now  is  too  often  brutally 
injured  by  the  bit,  would  be  exposed  to  yet  more  frequent  and  severe 
mischief,  and,  therefore,  the  tongue  of  the  horse  is  thus  confined.  We 
rarely  see  the  tongue  of  the  horse  protruded  from  his  mouth,  except  he 
has  acquired  the  trick  of  licking  his  manger. 

There  is  nothing  about  the  ox  which  requires  this  confinement  of  the 
tongue;  but,  on  the  contrary,  he  has  need  of  one  possessing  an  extraordi- 
nary freedom  of  motion.  Look  at  the  os  hyoides  of  the  ox.  Its  spur  (I. 
p.  325)  is  reduced  to  a  mere  tubercle.  There  is  no  penetration  or  confine- 
ment of  the  root  of  the  tongue.  The  same  muscles  spring  from  it  as 
from  the  spur  of  the  hyoid  bone  of  the  horse,  but  they  are  diminutive 
and  weak,  and  have  little  or  no  power  over  the  body  of  the  tongue. 

Look  again  at  the  construction  of  the  hyoid  bone.  The  muscle  which, 
next  to  that  which  belongs  to  the  spur,  influences  the  motions  of  the 
tongue,  has  its  origin  from,  or  is  attached  to,  the  cornu  of  the  bone  near 
the  spur.  There  are  two  joints  connecting  the  cornu  with  thebody  of  the 
bone,  in  order  to  give  a  certain  freedom  of  action  to  the  bone,  but  the 
extremity  of  the  cornu  is  tied  down  to  the  temporal  bone  by  a  strong 
cartilage.  In  the  hyoid  bone  of  the  ox,  the  muscle  (the  hyo-glossus- 
longus,  the  long  muscle  belonging  to  the  hyoid  bone  and  the  tongue) 
has  the  same  origin  and  attachment;  but  there  is  an  additional  joint  to 
give  greater  freedom  of  motion,  and  not  only  so,  but  the  bifurcation  of 
the  superior  lateral  cornu,  swelled  out  into  a  head  or  tubercle,  has  lost  its 
unyielding  cartilaginous  attachment  to  the  temporal  bone,  and  is  fitted  into 
a  curious  socket,  formed  between  the  mastoid  process  of  the  temporal  bone, 
and  a  plate  of  bone  let  down  on  purpose,  and  in  which  it  plays  loosely,  yet 
securely.  These  are  points  of  comparative  anatomy  which  the  physio- 
logist will  know  how  to  value,  and  which  will  not  be  quite  uninteresting  to 
any  one  who  loves  to  trace  the  marks  of  design  in  the  various  works  of 
Him  who  made  us  all. 

GLOSS-ANTHRAX  OR  BLAIN. 

There  is  a  disease  of  the  tongue  in  cattle,  which,  from  its  sudden  attack, 
its  fearful  progress,  and  its  frequently  fatal  termination,  requires  particular 
notice.  The  animal  is  dull,  refuses  his  food,  and  rumination  ceases.  A 
discharge  of  saliva  appears  from  the  mouth;  it  is  at  first  limpid  and 
inoffensive,  but  it  soon  becomes  purulent,  bloody,  and  exceedingly  foetid; 


GLOSS-ANTHRAX  OR  BLAIN.  327 

the  head  and  the  neck  begin  to  swell ;  they  become  enormously  en- 
larged ;  the  respiratory  passages  are  obstructed ;  the  animal  breathes 
with  the  greatest  difficulty,  and  is,  in  some  cases,  literally  suflbcated. 
This  is  the  Blain  or  Gloss-anthrax — inflammation  of  the  tongue. 

On  examination  of  the  mouth,  the  tongue  is  apparently  enlarged,  but 
it  is,  in  fact,  only  elevated  from  its  bed  between  the  maxillary  bones;  and 
the  cause  of  this  being  examined  into,  large  vesicles  or  bladders,  red,  livid, 
or  purple,  are  found  running  along  the  side  and  base  of  the  tongue,  and 
particularly  towards  its  anteiior  part.  These  bladders  are  strangely  rapid 
in  their  growth;  they  become  of  a  great  size;  they  quickly  break;  and 
they  form  deep  ulcerations.  Other  vesicles  immediately  arise  in  their 
immediate  neighbourhood,  of  a  similar  character,  but  of  a  still  larger  size 
Sometimes  the  animal  dies  i-n  twenty-four  hours  from  the  first  attack; 
but  at  other  times  fever  rapidly  succeeds  of  a  typhoid  or  malignant  kind. 
In  a  few  cases  these  bladders  have  been  found  on  the  upper  part  of  the 
tongue,  and  even  nearer  to  the  top  of  it  than  to  the  fraenum.  The 
tongue  soon  becomes  really  enlarged,  and  particularly  when  the  lateral  or 
inferior  parts  of  it  are  the  seats  of  disease.  General  inflammation  of  it 
speedily  follows,  and  that  part  of  it  on  which  the  ulcers  first  appeared,  be- 
comes mortified,  and  may  be  cut  into,  or  cut  away,  without  the  animal 
expressing  the  least  degree  of  pain.  Incisions  into  the  tongue  are  not 
followed  by  blood,  but  they  bring  to  view  tissues  decomposed  at  some 
points,  and  black  at  others,  and  bearing  the  marks  of  incipient  gangrene. 

The  primary  seat  of  the  disease  is  the  membrane  of  the  mouth  beneath 
or  above  the  tongue.  As  the  sublingual  glands  lie  along  the  under  part 
of  the  tongue,  and  their  ducts  open  on  the  side  of  the  membrane  or 
ligament  under  the  tongue,  it  is  possible  that  this  disease  may  proceed 
from,  or  be  connected  with,  obstructions  or  inflammation  of  these  ducts. 
Dissection,  however,  has  not  ju'oved  this,  but  the  membrane  at  the  base  of 
the  mouth  seems  to  be  the  part  primarily  concerned. 

Post  mortem  examination  shows  intense  inflammation,  or  even  gangrene 
of  the  part  and  also  inflammation  and  gangrene  of  the  oesophagus, 
the  paunch  and  the  fourth  stomach.  The  food  in  the  paunch  has  a  most 
offensive  smell;  and  that  in  the  manyplus  is  hard  and  dry.  Inflammation 
reaches  to  the  small  intestines,  which  are  highly  inflamed,  with  red  and 
black  patches  in  the  coscuni,  colon,  and  rectum.  We  cannot  speak  with 
confidence  as  to  the  cause  of  this  disease;  indeed,  we  believe  it  is,  in  a 
great  majority  of  cases,  unknown.  Some  have  said  that  it  is  more 
frequent  in  low,  marshy  lands  than  in  others;  that  it  attacks  beasts  that 
have  been  in  poor  condition,  and  are  suddenly  changed  to  good  pasture: 
and  that  it  oftener  happens  in  spring  and  autumn  than  in  the  summer  or 
winter. 

We  have  considerable  doubt  about  this,  for  we  have  seen  it  at  all 
seasons,  and  under  all  circumstances, — in  the  stall-fed  cows  of  the  me- 
tropolis, whether  newly  bought,  or  those  that  are  used  to  their  situation 
and  in  the  grazing  pastures  of  the  country.  When  it  becomes  epidemic — 
when  many  cases  occur  about  the  same  time,  and  over  a  considerable 
extent  of  country,  and  in  the  town  dairies  as  well  as  the  country  ones,  it 
is  usually  in  the  spring  or  autumn.  Most  epidemics  of  an  inflammatory 
character  occur  at  those  periods,  for  the  process  of  moulting  is  then  going 
forward,  and  the  animals -are,  to  a  certain  degree,  debilitatecl,  and  disposed 
to  inflammatory  complaints;  and  these  assume  a  low  and  typhoid,  and 
then  a  malignant,  form,  much  oftener  and  much  more  speedily  in  catde 
than  in  other  domesticated  animals.  Our  friend,  Mr.  Sewell,  of  Brighton, 
speaking  of  this  disease,  and  of  the  prostration  of  strength  by  which  it  is 


328  CATTLE. 

frequently  accompanied,  says,  that  '  there  appears  to  be  a  deficiency  of 
courage  and  nervous  energy  in  cattle,  compared  with  the  horse,  and  a 
consequent  inability  to  contend  with  disease.'  It  is  a  very  judicious 
remark,  and  affords  a  key  to  the  progress  and  treatment  of  many  of 
the  maladies  to  which  these  animals  are  subject. 

Hurtrel  d'Arboval,  under  the  title  '  Gloss-anthrax,'  in  his  valuable 
*  Dictionary  of  Veterinary  Medicine  and  Surgery,'  gives  a  fearful  list  of 
the  numerous  times  that  it  had  appeared  as  an  epidemic  on  the  con- 
tinent. If  we  owe  nothing  more  to  the  establishment  of  veterinary 
schools,  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  we  are  at  least  indebted  to 
them  for  the  disappearance  of  these  epidemics,  or  their  being  deprived  of 
their  murderous  character.  The  truth  is,  that  these  epidemics,  although 
dependent  on,  and  produced  by,  some  atmospheric  agency,  required  a  pre- 
disposition in  the  animal  to  be  afflicted  by  the  disease;  that  predisposition 
was  the  result  of  the  injudicious  treatment  of  cattle  which  then  prevailed. 
That  treatment  was  improved  by  the  suggestions  of  veterinary  men,  and 
then,  although  the  agent  remained,  the  predisposition  was  removed,  and 
the  epidemic  ceased.  It  is  singular,  however,  that  although  this  is  too 
plain  to  be  denied,  the  breeders  of  cattle  have  little  to  do  with  veterinary 
men — they  prefer  their  own  antiquated  recipes,  or  they  have  recourse  to 
the  blacksmith,  or  the  uneducated  cow-leech,  and  some  veterinary  schools 
kicking  down  the  ladder  by  which  they  climbed  to  a  certain  degree  of  repu- 
tation, have  abandoned  the  study  of  the  diseases  of  cattle — so  curiously  do 
extremes  occasionally  meet. 

While  the  blain  sometimes  assumes  an  epidemic  character,  we  fear  that 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its  being  contagious,  and  especially  under  the 
malignant  form.  The  disease,  however,  like  glanders,  in  the  horse,  is  not 
communicated  by  the  breath;  but  there  must  be  actual  contact.  The 
beast  must  eat  from  the  same  manger,  or  drink  from  the  same  trough,  or 
be  in  such  a  situation  that  the  saliva,  in  which  the  virus  seems  to  reside, 
shall  be  received  on  some  abraded  or  mucous  surface.  The  malady  is 
readily  and  too  frequently  communicated  when  animals  graze  in  the  same 
pasture.  The  farmer  and  the  practitioner  should  be  aware  of  this,  and 
should  adopt  every  necessary  precaution. 

We  fear  that  we  are  justified  in  stating,  that  this  is  one  of  the  maladies 
which  may  be  communicated  from  the  brute  to  the  human  subject,  and  the 
list  of  these  is  fearfully  increasing.  We  are  unwilling  to  excite  unfounded 
fear,  and  we  do  not  believe  half  the  stories  that  are  told  us  of  herdsmen  that 
have  attended  on  cattle  suffering  under  the  blain,  and  becoming  afflicted 
with  a  similar  disease  ;  but  there  are  several  accounts  which  are  too 
well  authenticated  to  be  for  a  moment  disputed.  We  relate  one — A  man 
held  down  the  tongue  of  an  ox  with  a  silver  spoon,  in  order  to  examine 
the  mouth,  which  had  many  of  the  characteristic  vesicles.  He  afterwards 
and  without  any  great  care  about  cleaning  it,  ate  some  broth  with  the  same 
spoon.  Not  many  days  had  elapsed,  when  his  mouth  felt  sore,  pustules 
appeared  on  the  side  of  the  tongue,  malignant  fever  succeeded,  and  he 
died.  When  this  disease  raged  at  Nismes,  in  1731,  it  was  communicated, 
not  only  to  the  human  being,  but  to  various  species  of  domesticated 
animals.  The  appearance  of  this  epidemic  was  strangely  accounted  for. 
It  prevailed  in  the  autumn,  after  an  exceedingly  dry  summer,  and  when 
the  beasts,  all  the  grass  being  burned  up,  were  compelled  to  feed  upon 
the  leaves  of  the  trees  covered  with  snails.  The  danger,  however,  so  far 
as  it  can  be  ascertained,  is  trifling,  and  easily  avoided;  and  a  man  may 
attend  on  a  hundred  of  these  animals  without  injury:  he  has  to  take  care 
that  the  saliva  or  discharge  from  the  mouth  does  not  touch  any  sore  place 


GLOSS-ANTHRAX  OR  BLAIN.  329 

or  lodge  upon  the  lips;  and  if  he  should  fear  that  it  may  have  come  into 
contact  with  any  little  wound  or  sore,  he  has  only  to  apply  the  lunar 
caustic  lightly  over  the  part,  and  there  will  be  an  end  of  the  matter. 

The  treatment  of  blain  is  very  simple;  and,  if  adopted  in  an  early  period 
of  the  disease,  effectual  in  a  great  majority  of  cases.  Blain  is,  at  first,  a 
local  malady,  and  the  first  and  most  important  means  to  be  adopted  will 
be  of  a  local  character.  It  is  inflammation  of  the  membrane  of  the 
mouth  along  the  side  of,  and  under  the  tongue,  and  characterized  by  the 
appearance  of  vesicles  or  bladder;  perhaps  pellucid  at  first,  but  becoming 
red  or  livid,  as  the  disease  advances;  These  vesicles  must  be  freely  lanced 
frotn  end  to  end. 

In  some  parts  of  the  south  of  Scotland,  the  farmers,  and  the  prac- 
titioners, too,  are  anxious  that  the  bladder  should  be  carefidly  taken  away 
with  a  piece  of  cloth  after  it  has  been  thus  lanced,  and  especially  that  the 
yellowish  fluid  which  it  contains  should  be  removed;  the  swallowing  of 
which  is  considered  to  be  very  dangerous.  There  is  no  necessity  for  this; 
it  is  quite  suflicient  if  the  vesicle  is  freely  lanced.  There  will  not  be  much 
immediate  discharge;  the  bladder  was  distended  by  a  substance  imper- 
fectly organized,  or  of  such  a  glairy  or  inspissated  nature  as  not  readily 
to  escape.  If  this  operation  is  performed  when  the  saliva  first  begins  to 
run  from  the  mouth,  and  before  there  is  any  unpleasant  smell  or  gan- 
grenous appearance,  it  will  usually  eft'ect  a  perfect  cure.*  If  the  mouth  is 
examined  four-and-twenty  hours  afterwards,  the  only  vestige  of  the  disease 
will  be  an  incision,  not  looking  very  healthy  at  first,  but  that  will  soon 
become  so  and  heal. 

Some  rub  a  little  salt  well  into  the  incision  as  soon  as  it  is  made,  and 
others  apply  a  solution  of  alum.  Either  may  be  done,  and  the  first  is  pre- 
ferable, if  the  owner  should  appear  to  wish  that  something  of  the  kind 
should  be  attempted,  but  neither  of  them  is  necessary.  If  the  disease  has 
made  considerable  progress,  and  the  vesicles  begin  to  have  a  livid  ap- 
pearance, or  perhaps  some  of  them  have  broken,  and  the  smell  is  be- 
coming very  offensive,  the  mouth  must  be   carefully  examined,  and  any 

*It  is  agreed,  on  all  hands,  that  these  vesicles  must  be  opened.  The  free  use  of  the 
lancet  seems  to  us  to  be  the  most  simple  and  effective  method  of  opening  them;  Mr. 
Parkinson,  however,  whom  we  have  often  quoted  with  respect  as  a  breeder,  and  a  judge 
of  cattle,  recommends  the  following  injudicious  and  dangerous  method.  We  should  not 
allude  to  it,  had  we  not  reason  to  believe  that,  on  the  faith  of  his  name,  it  has  been  too 
trequently  practised.  He  says, '  Breeding  and  Management  of  Live  Stock,'  vol.  i.,  p.  234, 
'  provide  a  cane  or  stick  that  will  bend,  long  enough  to  reach  into  the  great  bag,  or 
stomach,  of  the  animal;  then  take  a  piece  of  soft  woollen  cloth,  or  linen,  but  flannel  is 
the  best,  put  into  it  some  tow,  soft  hay,  cotton,  or  wool,  to  the  size  of  an  egg,  or  a  little 
larger,  and  tie  it  on  the  end  of  the  stick,  this  being  done,  dip  it  in  tar,  and  open  the 
mouth  of  the  animal;  with  one  hand  take  hold  of  the  tongue,  while  with  the  other  hand 
you  gently  thrust  the  stick  with  the  tar  upon  it  down  the  throat  into  the  stomach,  there 
let  it  remain  for  about  half  a  minute  for  the  tar  to  dissolve  and  disperse,  then  draw  it 
very  gently  up,  the  slower  the  better,  as  wind  will  follow,  which,  in  some  cases,  gives 
great  ease.     Repeat  this  three  times,  and  the  animal  will  he  immediately  relieved.' 

Now  for  the  rationale  of  all  this:  the  effect  to  be  produced,  and  on  an  animal  already 
scarcely  able  to  breathe — distressed  by  the  increased  respiration  produced  by  the  slightest 
motion,  and  in  fact  threatened  with  absolute  suffocation  every  jnoment.  '  The  immediate 
efficacy  of  the  medicine,  I  apprehend,  arises  from  thrusting  the  stick,  or  cane,  down 
the  throat,  which  breaks  the  bladders,  and  it  is  for  that  reason  I  prefer  flannel  to  linen 
as  more  likely,  in  passing  tlie  root  of  the  tongue,  to  have  that  effect;  while  the  tar 
being  nauseous,  causes  the  animal  to  throw  up  a  large  quantity  of  thick  saliva,  coughing 
and  snc<izing  violently.' 

We  quote  this  passage  not  only  to  protest  against  a  mode  of  treatment  far  more  likely 
to  kill  than  to  cure;  but  also  to  show  the  deplorable  state  of  cattle  medicine,  when  one 
of  the  best  of  our  authors  on   the  breeding  and   management  of  live  stock,  and  a 
practical  man  too,  can  write  thus  ridiculously. 
29* 


330  CATTLE. 

vesicles  still  remaining  whole,  or  new  ones  beginning  to  rise,  must  be 
deeply  and  effectually  lanced,  and  the  ulcers  washed  half-a-dozen  times 
in  the  day,  or  oftener,  with  a  diluted  solution  of  the  chloride  of  lime  (a 
drachm  of  the  powder  to  a  pint  of  water.)  By  means  of  a  syringe  or 
piece  of  sponge,  this  may  be  brought  into  contact  with  every  part  of  the 
idcerated  surface. 

In  a  very  short  time  the  unpleasant  smell  will  diminish  or  cease,  and  the 
ulcers  will  begin  to  assume  a  more  healthy  character.  "When  all  foetor  is 
removed,  the  mouth  should  be  bathed  with  a  lotion  composed  of  equal 
parts  of  tincture  of  myrrh  and  water,  or  a  pretty  strong  solution  of  alum, 
to  which  a  fourth  part  of  the  tincture  of  catechu  has  been  added. 

This  plan  of  treatment  will  also  be  usually  successful  if  the  ulceration 
has  not  assumed  too  much  of  a  gangrenous  character,  and  if  symptomatic 
or  low  fever  has  not  appeared  in  too  intense  a  degree.  These  are  very 
important  circumstances,  and  should  not  be  passed  lightly  over  by  the 
proprietor  of  cattle;  for  several  of  the  most  fatal  diseases  to  which  they  are 
exposed,  are  of  comparatively  little  importance,  and  easily  got  rid  of  in  ihe 
early  stage,  and  it  is  neglect  that  produces  all  the  danger.  It  does  so  here; 
for  the  blain,  although  easily  cured  when  attacked  in  its  early  state, 
becomes  uniformly  fatal  if  neglected.  We  do  not,  however,  mean  to  say 
that,  in  these  early  stages  of  the  blain,  the  disease  should  be  always  so 
simply  treated,  and  that  the  mere  lancing  of  the  vesicles  should  be  the 
only  means  adopted;  but  it  should  be  the  iirst  thing  done,  and  that  on  which 
we  place  the  greatest  dependence,  as  attacking  the  fountain-head  of  all  the 
after  mischief,  and  getting  rid  of  the  danger  of  suffocation  at  least. 

The  blain,  suffered  to  take  its  course,  speedily  becomes  connected  with 
fever,  and  that  fever  is  not  long  in  taking  on  a  typhoid  form;  even  then 
we  should  certainly  abstract  blood.  Four,  or  five,  or  six  quaits  should  be 
taken  away  according  to  the  size  of  the  beast,  and  the  urgency  of  the 
case;  or,  rather,  we  should  bleed  until  we  begin  to  perceive  its  effect  on 
the  general  circulation. 

In  addition  to  this,  as  constipation  usually  accompanies  the  commencement 
of  fever,  and  is  never  absent  in  cases  of  blain,  we  should  administer  a 
purgative — from  a  pound  to  a  pound  and  a  half  of  Epsom  salts;  and  we 
should  likewise  throw  up  some  laxative  injections. 

We  take  this  opportunity,  when  treating  on  one  of  the  first  serious  dis- 
orders of  cattle,  to  protest  against  the  unscientific,  ineflicient,  beaslly 
method  of  administering  purgatives,  prevalent  not  only  among  the  igno- 
rant pretenders  to  the  profession  of  foolish  nostrums  that  are  to  be  found 
in  every  village,  but  among  farmers,  and  some  of  them  of  the  better  sort, 
and  also  among  the  lower  class  of  practitioners.  If  a  beast  is  to  have  a 
dose  of  physic,  it  is  ordered  to  be  dissolved  in  a  quart  of  human  urine; 
and  if  the  drink  is  sent,  and  not  given  for  a  few  days,  its  horrible  stench 
betrays  the  menstruum.  There  is  something  abominably  disgi-aceful  in  all 
this;  and  the  man  who  hereafter  recommends  it  deserves  to  be  drenched 
■with  his  own  medicine.  Let  the  Epsom,  or  Glauber's,  salts,  or  the 
common  culinary  salt,  be  dissolved  in  simple  water  or  thin  gruel.  They 
want  nothing  to  ensure  or  increase  their  effect. 

From  the  inveterate  apathy  and  neglect  of  the  farmer,  the  practitioner 
may  not  be  called  in  until  gangrenous  ulcers  fill  the  mouth,  and  the  mem- 
brane of  the  mouth,  and  the  tongue  itself,  seem  to  be  sloughing  away  in 
pieces;  ulcers,  perhaps,  have  also  begun  to  appear  externally  behind  or 
under  the  jaw,  and  most  of  all  to  be  dreaded,  and  frequently  accompany- 
ing the  worst  stages  of  blain,  ulcers  begin  to  break  out  about  the  feet,  and 
particularly  at  the  junction  of  the  hair  and  the  hoof,  and  threaten  the  loss 
of  the  hoof. 


THRUSH  IN  THE  MOUTH.  331 

What  is  the  practitioner  now  to  do?  He  must  be  more  diligent  in  his 
local  treatment.  That  invaluable  disinfectant,  the  chloride  of  lime,  must 
be  used  from  morning  to  night,  until  the  gangrenous  character  of  the  ulcers 
is  changed;  and  then  the  tincture  of  aloes,  or  the  tincture  of  myrrh  may- 
be substituted.  The  ulcers  that  may  appear  in  any  other  part,  and  particu- 
larly about  the  feet,  must  undergo  a  similar  treatment.  Some  have  recom- 
mended the  application  of  the  cautery  to  the  bottom  of  the  ulcers,  but 
there  is  no  necessity  for  this.  The  chloride  of  lime,  the  solution  being  by 
degrees  strengthened,  will  not  only  remove  the  fcetor,  but  usually  give  the 
ulcer  a  healthy  surface. 

No  bleeding  will  be  required  here:  the  stage  of  acute  fever  is  passed. 
Physic  should  be  given — one  dose  at  least,  whatever  is  the  state  of  the 
bowels,  and  even  although  the  diarrhcea  of  typhoid  fever  should  be 
established;  but,  at  the  same  lime,  the  system  nmst  be  roused  and  sup- 
ported. A  double  dose  of  aromatic  powder  should  accompany  the  physic; 
and,  after  that,  the  gentian,  calumbo,  and  ginger  roots  should  be  regularly 
administered  in  powder,  suspended  in  gruel;  the  half-pint  of  strong 
home-brewed  ale  not  being  forgotten.  Two  drachms  of  gentian  and 
calumbo,  and  one  of  ginger,  will  constitute  an  average  dose,  and  may  be 
repeated  morning  and  night. 

The  practitioner  should  pay  considerable  attention  to  the  food.  It  is  not 
always  that  the  appetite  fails  in  this  disease;  nay,  we  have  seen  it,  as  in  te- 
tanus, remain  unimpaired  to  the  last;  but  the  soreness  of  the  mouth  has 
prevented  the  animal  from  either  eating  or  ruminating.  He  should  be  fed 
with  gruel — some  of  it  should  always  be  within  his  reach,  and  he  will 
occasionally  sip  no  inconsiderable  quantity  of  it.  More  should  be  poured 
down,  or  given  by  the  stomach-pump — the  latter  being  the  better  way  of 
administering  it.  When  poured  down  bodily  from  the  horn,  it  will 
generally  find  its  way  into  the  rumen,  and  there  it  will  be  retained,  and 
be  in  a  manner  lost;  but  when  given  from  the  small  pipe  of  the  pump, 
and  not  too  strongly  forced  on,  it  will  trickle  down  the  gullet,  and  be  likely 
to  flow  on  into  the  fourth,  or  true  digesting  stomach,  and  be  converted 
into  immediate  nutriment 

There  is  reason  to  hope  that  this  is  one  of  the  somewhat  numerous  class 
of  diseases,  under  which  the  animal  either  cannot  labour  a  second  time,  or 
to  which  the  constitution  betrays  an  evident  insusceptibilty  for  a  con- 
siderable period.  Catde  that  have  recovered  from  the  blain  have  been 
afterwards  purposely  subjected  to  the  danger  of  contagion,  but  without 
eflfect. 

THRUSH  IN  THE  MOUTH. 

There  is  a  disease,  sometimes  an  epidemic,  and  especially  in  the  spring 
and  winter,  when  the  weather  is  unusually  cold  and  wet,  that  may  be 
mistaken,  and  we  believe  has  been  so,  for  gloss-anthrax  or  blain.  It 
consists  in  the  appearance  of  pustules,  or  sometimes  vesicles,  not  merely 
along  the  side,  and  at  the  root  of  the  tongue,  but  all  over  the  mouth,  and 
occasionally  even  on  tjie  outside  of  the  lips.  These  pustules  break,  and 
minute  ulcers  succeed,  which  may  run  a  little  into  each  other;  but  they 
oftener  speedily  heal.  Some  persons  have  taken  to  themselves  a  great 
deal  of  credit  for  the  treatment  of  these  supposed  cases  of  blain. 

This  is  a  very  harmless  affair.  There  is  sometimes  a  slight  degree  of 
fever,  but  rarely  such  as  to  interfere  with  the  appetite,  and  never  such  as 
to  indicate  danger.  The  disease  may  last  for  ten  days,  or  a  fortnight,  or 
more;  but  it  gradually  yields  to  a  few  mild  doses  of  physic;  and  we  have 
thought  that  the  beast  throve  the  better  afterwards  for  having  got  rid  of 
something  that  was  oppressive  to  the  constitution. 


333 


CATTLE. 


THE  SALIVARY  GLANDS. 

The  food,  when  first  gathered,  is  rolled  hastily  into  a  pellet,  and  swal- 
lowed, without  being  mingled  with  much  of  the  moisture  of  the  mouth; 
but  the  second  mastication  is  another  afiair — the  food  is  not  only  to  be 
thoroughly  broken  to  pieces  and  ground  down,  but  brought  into  thai 
softened  and  pultaceous  state,  in  which  it  can  be  thoroughly  acted  upon 
by  the  gastric  juice,  and  the  function  of  digestion  performed.  The  mouth 
is  furnished  with  various  glands,  which  secrete  a  limpid  fluid  of  a  some- 
what saline  taste,  and  called  the  saliva,  by  which  the  food  is  thus  softened. 
These  are  diflerently  named,  according  to  their  situation. 

The  PAROTID  GLAND,  or  the  gland  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  ear, 
is  the  largest  and  most  important  of  them.  It  is  not  so  large  as  in 
the  horse,  but  it  is  of  a  redder  colour,  and,  on  that  account  perhaps, 
more  subject  to  inflammation  than  the  same  gland  in  the  horse.  It 
occupies  the  hollow  which  extends  from  the  root  of  the  ear  to  the  angle  of 
the  lower  jaw.  It  consists  of  a  vast  number  of  little  glands  connected 
together  by  cellular  tissue,  each  having  its  minute  duct  to  convey  away 
the  fluid  that  is  secreted,  and  these  ducts  communicating  with  one 
another,  and  joining  together  to  form  one  main  branch,  termed  the 
parotid  duct,  through  which  the  united  stream  is  conveyed  into  the  mouth. 

The  following  cut  will  give  the  reader  a  sufficient  notion  of  the  situation 
and  connexions  of  this  gland,  and  also  of  the  blood-vessels  of  the  neck, 
and  principal  muscles  of  the  upper  part  of  it.  It  may  be  compared  with 
the  cut  (p.  119)  in  '  The  Horse.' 

1.  The  splenius  (spleen-shaped)  muscle  occupying  almost  the  whole  of 
the  upper  and  side  part  of  the  neck,  and  extending  from  the  parietal  ridge,  as 
far  down  as  the  fourth  and  fifth  vertebrae  of  the  back.  It  arises  in  the  ox  by 
two  tendons,  one  from  the  atlas,  and  tlie  otiier  from  the  mastoid  process  of 


the  temporal  bone:  it  is  attached  superiorly  by  tendinous  and  fleshy  fibres 
to  the  ligament  of  the  neck,  and  inferiorly  by  fleshy  fibres  to  the  transverse 
processes  of  the  bones  of  the  neck,  and  the  fore-part  of  the  spine.  There  is 
one  muscle  on  each  side  of  the  neck.     When  they  act  together  they  erect 


THE  SALIVARY  GLANDS.  333 

and  support  the  head  and  neck;  when  either  acts  alone,  it  inclines  the 
head  and  neck  on  that  side.  It  is  the  muscle  on  which,  with  ihe  trapezius 
in  the  next  cut,  the  form  of  the  upper  part  of  the  neck  principally  de- 
pends; and  no  one  can  be  much  acquainted  with,  or  have  admired,  our 
best  breeds  of  cattle,  without  observing  that  it  is  much  thinner  and  smaller 
than  in  the  horse,  and  has  a  direction  less  oblique. 

2.  The  inferior  oblique  (taking  an  oblique  direction.)  A  deeper-seated 
muscle  on  each  side  of  the  neck,  from  the  first  to  the  second  bones  of  the 
neck. 

3.  The  superior  oblique.  Likewise  a  deeper-seated  muscle  from  the 
first  bone  of  the  neck  to  the  portion  of  the  parietal  bone  which  forms  the 
poll.  Both  acting  together  they  elevate  the  head; — either,  acting  alone, 
turns  it  on  that  side.  When  the  hand  is  passed  down  the  side  of  the 
cervical  ligament,  even  near  to  the  poll,  the  muscles  of  the  neck  will  be 
observed  to  become  rapidly  thicker.  The  thickness  of  the  neck  of  the  ox 
lies  principally  below;  so  it  is  in  almost  all  ruminants,  and  particularly  in 
the  deer  tribe;  and  therefore  these  muscles  are  considerably  larger  in  the 
ox  than  in  the  horse. 

4.  A  portion  o^\h.elevator  humeri  (the  elevator  of  the  arm)  reversed.  This 
important  muscle  occupies  the  same  situation  in  the  ox  as  in  the  horse.  It  is 
seen  in  its  proper  place  at  b,  p.  119,  '  Horse.'  It  arises  by  an  aponeurotic 
expansion  from  the  parietal  ridge,  and  by  a  strong  tendon,  from  the  mastoid 
process  of  the  temporal  bone,  and  from  the  four  first  bones  of  the  neck, 
and,  connecting  itself  with  the  ligament  of  the  neck,  it  goes  to  the  muscles 
of  the  shoulders  and  the  upper  bone  of  the  arm.  When  the  head  is  made 
a  fixed  point,  one  of  them,  acting  alone,  draws  forward  the  shoulder  and 
arm;  when  the  shoulder  is  made  the  fixed  point,  it  turns  the  head  and 
neck;  or,  the  shoulder  still  being  the  fixed  point,  and  both  acting,  the 
head  is  depressed.  This  muscle  is  much  larger  in  the  ox  than  in  the 
horse,  and  presents  to  the  comparative  anatomist  and  to  the  veterinary 
student  some  important  points  of  difference.  It  is  more  decidedly  united 
with  the  rhomboideus  longus  (the  long  rhomboid-shaped  muscle)  than  in 
the  horse,  and  evidently  contributes  materially  to  the  formation  of  those 
sub-cutaneous  muscular  fibres,  which  are  substituted  for  the  proper  sub- 
cutaneous muscle  of  the  neck.  Inferiorly  it  is  divided  into  three  branches 
— the  one,  thin  and  inferior,  goes  to  the  anterior  extremity  of  the  sternum; 
the  second,  at  the  inferior  part  of  the  arm,  furnishes  a  tendon,  which  is 
inserted  with  that  of  the  pectoralis  transversus  (the  transverse  muscle  of 
the  chest)  into  the  humerus;  while  the  superior  division  gives  a  strong 
tendinous  expansion,  which  spreads  over,  and  loses  itself  upon  the  outer 
face  of  the  humerus.  It  may  well,  therefore,  be  a  larger  and  more  power- 
ful muscle  than  in  the  horse. 

5.  The  sub-scapulo-hyoideus  (belonging  to  the  substance  underneath 
the  shoidder,  and  to  the  hyoid  bone,)  from  the  shoulder-blade  to  the  body 
of  the  hyoid  bone,  to  draw  backward  that  bone,  considerably  larger  in  the 
ox  than  in  the  horse. 

6.  Sterno-maxiUaris  (belonging  to  the  sternum  and  the  lower  jaw,) 
from  the  cartilage  in  front  of  the  chest  to  the  angle  of  the  lower  jaw, 
considerably  smaller  than  in  the  horse,  but  contrived  to  adapt  itself 
to  the  peculiar  wants  of  the  animal.  It  is  attached  to  the  lower  jaw 
by  means  of  a  bihn-cated  tendon,  as  beautifully  shown  in  this  cut.  The 
posterior  branch  is  inserted  into  the  masseter  muscle,  on  which  it 
acts  as  a  kind  of  bridle  in  the  usual  process  of  mastication,  and  more 
particularly  as  tending  to  limit  the  lateral  and  grinding  motion  of 
that   muscle.      The  other  goes  on  and  attaches  itself  to  the  buccinator 


334  CATTLE. 

muscle,  immediately  to  be  described.  Thus  they  act  quite  as  much  as 
muscles  of  mastication,  as  they  are  concerned  in  the  bending  of  the  head 
and  perhaps  more  so.  The  whole  muscle  may  act  on  the  head — the 
separate  portions  of  it  on  the  function  of  mastication. 

7.  The  sterno-hyoidens,  from  the  sternum  to  the  hyoid  bone,  and  to 
the  thyroid  cartilage  of  the  larynx,  in  order  to  draw  the  bone  and  the 
cartilage  downward  and  backward. 

8.  The  masseter  (masticating  muscle)  is  far  less  developed  than  in 
the  horse,  but  the  fibres  run  more  obliquely,  and  are  shorter,  and 
therefore  do  not  lose  so  much  in  power  as  their  want  of  volume  would 
seem  to  indicate.  It  occupies  nearly  the  same  situation  as  in  the  horse, 
except  that  there  is  no  projecting  ridge  of  the  malar  bone.  It  covers  the 
greater  part  of  the  side  of  the  superior  maxillary  bone,  and  is  inserted 
into  the  roughened  surface  of  the  angle  of  the  lower  jaw  bone. 

9.  The  buccinator  (the  muscle  by  which  the  human  being  blows  the 
trumpet)  extends  from  the  alveolar  borders  of  the  upper  and  under 
grinders,  over  the  cheeks,  and  the  membrane  of  the  mouth,  and  to  the 
angle  of  the  mouth.  It  tightens  the  membrane  of  the  mouth,  and  thus 
principally  assists  in  the  disposal  of  the  food  in  the  mouth,  and  also  in 
retracting  the  angle  of  the  mouth. 

10.  A  branch  of  the  os  hyoides. 

11.  'T\\e  stylo-maxillaris,  from  the  styloid  process  of  the  occipital  bone, 
to  the  angle  of  the  lower  jaw,  to  draw  it  backward,  and  to  open  it.  There 
are  considerable  differences  in  the  structure  and  connexion  of  this  muscle 
in  the  ox  and  the  horse,  but  they  would  be  difficult  to  explain  in  a  work 
like  this. 

12.  That  portion  of  the  stylo-maxillaris,  which  is  called  the  digastric, 
from  its  double  belly,  is  seen  here. 

13.  The  little  flat  muscle,  the  stylo-hyoidms,  is  liere  represented,  but 
even  thinner  than  in  the  horse;  extending  from  the  styloid  process  of  the 
occipital,  to  the  angle  of  the  corner  of  the  hyoid  bone,  and  its  action  con- 
fined to  the  retracting  and  elevating  of  the  corner  of  that  bone. 

14.  A  muscle  of  the  larynx. 

15.  The  parotid  gland  (the  gland  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  ear,) 
the  greater  part  of  it  reversed,  to  show  the  parts  beneath. 

16.  The  parotid  duct  winding  within  the  angle  of  the  jaw,  and  escaping 
again  at  a  very  litUe  distance  (its  course  within  the  jaw  not  being  one-half 
so  long  as  it  is  in  the  horse,)  and  in  company  with  the  maxillary  vein  and 
artery  climbing  up  the  cheek,  and  perforating  the  buccinator  muscle,  in 
order  to  discharge  its  contents  into  the  mouth.  The  orifice  is  generally 
found  about  the  third  or  fourtli  grinder.  The  situation  of  the  duct,  so 
much  more  posteriorly  than  in  the  horse,  should  be  carefully  observed,  for 
obstruction  and  fistula  of  this  duct  is  far  more  frequent  in  the  ox  than  in 
the  horse,  and  operations  of  various  kinds  may  be  necessary. 

17 .  The  sub-maxillary  gland  {ihe  gland  under  the  jaw,)  placed  more 
posteriorly  in  the  ox  than  in  the  horse.  Its  commencement  is  almost  as 
high  as  that  of  the  parotid,  but  behind  it;  thence  it  reaches  down  to  the 
angle  of  the  jaw,  and  there  begins  to  take  a  direction  forward  between  the 
branches  of  the  lower  jaw,  and  terminates  in  a  duct  which  opens  on  either 
side  of  the  frfenum  of  the  tongue. 

18.  Lymphatic  glands  (glands  containing  lymph)  of  the  neck,  placed 
still  more  posteriorly. 

19.  Lymphatic  glands  found  between  the  branches  of  the  lower  jaw; 
neither  belonging  to  the  sub-maxillary,  nor  sublingual  glands,  but  often 
confounded  with  them.     They  become  inflamed  and  enlarged  in   almost 


INFLAMMATION  OF  THE  PAROTID  GLAND.  335 

every  case  of  catarrh,  and  they  are  some  of  these  glands  which,  by  their 
hardness  and  adherence  to  the  jaw,  indicate  glanders  in  the  horse.  These 
glands  often  enlarge  to  a  very  considerable  degree  in  the  ox,  and  suppurate, 
and  troublesome  ulcers  ensue. 

20.  The  jugular  vein  (the  vein  of  the  throat,)  previous  to  its  bifurcation, 
and  pointing  out  the  usual  situation  for  bleeding.  Cow-leeches,  however, 
bleed  somewhat  lower,  and  there  is  no  great  harm  in  that. 

21.  The  sub-maxillary  vein  returning  the  blood  from  the  tongue,  the 
mouth,  and  the  face  generally.  It  is  scarcely  lost  at  all  within  the  angle 
of  the  lower  jaw,  but  runs  along  the  edge  of  it,  and  might  be  opened  with 
advantage  in  some  affections  of  the  face.  When  it  emerges  from  the  jaw, 
and  begins  to  climb  up  the  face,  it  is  found  between  the  parotid  duct  and 
the  sub-maxillary  artery. 

22.  The  larger  branch  of  the  jugular  above  the  bifurcation  receiving 
the  blood  from  the  upper  part  of  the  face  and  neck,  and  also  from  the  brain. 
A  bleeding  from  this  branch  is  practicable  in  the  horse,  and  is  sometimes 
desirable  when  it  is  our  object,  as  in  cases  of  staggers,  to  get  the  blood  as 
much  as  possible  from  the  brain;  but  in  the  ox,  it  is  so  near  to  the  parotid 
gland,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  open  it  there.  The  bifurcation  is  some- 
times completely  covered  by  the  parotid  gland.  We  must  therefore  be 
always  content  with  bleeding  below  the  division  of  the  jugular  in  cattle, 

23.  The  temporal  vein  (the  vein  of  the  temple.) 

24.  The  trunk  of  the  parotidean  and  auricula}^  veins  (the  veins  of  the 
parotid  gland  and  of  the  ear.) 

25.  The  internal  jugular,  and  particularly  its  passage  below  the  subsca- 
pulo-hyoideus  muscle.  The  path  of  the  internal  jugular  by  the  side  of  the 
carotid,  under  that  muscle,  is  marked  by  a  dotted  line. 

26.  The  carotid  artery  (so  called  because  a  ligature  of  it  was  supposed 
to  produce  sleepiness  or  coma,)  where  it  emerges  from  below  the  subsca- 
pulo-hyoideus  muscle.  Its  path  under  that  muscle,  by  the  side  of  the  in- 
ternal jugular,  is  also  marked  by  a  dotted  line,  showing  the  connexion  of 
the  two  vessels.  The  figures  are  placed  at  the  spot  w^here  it  would  be 
most  convenient  to  operate,  if  circumstances  should  require  that  a  ligature 
should  be  passed  round  the  carotid. 

27.  The  sub-maxillary  artery  given  oflf  from  the  main  trunk,  and  pur- 
suing its  course  anteriorly,  to  bury  itself  beneath  the  angle  of  the  lower 
jaw.  It  is  afterwards  seen  emerging  from  under  that  bone  in  company 
with  the  sub-raaxillary  vein,  and  the  parotid  duct,  and  being  the  lowest  of 
the  three.  It  will  be  observed  that,  on  account  of  there  being  no  tube- 
rosity of  the  lower  jaw  in  cattle,  the  sub-maxillary  artery  escapes  from 
under  the  jaw,  and  mounts  the  cheek  more  than  two  inches  farther  back 
than  it  does  in  the  horse,  and,  therefore,  the  place  at  which  the  state  of  the 
pulse  is  ascertained  in  cattle  is  removed  thus  much  farther  back;  and  even 
at  that  place  the  artery  will  not  always  be  distinctly  felt,  on  account  of  the 
peculiar  and  double  insertion  of  the  sterno-maxillaris  muscle  in  cattle  (vid. 
fig.  6  in  this  cut,)  and  also  because  the  artery  is,  in  a  manner,  buried  be- 
hind the  angle  of  the  jaw. 

28.  The  temporal  artery  at  which  the  pulse  may  often  be  conveniently 
examined. 

29.  One  of  the  arteries  supplying  the  parotid  gland. 

30.  The  eighth  pair  of  nerves,  or  the  motor  organic  nerves. 

31.  One  of  the  linguales,  or  nerves  by  means  of  which  the  tongue  is 
moved. 

INFLAMMATION  OF  THE  PAROTID  GLAND. 

The  parotid  gland,  in  cattle,  is  very  subject  to  inflammation.     Contu- 


336  CATTLE. 

sions,  or  wounds,  of  the  part,  are  frequent  causes  of  inflammation;  and 
this  gland,  in  the  ox,  sympathizes  strongly  with  catarrhal  affections  of  the 
upper  air-passages.  A  bullock  will  rarely  have  hoose,  accompanied  by 
any  degree  of  fever,  without  some  enlargement  and  tenderness  of  the  pa- 
rotid. There  is  scarcely  an  epidemic  among  cattle,  one  of  the  earliest 
symptoms  of  which  is  not  swelling  of  the  head  and  neck.  These  swell- 
ings umler  the  ear  are  guides  on  which  we  place  much,  and,  perhaps  the 
greatest  dependence,  in  judging  of  the  intensity  and  danger  of  the  disease; 
and  particularly,  and  most  of  all  to  be  dreaded,  its  tendency  to  assume  a 
typhoid  form.  These  enlargements  have  been  confounded  with  strangles, 
but  this  has  been  through  want  of  proper  examination  of  the  parts. 

Inflammation  of  the  parotid  gland  is  accompanied  by  heat  and  tender- 
ness of  the  part,  and  which  render  the  beast  unwilling  to  eat,  or  to  rumi- 
nate; and  sometimes  by  so  much  swelling  as  to  threaten  immediate  suffo- 
cation. This,  therefore,  is  one  of  the  varieties  of  swelling  about  the  head 
of  cattle  characterized  by  the  exj)ressive  term  of  strangidlion, 

The  swelling  of  the  parotid  gland  extends  oftener  and  more  rapidly 
downwards  than  upw^ards,  reaching  tlie  throat,  and  pressing  upon  all  the 
neighbouring  vessels.  When  there  is  much  swelling,  suppuration  and 
abscess  are  at  hand,  and  should  be  encouraged  by  diligent  fomentation; 
and  as  soon  as  any  fluctuation  can  be  detected,  the  tumour  should  be  freely 
lanced;  the  fluid  will  then  readily  escape,  and  the  abscess  fill  up:  but  if 
the  swelling  is  Suffered  to  burst,  ulcers  will  be  formed,  exceedingly  difficult 
to  heal,  and  that  will  too  often  run  on  to  gangrene.  It  is  a  singular  thing 
that  while  the  flesh  of  the  ox  is  one  of  The  supports  of  human  life,  and 
no  food  contributes  more  or  healthier  nutriment,  there  is  no  animal  in  which 
gangrenous  ulcers  are  so  frequently  formed,  or  in  which  they  are  so  cor- 
roding and  malignant.  From  inflammation,  apparently  of  only  an  incon- 
siderable portion  of  the  parotid  gland,  we  have  known  ulcers  of  the  most 
ofljensive  character  extend  from  ear  to  ear,  and  expose  the  most  important 
vessels  of  the  upper  part  of  the  neck. 

This  inflammation  is  to  be  combated,  like  all  others,  by  fomentations, 
cataplasms,  and,  occasionally,  blisters,  in  the  early  stage;  bleeding  and  ph)'- 
sicking  must  be  resorted  to  accordfng  to  the  degree  of  general  fever;  and 
after  the  ulcer  has  formed,  the  chloride  of  lime  must  be  used  to  arrest  the 
progress  of  gangrene,  and  the  tincture  of  aloes  to  heal  the  part  after  the 
bursting  of  the  abscess.  Mild  purgatives  will  be  very  useful,  each  of  them 
containing  aromatic  or  tonic  medicine. 

Obstruction  to  the  passage  of  the  saliva  will  sometimes  occur  in  the 
duct;  swelling  will  ensue  at  tlie  place  of  obstruction;  and,  at  length,  the 
fluid  continuing  to  accumulate,  will  burst  the  vessel,  and  a  fistulous  ulcer 
will  be  the  result.  Personal  examination  alone  will  indicate  the  course  to 
be  pursued  in  such  a  case,  but  the  care  of  an  expert  veterinarian  will  be 

reqiiiieJ. 

THE  SUB-MAXILLARY  GLANDS. 

The  second  source  of  the  saliva  is  from  the  suh-maxillary  glands.  The 
bulk  of  the  maxillary  gland  is  seen  at  fig.  17  (p.  332,)  even  posterior  to 
the  parotid  gland.  The  direction  within  the  branches  of  the  jaw  is  also 
plainly  traced;  and  there  is  a  continuation  of  glandular  substance,  or  a  col- 
lection of  litde  glands  extending  on  either  side  within  the  branches  of  the 
jaws,  the  common  duct  from  all  of  which  pierces  through  the  substance 
at  the  root  of  the  tongue,  and  opens  on  either  side  of  the  fragnum. 

The  termination  of  the  duct  is  particularly  evident  in  cattle,  and  is  very 
curiously  constructed;  a  cartilaginous  plate  doubles  upon  itself,  and  serves 
as  a  covering,  or  roof,  to  the  litde  teat-like  orifice  of  the  duct. 


PHARYNX.  337 

BARBS  OR  PAPS. 

Occasionally  in  catarrh,  and  oftener  when  the  membrane  of  the  mouth 
generally  is  somewhat  inflamed,  and  the  pustules  of  which  we  have  spoken 
appear  in  various  parts,  these  little  projections  likewise  become  red  and 
enlarged,  and  the  beast  is  said  to  have  the  barbs  or  paps.  The  cow-leech 
will  too  often  set  to  work  to  burn  or  cut  them  away,  and  converts  tem- 
porary inflammation  into  serious,  and  even  gangrenous  ulcers.  A  dose  of 
physic,  and,  if  necessary,  a  moderate  bleeding,  will  usually  cause  the  barbs 
to  disappear,  or  if  a  little  disposition  to  ulceration  should  appear,  an  alum 
wash  will  be  all  that  is  needed.  The  scissors  and  the  irons  of  the  cow- 
leech  should  be  kept  as  much  as  possible  from  the  mouth  of  the  cow. 

In  cases  of  deep  abscess,  which  sometimes  appear  under  the  tongue, 
from  inflammation,  or,  much  oftener,  from  improper  treatment,  the  chlo- 
ride of  lime  will  be  the  first  and  chief  application.  It  must  be  injected  to 
the  very  bottom  of  the  sinuses,  and  continued  to  be  used,  several  times  in 
the  day,  while  any  unpleasant  smell  is  perceived.  To  this  will  succeed  the 
alum-wash,  or  an  infusion  of  catechu,  the  manner  of  preparing  which  will 
be  found  in  the  list  of  medicines  at  the  end  of  the  Avork. 

THE  SUBLINGUAL  GLANDS. 

The  third  source  of  the  saliva  is  from  numerous  glands  scattered  over 
the  membrane  of  the  mouth  generally,  but  principally  collected  at  its  base 
and  under  the  tongue,  and  therefore  called  the  sublingual  glands.  They 
consist  of  small  collections  of  glands,  with  minute  openings  into  the 
mouth,  but  which  also'  a  little  enlarge,  when  there  is  tendency  to  inflam- 
mation in  the  mouth.  No  harm  can  ever  come  of  these  gigs  and  blad- 
ders if  the  cow-leech  does  not  make  it.  On  every  part  of  the  cheeks  and 
lips  these  little  glands  are  found;  and  the  quantity  of  saliva  obtained  from 
all  of  these,  especially  when  they  are  excited  to  action  in  mastication  or 
rumination,  is  very  great. 

THE   VELUM  PALATI,  OR  SOFT  PALATE. 

Advancing  to  the  back  part  of  the  mouth,  we  find  the  same  curtain  as  in 
the  horse,  dividing  it  from  the  pharynx,  or  cavity,  immediately  above  the 
gullet.  It  is  formed  of  a  continuation  of  the  membrane  of  the  mouth 
anteriorly,  and  of  that  of  the  nose  posteriorly,  and  it  hangs  from  the 
crescent-formed  border  of  the  palatine  bone,  p.  273.  It  reaches  from 
the  palate  almost  to  the  entrance  into  tlie  gullet  and  wind-pipe.  In  the 
horse  it  does  quite  so;  it  hangs  upon  the  back  of  the  tongue  and  epi- 
glottis, and  therefore  all  communication  between  the  mouth  and  the  wind- 
pipe is  cut  off;  and  the  horse  can  breathe  only  through  his  nose;  and  as 
this  curtain  is  so  contrived  as  to  yield  to  any  pressure  from  before,  but  re- 
sist that  which  comes  from  behind,  the  food  passes  under  it  to  an-ive  at  the 
throat,  but  cannot  return,  and  therefore  also  when  vomiting  is  excited  in 
a  horse,  the  food  is  returned  through  the  nose.  In  the  ox,  however,  not 
reaching  quite  so  low,  the  horse  breathes  through  the  mouth,  the  food 
is  returned  to  the  mouth  in  the  natural  process  of  rumination,  and  also  in 
vomiting,  when,  and  which  occurs  very  rarely  indeed,  that  process  takes 
place,  or,  at  least,  regurgitation  from  the  rumen,  for  we  much  doubt 
whether  true  vomiting,  or  the  return  of  food  from  the  fourth  stomach,  was 
ever  seen  in  cattle. 

THE    PHARYNX. 

The  food  having  passed  beneath  this  soft  palate,  reaches  a  funnel-shaped 

cavity  between  the  mouth  and  the  gullet  and   windpipe.     It  is  lined  by  a 

membrane  full  of  little  glands  that  pour  out  a  viscid  fluid,   by   which  the 

pellet  of  food  is  covered  and  prepared  to  pass  more  readily  down  the 

30 


338 


CATTLE. 


gullet.  Witliin  this  membrane  are  muscles  that  contract  with  considerable 
force;  and  the  food,  almost  beyond  the  action  of  the  tongue,  is  seized  as 
it  were,  by  these  muscles  and  forced  along  the  pharynx  to  the  entrance 
into  the  cesophagus  or  gullet. 

Having  thus  completed  our  survey  of  the  head,  we  must  entreat  the 
patience  of  our  readers  while  wc  take  a  rapid  view  of  the  anatomy  and 
proper  form  of  the  neck  and  chest  of  the  ox:  and  if  we  draw  occasional 
comparisons  between  the  structure  of  these  parts  in  the  ox  and  the  horse, 
as  connected  with  the  use  and  destiny  of  the  two  animals,  a  recollection 
of  the  peculiar  valuable  points  of  each  will  be  more  deeply  impressed  on 
the  mind  of  the  reader,  and  we  shall  have  interesting  proof  of  the  adap- 
tation of  each  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  designed. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  ANATOMY  AND  DISEASES  OF  THE  NECK  AND  CHEST. 

In  order  to  understand  the  proper  conformation  of  these  parts,  differing 
so  materially  as  they  do  in  a  kindly  feeding  and  an  unprofitable  beast,  and 
differing,  too,  so  much  in  various  breeils,  each  excellent  in  its  way,  we 
must  liave  recourse  to  two  anatomical  plates,  whicli  we  will  contrive'  so  as 
to  include,  as  much  as  possible,  the  wliole  muscular  system  of  the  ox. 


1.  Grhindaris  oris  (the  ring-shnped  muscle  of  the  mouth.)  This 
muscle  is  found  within  the  border  of  the  lips,  and  constituting  their  prin- 
cipal substance  and  thickness,  forming  two  semi-ovals,  and  united  toge- 
ther at  the  angle  of  the  lips.  It  is  much  larger  in  the  ox  than  in  the 
horse,  and  mixed  with  more  tendinous  fibres,  because  the  lips  are  more 
powerfully  employed  in  the  ox  than  in  the  horse,  in  grasping  and  assisting 
in  tearing  off  the  food. 

2.  The  elevator  of  the  tipper  Up,  and  angle  of  the  nose.  This  muscle  is 
much  smaller  in  the  ox  than  in  the  horse,  because  the  lips  are  not  used  to 
examine  and  to  play  with  things  as  in  the  horse;  and  the  ox  is  not  a  beast 
of  speed,  requiring  rapid  and  extensive  dilatation  of  the  nostrils:  to  which 
may  be  added  that  there  are  no  fdse  nostrils  in  the  ox  to  be  dilated,  and 
about  which  this  muscle  is  principally  employed  in  the  horse. 

3.  The  Zygomaticus,  (arising  near  tlie  yoke-formed  arch  under  which 
the  temporal  muscle  passes)  lies  along  the  middle  of  the  side  of  the  face; 
it  also  assists  in  tlie  motion  of  the  lips,  and  particularly  in  retracting  the 
angle  of  the  lips.  This  is  particularly  developed  in  the  ox,  for  it  has  mucli 
to  do  in  the  gathering  of  the  food. 


ANATOMY  OF  THE  NECK  AND  CHEST.  339 

4.  The  depressor  of  the  lower  eyelid,  a  sub-cutaneous  muscle  of  con- 
siderable development. 

5.  The  depressor  of  the  loiver  lip,  lying  along  the  side  of  the  lower 
jaw,  and  going  to  the  inferior  lateral  part  of  the  under  lip.  To  separate 
the  under  lip  from  the  upper,  this  is  also  larger  than  in  the  horse. 

6.  Orbicularis  palpebrarum  (the  ring-shaped  muscle  of  the  lids,)  em- 
ployed in  keeping  the  eyes  open.  When  this  muscle  ceases  to  act,  the 
eye  closes,  from  the  elasticity  of  the  cartilage  at  the  edge  of  the  lid. 

7.  The  levator  of  the  upper  eyelids. 

8.  The  depressor  of  the  ear.  This  is  a  singular  muscle,  lying  imme- 
diately under  the  skin;  running  over,  and  attached  to,  the  parotid  gland; 
and  reaching  from  the  outer  side  of  the  root  of  the  ear,  down  to  the  very 
larynx.  The  horse  has  very  extensive  action  of  the  ear,  and  holds  a  kind 
of  language  by  means  of  it;  but  the  motion  of  the  ears  of  the  ox  have  a 
more  extensive,  although  slower,  motion,  and  they  have  an  office  which 
those  of  the  horse  rarely  discharge — viz.,  to  defend  the  eyes  from  insects. 

9.  The  difierent  portions  of  the  levator  humeri,  through  tlie  whole  of 
their  course:  the  upper  part  of  this  muscle  was  described  at  p.  333.  Oil 
this  muscle  the  form  of  the  lower  part  of  the  neck  principally  depends,  and 
it  is  much  more  developed  in  some  breeds  than  in  others ;  but  in  all  it  is 
larger  at  its  inferior  insertions  than  it  is  in  the  horse.  However  thin  and 
deer-like  we  may  wish  the  neck  of  a  favourite  ox  to  be  at  the  setting  on 
of  the  head,  we  "look  for  plenty  of  muscles  at  the  bottom  of  it,  or  we  shall 
have  neither  strength  nor  substance  in  any  part  of  the  animal. 

10.  The  sterno-maxillaris,  described  at  p.  333. 

11.  The  trapezius  (the  quadrilateral  muscle.)  This  muscle  in  the  ox  is 
united  with  the  rhomboideus  longus,  and  forms  the  exterior  muscular  layer 
immediately  below  the  integument,  and  above  the  splenius.  (See  p.  332, 
and  also  the  next  Cut.)  On  this,  and  on  the  splenius  beneath,  depend 
the  form  of  the  upper  part  of  the  neck  and  withers,  and,  in  some  breeds, 
the  cervical  portion  of  it  is  particularly  fine.  The  combined  action  of  the 
whole  is  to  raise  the  scapula,  and  draw  the  bone  forwards. 

12.  The  latissimus  dorsi,  so  called  from  its  extent,  being  the  widest 
muscle  of  the  back,  and  reaching  over  the  whole  of  the  upper  and  side 
part  behind  the  scapula,  of  which  bone  it  is  a  muscle,  drawing  it  backward, 
and  elevating  its  inferior  extremity.  It  is  thinner  in  the  ox  than  in  the 
horse,  except  that  much  adipose  matter  insinuates  itself  between  die  fibres, 
and  gives  it  a  false  appearance  of  substance.  In.  fact,  it  has  much  less 
work  to  do  than  in  the  horse. 

13.  The  pectoralis  major  (the  larger  pectoral  muscle.)  It  is  in  the  ox 
the  only  pectoral  muscle,  properly  so  speaking,  for  the  minor  is  not  found. 
There  are,  however,  the  transverse  pectorals,  of  which  we  shall  give  an 
account  presently.  From  the  ensiform  cartilage  at  the  termination  of  the 
true  ribs,  and  even  from  the  external  oblique  muscle  of  the  belly,  it  extends 
forward,  strongly  attaching  itself  to  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  pieces  of 
the  sternum,  and  also  the  lesser  tubercle  of  the  humerus,  and  the  inner 
part  of  the  end  of  the  scapula  or  shoulder-blade.  It  draws  the  scapula 
into  an  upright  position.  This  muscle  is  considerably  smaller  than  in  the 
horse,  because  it  has  not  the  work  to  do. 

14.  The  external  oblique  muscle  of  the  abdomen.  It  extends  over  the 
whole  of  llie  inferior  and  lateral  portions  of  the  belly,  giving  support  to 
the  contents  of  the  belly;  assisting  in  the  evacuation  of  the  faeces  and 
urine,  and  also  in  that  of  the  foetus,  and  being  a  valuable  auxiliary  in  the 
process  of  breathing.  Although  it  has  not  so  much  work  to  perform  as 
an  auxiliary  muscle  in  respiration,  or  in  supporting  the  abdomen  and  Us 


340 


CATTLE. 


contents  in  the  shocks  to  which  they  are  occasionally  exposed  in  rapid 
motion,  yet  this  and  the  other  oblique  muscle  have  a  great  deal  more  con- 
stant labour  than  is  generally  supposed  in  supporting  the  immense  weight 
of  the  distended  paunch,  and  sometimes  powerfully  contracting  upon  it. 
These  oblique  muscles,  which  constitute  the  flank  pieces  of  various  kinds 
in  the  carcass,  are  of  considerable  thickness,  and  never  overlooked  by  the 
butcher  when  examining  a  beast. 

15.  The  glut  sens  maximus,  or  great  muscle,  belonging  to  the  buttock, 
principally  constitutes  the  anterior  middle,  and  external  parts  of  the 
haunch.  Its  attachments  are  very  complicated,  and  its  action  is  what  its 
situation  at  once  indicates,  cither  to  flex  and  bring  forward  the  hind  limbs 
upon  the  loins,  or  the  pelvis  and  loins  upon  the  hind  limbs,  accordingly  as 
either  is  made  a  fixed  point.  This  muscle,  as  we  may  suppose,  is  small 
in  comparison  with  that  of  the  horse,  for  although  the  cow  can  sometimes 
jump  over  a  gate,  almost  as  well  as  any  horse,  and  Mr.  Pekins's  Nagore 
bull  could  not  be  restrained  by  any  fence,  no  great  speed  is  usually  re- 
quired from  them,  nor  do  they  want  the  sudden  and  powerful  flexion  of 
the  limbs  which  is  sometimes  demanded  from  the  horse.  This  muscle  is 
brought  into  view  in  cattle  by  raising  the  aponeurotic  expansion  of  the 
fascia  lata,  and  it  is  concealed  superiorly  and  posterioi-ly  by  the  pro- 
longation of  the  semitendinosus  muscle. 

16.  Fascia  lata.  This  muscle,  although  we  have  termed  it  ^fascia  or 
envelope,  is  a  fleshy  and  tendinous  expansion  over  the  whole  of  the  ante- 
rior and  external  surface  of  the  thigh,  whence  it  spreads  below  the  stifle. 
Its  chief  use  is  to  strengthen  the  muscles  beneath ;  but,  besides  this,  it 
assists  the  extension  of  the  leg  on  the  tliigli  and  the  flexion  of  the  thigh  on 
the  pelvis.  It  is  a  more  extensive  and  thicker  muscle  in  cattle  than  in  the 
horse.  Its  fleshy  portion  is  divided  into  two,  and  its  tendinous  expansion 
extends  over  all  the  muscles  of  the  quarters,  and  unites  with  the  principal 
flexor  muscle  of  the  thigh — tlie  adductor  magnus.  This  is  a  part  of  the 
beast  where  we  look  for  plenty  oi  muscle  and  fat,  and  the  cloddy  buttocks 
of  the  first  Dutch  cattle  having  passed  away,  we  can  hardly  find  quarters 
too  long  and  too  well  developed. 

17  and  18.  The  biceps  fcmoris,  or  two-headed  muscle  of  the  thigh.  In 
the  horse,  it  is  attached  above  to  the  spine  of  the  sacrum,  and  to  some  of 
the  upper  bones  of  the  tail,  and  below  by  one  head  to  the  patella  or  bone 
of  the  knee,  and  by  another  extending  to  the  tibia,  and  the  fascia  covering 
the  leg.  It  flexes  the  leg  upon  the  thigh,  and  contributes  to  turn  the  leg 
inwards.  In  cattle,  it  has  no  spinal  prolongation,  and  it  does  not  ascend 
beyond  the  ischial  tuberosity. 

19.  The  foramina  belonging  to  the  sub-cutaneous  abdominal  vein. 


ANATOMY  OF  THE  NECK  AND  CHEST.  341 

1.  The  splenius  lying  under  the  trapezius,  and  which  has  been  already 
described  in  p.  332. 

2.  The  anterior  portion  of  the  trapezius,  extending  along  the  edge  of 
tlie  cervical  ligament,  from  the  back  of  the  head  to  within  the  superior  part 
of  the  scapula,  and  raising  the  scapula  and  carrying  it  forward.  We  have 
already  alluded  to  it,  p.  339. 

3.  The  rhomboideits  longus  (die  long  diamond-shaped  muscle.)  It  has 
already  been  stated  that  this  muscle  in  the  ox  is  united  with  the  trapezius, 
and  forms  the  superior  and  lateral  part  of  the  neck,  extending  from  the 
head  to  the  withers.  It  varies  materially  in  different  breeds.  Nothing 
can  be  so  unlike  as  the  ridge,  or  crest  of  the  neck  in  the  Devon  and  the 
Galloway,  or  even  the  Devon  and  the  Hereford.  In  all  cattle  it  is  pro- 
portionally larger  than  in  the  horse,  because  the  neck  generally  was  de- 
signed to  be  more  fleshy;  a  fine  crest,  however,  the  neck  gradually  thick- 
ening below,  may  be  considered  as  a  point  of  beauty  in  cattle. 

4.  The  acrratus  anticus  major  (the  anterior  part  of  the  great  saw-shaped 
muscles,  or  those  by  which  the  shoulder  of  the  animal  is  attached  to  the 
trunk,  and  the  weight  of  the  trunk  supported.)  These  muscles  of  the  shoul- 
der are  more  numerous  in  the  ox  than  in  the  horse,  and  are  more  decidedly 
separated  from  each  other  by  cellular  and  adipose  matter.  The  strength  of 
attachment  which  the  rapid  motion  of  the  horse  sometimes  renders  neces- 
sary, is  not  wanted,  but  the  accumulation  of  the  flesh  and  fat  goes  on  wher- 
ever it  can.  The  serrated  muscles  are  seen  prolonged  upon  the  side  behind 
the  shoulder. 

5.  One  of  the  insertions  of  the  levator  humeri. 

6.  A  portion  of  the  serratus  muscle,  occupying  the  posterior  and  infe- 
rior portion  of  the  neck,  where  the  neck  emerges  from,  or  enters  into  the 
chest.  This,  in  every  breed  of  cattle,  is  much  larger  than  it  is  found  in 
the  horse;  indeed,  it  is  altogether  a  different  muscle,  or  it  consists  of  the 
union  of  two  or  three  muscles,  particularly  one  lying  across  upon  the  first 
ribs.  It  is  composed  of  a  long  band,  larger  posteriorly,  which  takes  its 
origin  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth  rib,  and  spreads  forwards  over  the 
three  anterior  ribs,  and  even  to  the  vertebras  of  the  withers. 

7.  Another  head  of  the  levator  humeri. 

8.  The  triceps  extensor  brachii,  or  three-headed  extensor  of  the  arm. 
Two  of  the  portions  are  here  seen,  the  one  from  the  external  part  of  the 
shoulder  to  the  outer  tubercle  on  the  bone  of  the  arm,  and  also  to  the 
outer  parts  of  the  elbow;  and  the  other  occupying  the  angular  space 
between  the  shoulder-blade  and  the  bone  of  the  arm;  the  muscle  has 
its  principal  lower  insertion  in  the  posterior  and  superior  part  of  the  elbow. 
There  is  a  third  portion  on  the  interior  of  the  scapula  and  the  bone  of  the 
arm.  The  action  of  the  compound  muscle  is  evidently  to  bind  the 
humerus,  or  bone  of  the  arm,  on  the  shoulder-blade,  and  thus  to  extend 
and  throw  forward  the  lower  part  of  the  limb.  These  muscles  are,  in  a 
very  marked  degree,  smaller  in  catde  than  they  are  in  the  horse,  and  for 
these  evident  reasons,  that  the  same  strength  is  not  required  in  the  ox,  rare- 
ly a  beast  of  burden,  ami  much  seldomer  his  speed  being  taxed  to  any  ex- 
tent; and  because  needless  accumulation  of  flesh  here  would  be  precisely  in 
the  part  where  it  is  coarsest  and  least  valuable.  The  diminution  of  muscle 
on  the  external  part  of  the  shoulder,  and  the  accumulation  of  cellular  and 
adipose  matter  between  it  and  the  trunk  being  the  reverse  of  what  we  find 
in  the  horse,  are  apt  illustrations  of  the  skill  with  which  every  animal  is 
adapted  to  his  destiny. 

9.  Another  portion  of  the  serrated  muscles,  belonging  to  the  back  and 
ribs.     These  are  principally  muscles  of  respiration;  they  elevate  the  ribs, 

30* 


349  CATTLE. 

and  bring  them  forward,  and  thus  expand  the  chest,  and  assist  in  the  pro- 
cess of  inspiration.  This  is  a  small  muscle  compared  with  that  of  the 
same  name  in  the  horse,  because  from  the  idle  life  of  the  ox,  his  breathing 
is  seldom  hurried. 

10.  The  internal  oblique  muscle,  or  inner  layer  of  muscles  constituting 
the  walls  of  the  belly.  These  muscles  assist  the  external  ones  in  support- 
ing the  weight  of  the  belly,  and  compressing  its  contents.  Being  placed 
somewhat  farther  back  than  the  external  oblique,  they  will  offer  less  assist- 
ance in  respiration,  but  contribute  more  to  the  expulsion  of  the  urine  and 
faeces. 

17.  The  iliacus  internus,  or  inner  and  larger  muscle  belonging  to  the 
flanks,  occupies  the  upper  and  inner  space  between  the  spine  and  the 
thigh.  Its  use  is  to  bring  the  thigh  under  the  haunch,  which,  in  the 
slow-motioned  ox,  is  rarely  performed  with  much  rapidity  or  force,  there- 
fore they  are  not  so  developed  as  in  the  horse.  It  enters  into  the  com- 
position of  the  aitch  bone  and  the  upper  part  of  the  round. 

18,  19,  20.  The  glutxi  muscles  lie  on  the  upper  and  outer  parts  of  the 
haunch,  and  the  good  or  deficient  form  of  the  quarters  depend  upon  them. 
They  are  important  in  the  horse,  as  indicating  the  strength  of  the  quarters. 
They  are  valuable  in  the  ox,  as  indicating  the  general  muscularity  of  the 
system.  This  may,  however,  be  carried  too  far,  and  it  used  to  be  in  the 
old  Holderness  cattle.  In  the  horse,  in  whom  they  have  so  much  to  do, 
these  muscles  are  coarse  and  fibrous;  but,  contributing  to  the  fonnation  of 
the  rump,  and,  in  a  certain  degree,  of  the  round,  they  constitute  some  of 
the  tenderest  and  most  valuable  parts  of  the  ox. 

21.  The  pyrif or m  (pear-shaped)  muscle,  found  within  the  cavity  of  the 
pelvis,  and  on  the  inside  of  the  aitch-bone  and  the  rump.  Small  and 
tendinous  in  the  horse;  much  larger,  and  composed  of  softer  fibres,  in  the 
ox.     Its  oflice  is  to  assist  in  the  extension  of  the  haunch. 

22.  Levator  cuudse  brevis  (the  shorter  elevator  of  the  tail,)  of  which 
the  liorse  makes  beautiful  use,  when,  in  the  moment  of  excitement,  he 
gallops  along  with  his  tail  arched:  it  is  used  in  common  with  other  muscles 
to  drive  away  the  insects  which  annoy  the  animal. 

23.  Levator  caudse  longus  (the  long  elevator  of  the  tail.) 

24.  Depressor  caudse,  by  which  the  tail  is  pressed  upon  the  haunch,  and 
that  sometimes  wilh  a  force  that  would  scarcely  be  thought  possible. 

25.  The  intertransversal  muscles,  whose  oblique  fibres  run  from  the 
base  to  the  edge  of  the  bones  of  the  tail,  through  its  whole  extent,  and  by 
which  the  lateral  motions  are  aflected.  By  the  union  of  all  of  these  muscles 
the  tail  is  made  a  most  effective  instrument  in  driving  away  or  destroying 
thousands  of  winged  blood-suckers,  by  which  the  animal  would  otherwise 
be  tormented. 

These  muscles  are  not  so  large  or  so  strong  in  the  ox  as  in  the  horse. 

26.  The  rectus  fenioris,  or  strait  muscle  of  the  thigh,  nms  along  the 
whole  of  the  anterior  portion  of  the  thigh,  from  the  ilium,  to  the  patella,  or 
knee-cap.  It  is  a  very  conspicuous  muscle  in  the  round,  and  helps  to 
extend  the  thigh  and  advance  the  haunch.  This  muscle,  however,  is  not 
so  large  in  the  ox  as  in  the  horse. 

27.  The  vasti  muscles,  so  called  from  their  occupying  the  greater  part 
of  the  thigh.  The  three  branches  are  much  more  distinct  than  in  the 
horse,  but  they  are  not  so  much  developed,  for  they  have  not  the  work  to 
do.  The  butcher  thinks,  and  very  truly,  that  there  is  a  great  diflerence 
between  the  round  of  the  beast  that  has  worked,  and  of  another  that  has 
done  no  work  at  all;  and  he  is  very  right,  for  nothing  tends  so  much  to 
the  development  of  the  muscular  system  as  regular  exercise. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  NECK.  S43 

28.  The  great  adductor,  or  bringer  forward  of  the  thigh.  This  muscle 
occupies  the  external  face  of  the  posterior  part  of  the  thigh.  It  rises  as 
high  as  the  spine  of  the  sacrum,  and  reaches  the  anterior  portion  of  the 
leg  by  three  different  branches  or  heads,  and  thence  called  the  triceps 
adductor  femoris.  It  flexes  the  leg  upon  the  thigh;  it  carries  the  whole 
limb  backward  in  the  act  of  kicking,  and  also  assists  in  elevating  the  fore- 
part of  the  body  in  preparing  for  a  leap.  It  is  larger  than  in  the  horse, 
reaching  along  the  spine,  to  the  very  angle  of  the  croup. 

29.  The  semitendinosus,  so  called  from  its  half-tendinous  construction, 
constitutes,  with  the  next  muscle,  the  posterior  and  internal  face  of  the 
haunch  and  thigh.     It  is  a  flexor  of  the  leg. 

30.  Adductor  tibise  longus  (the  long  adductor,  or  bringer  forward  of  the 
thigh;)  sometimes  called,  from  its  construction,  the  semi-tendinosus 
muscle.  It  is  not  so  closely  connected  with  the  former  in  the  ox  as  it  is  in 
the  horse,  but  it  is,  like  it,  a  flexor  of  the  leg. 

The  reader  is  now,  perhaps,  prepared  to  enter  with  us,  so  far  as  we  can 
do  it  without  being  too  drily  anatomical,  into  the  consideration  of  the  form 
and  structure  of  the  neck  and  trunk  of  cattle;  and  particularly  as  con- 
nected with  the  two  grand  purposes  for  which  they  are  bred — the  production 
of  milk  while  living,  aud  animal  food  when  dead. 

DESCRIPTION    OF  THE  NECK. 

The  neck  of  the  ox  (see  cut  of  skeleton,  p.  272)  is  composed  of  seven 
bones,  possessing  the  same  relative  situation,  and  distinguished  by  the 
same  names,  as  in  the  horse.  (See  p.  63,  '  Horse.')  Let  us  first  take  a 
rapid  glance  at  the  neck  of  the  horse.  Observe  the  long  chain  of  bones — 
each  small,  compared  with  the  len^  of  the  chain — smooth — so  connected  as 
to  assume  an  arched  form — and  th^  head  so  set  on,  '-hat  pressure  or  power 
bearing  upon  the  lower  part  of  it,  the  mouth,  and  in  the  direction  of  the  body, 
is  modified  and  assisted  by  every  varying  bend  of  the  arch  of  the  neck.  We 
cannot  look  at  it  for  a  moment  without  being  convinced  that  the  purposes, 
in  view,  and  which  are  beautifully  accomplished,  were  gracefulness,  light- 
ness, facility  of  motion,  and  the  perfect  play  of  elasticity.  If  the  hand  of 
the  rider  or  driver  must,  after  all,  bear  a  portion  of  the  weight,  and  have 
the  guidance  and  management  of  the  whole  machine,  everything  is  so 
contrived,  that  that  weight  shall  be  scarcely  felt,  and  that  the  immense 
strength  of  the  horse  may  often  be  safely  managed  by  the  energies  of  a 
child. 

Now,  let  us  observe  the  neck  of  the  animal  that  is  the  subject  of  the 
present  Treatise — an  animal  valuable,  but  for  other  purposes.  Observe 
the  shortness  of  the  neck  generally — the  shortness,  and  yet  the  magnitude 
of  every  bone — the  avoidance  of  the  comparatively  smooth  surface  which 
we  have  observed  in  the  horse,  and  the  springing  out,  above  and  below, 
and  on  one  side  and  the  other,  of  processes  which,  although  found  in  the 
horse,  are  neither  so  long  nor  so  broad,  nor  so  roughened.  Then  that 
proudly-arched  crest  which  we  admired  so  much  in  the  horse — it  has 
vanished;  or  rather,  if  it  exists  at  all  it  is  reversed:  while  the  head  is  set 
on  in  a  ten-times  more  awkward  manner  than  we  find  it  in  the  most 
determined  star-gazer.  Pleasure  of  riding  or  driving  cannot,  for  a 
moment,  be  associated  with  such  an  animal;  and  there  is  not  an  elastic 
movement  about  the  whole  of  this  part  of  the  machine.  True,  oxen  are 
ridden  in  the  interior  of  India.  It  is  because  they  are  the  cattle  of  the 
country,  and  few  horses  are  there;  and,  after  all,  they  are  used  for  little 
else  than  the  conveyance  of  despatches,  in  which  the  superior  oflicer  rarely 
consults  the  ease    or  comfort  of  the   messenger;  or  for  the  drawing  of 


844  CATTLE. 

carriages,  where  pleasantness  of  action  is  a  matter  of  no  consequence. 
They  are  used,  also,  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  vales  of  Mandara;  but 
horses  are  there  unknown. 

The  intention  of  nature  is  plain  enough  in  the  construction  of  the  neck 
of  the  ox.  All  these  widened,  roughened,  tuberous  bones  are  for  the 
attachment  of  muscles — the  accumulation  of  flesh.  More  can  be  got  on 
the  neck  of  one  ox  than  of  two  horses.  True,  these  are  not  the  prime  parts 
of  the  animal,  but  we  see  the  commencement  of  the  principle.  The  one 
animal  was  destined  to  carry  us  for  our  pleasure,  and  the  otlier  to  produce 
flesh  and  fat  for  our  nourishment.  Let  the  reader  compare  two  almost 
perfect  examples — the  neck  of  the  horse  (in  p.  154  of  that  Treatise)  and 
the  neck  of  Mr.  Mure's  Queen  of  the  Scots,  and  deservedly  was  she  called 
so,  in  p.  166  of  this  work.  In  both  of  these,  Nature  is  working  wisely  and 
well,  and  in  both  she  is  fitting  the  animal  for  the  situation  it  occupies  in 
the  creation. 

A  little  of  the  arched  form  of  the  neck  may  be  traced  in  the  Devon  ox,  and 
is  no  detriment  either  to  his  appearance  or  his  actual  value;  although  com- 
jnon  consent  seems  to  have  determined  that  the  line  from  the  horns  to  the 
withers  should  scarcely  deviate  from  that  of  the  back.  Is  tliis  trait  of  the 
thorough  bred  horse,  here  appearing  in  cattle,  connected  with  that  activity 
in  work  for  which  this  breed  has  ever  been  unrivalled?  Tliis  form  of  the 
neck  is  seen  to  advantage  in  the  cut  of  Lord  Western's  working  Devon  ox, 
just  beginning  to  fatten.  The  Sussex,  and  Hereford,  and  Pembroke,  and 
Welsh,  generally,  and  all  the  Scots,  horned,  or  humbled,  have,  occasionally 
at  least,  this  rising  of  the  forehand;  and  we  must  be  permitted  still  to 
retain  this  form  of  the  neck,  as  one  of  the  characteristics,  and  no  defect,  of 
the  middle-horns,  who,  in  particular  districts,  and  for  particular  purposes, 
will  still  remain  and  be  duly  valued,  when  the  triumph  of  the  short 
horns  is  complete. 

We  must  go  even  a  little  further  tlian  this,  and  claim  the  rising  crest  as 
an  essential  point  in  every  good  bull  of  every  breed.  It  shall  be,  what,  in 
the  majority  of  cases,  it  perhaps  is,  nothing  more  than  an  accumulation  of 
fat  about  the  ligament  of  the  neck,  and  the  splenius  and  complexiis 
muscles;  but  it  indicates  that  broad  base  of  muscle  beneath — that  bulk 
and  strength  of  neck,  so  indicative  of  the  true  masculine  character.  We 
refer  to  the  Devon  bull  (p.  13,)  to  whom,  indeed,  it  belongs,  in  virtue  of 
his  breed — and  we  refer,  slso,  to  the  West  Highland  bull  (p.  65,)  who 
has  the  same  claim  to  it,  and  also,  to  the  Old  Craven  bull  (p.  189;)  to  the 
new  Leicester  bull  (p.  196,)  and  even  to  the  short-horned  bull  (p.  242;) 
nay,  we  must  not  forget  the  Nagore  bull  (p.  268,)  who  to  the  arched  form 
of  his  neck  owes  much  of  the  beauty  which  he  actually  possesses,  notwith- 
standing the  unsightly  hump  upon  his  shoulders. 

The  actual  bulk  of  muscle,  however,  in  any  part  of  the  ox  is  not  so 
much  greater  as  the  extended  and  roughened  surfaces  would  lead  us  to 
imagine.  The  head,  or  tlie  insertion  of  the  muscle,  may  be  spread  over 
the  whole  surface  of  the  bone;  but  we  have  not  proceeded  far  in  our 
examination  of  that  muscle,  before  we  find  that  its  structure,  at  least  in  the 
unworked  ox,  is  not  so  compact  as  that  of  the  horse.  A  great  deal  more 
cellular  and  adipose  substance  is  inserted,  not  only  between  the  diflerent  mus- 
cles, but  between  the  little  divisions  or  bundles  of  which  each  muscle  is  com- 
posed; and,  in  fact,  between  the  very  fibres  of  the  muscle  itself;  and  that  to 
so  great  an  extent,  that  in  a  well-fatted  beast  it  is  almost  impossible  to  meet 
with  any  simple  muscle.  The  whole  is  marled — streaks  of  fat  enclosed  in 
cellular  substance,  run  parallel  with  almost  every  fibre.  This,  at  least,  is 
the   case   with   many  breeds  of  cattle;  and  it  was  one  of   the    greatest 


FORM  OF  THE  NECK.  845 

triumphs  achieved  by  the  early  advocates  of  the  short-horns,  when  they 
were  enabled  to  get  rid  of  the  dark  liery  flesh  of  the  old  Holderness,  and 
substitute  the  far  superior,  yet  not  even  now,  to  its  full  extent,  the  fine- 
grained marled  beef  of  other  breeds.  Some  improvement  might  be 
effected  here,  and  it  is  well  worth  the  trial. 

THE  PROPER  FORM  AND  SIZE  OF  THE  NECK. 

Some  breeds  of  cattle  used  to  be  remarkable  for  the  fineness  of  the 
neck  at  the  setting  on  of  the  head,  and  this  was  considered  to  be  one  of 
their  greatest  beauties,  as  well  as  the  surest  proof  of  the  purity  of  their 
breed:  this  was  long  the  case  with  the  North  Devon  ox,  and  when,  by 
chance,  this  fineness  extended  to  the  withers,  and  was  accompanied  by  a 
shoulder  almost  as  oblique  as  that  of  a  thorough-bred  horse,  the  animal 
was  imagined  to  be  perfect.  He  was  a  beautiful  and  a  valuable  animal 
and  particularl}^  as  this  fineness  of  the  neck  and  withers  was  usually 
contrasted  in  him  by  a  deep  breast  and  an  open  and  wide  bosom.  That 
man,  nevertheless,  deserved  the  thanks  of  the  Devonshire  breeders,  who 
first  stealthily  introduced  one  cross  with  the  Hereford;  he  a  little  dimi- 
nished this  fineness  of  the  neck,  but  he  did  not  impair  the  general  beauty 
of  the  animal:  he  did  not  lessen  his  activity  in  the  slightest  degree;  but 
he  increased  his  size,  and  his  aptitude  to  fatten  too. 

In  the  Ayrshire  cow  of  twenty  years  ago  we  had  a  specimen  of  the 
extent  to  which  a  clean  neck  and  throat  might  be  carried,  without  per- 
haps, diminishing  at  all  the  milking  properties;  but,  we  apprehend,  m.ate- 
rially  to  the  disadvantage  of  tlie  farmer  when  her  milking  daj^s  were  past. 
This  prejudice  in  favour  of  the  small  neck  led  the  farmer  even  to  '  prefer 
their  dairy-bulls  according  to  the  feminine  aspectof  their  heads  and  necks.' 
Perhaps  the  disparity  of  size  which  then  existed  between  the  northern 
and  southern  cattle  might  somewhat  justify  them  in  choosing  the  smallest 
variety  of  the  new  breed.  This,  however,  havii^g  passed  over,  the  Aj^r- 
shire  breeder,  still  fond  of  a  neck  finely  shaped  towards  the  head,  has 
produced  one  a  great  deal  thicker  towards  the  shoulder  and  breast;  and 
this  not  interfering  as  experience  has  now  taught  him,  with  the  milking 
qualities  of  the  animal,  while  it  gave  an  earnest  of  aptitude  to  fatten  after- 
wards. 

Mr.  Marshall,  when  describing  the  new  Leicester  breed,  speaks  of 'the 
forend  being  long,  but  light  to  a  degree  of  elegance;  the  neck  thin,  the 
chap  clean  and  the  head  fine;  the  shoulders  remarkably  fine  and  thin,  as 
to  bone,  bid  thichh)  covered  ivilhJJesh,  and  not  the  smallest  proti(berance 
of  bone  discernible.^  He  also  thus  speaks  of  Mr.  Fowler's  celebrated  bull 
Shakspeare: — '  His  head,  chap,  and  neck  Avere  remarkably  fine  and  clean; 
but  his  chest  was  extraordinarily  deep,  and  his  brisket  down  to  his  knees.' 

The  present  improved  short-horn,  in  his  state  of  greatest  and  most 
unnatural  fatness,  has,  or  ought  to  have,  a  tendency  to  fineness  of  the 
neck,  at  the  setting  on  of  the  head,  however  that  neck  may  rapidly 
increase  in  bulk,  and  in  the  opinion  of  soma,  give  too  great  a  weight  to  the 
fore-quarters. 

The  splenius,  trapezius  and  complexus  muscles  are  those  which  have 
most  to  do  with  the  usual  bulk  of  the  superior  part  of  the  neck,  and 
with  that  which  it  may  attain  under  the  process  of  fattening.  The 
splenius  may  be  seen  at  fig  1,  p.  332;  the  trapezius  is  depicted  at 
fig.  11,  p.  339;  and  the  rhonifwideus  longus,  with  which  the  trapezius  is 
united  in  the  ox,  is  brought  into  view  at  fig.  3,  p.  341.  The  coinplexiis 
major  is  situated  under  them.  Some  of  it  rises  as  low  as  the  trans- 
verse processes  of  the  four  or  five  first  bones  of  the  back,   and  from  all, 


346  CATTLE 

except  the  two  higher  of  the  bones  of  the  neck.  It  therefore  ha.s  its 
greatest  bulk  about  the  lower  part  of  the  neck;  and  on  it,  and  the  fatty 
matter  connected  wiih  it,  the  forav  and  bulk  of  that  portion  of  the  neck 
depend.  Its  olfice  is  to  raise  ihe  neck;  aud  elevate  and  protrude  the 
head.  It  is,  however,  generally  speaking,  a  much  smaller  muscle  than  in 
the  horse.  It  has  not  so  much  to  do:  there  is  not  so  extensive  and  rapid 
motion  of  the  head  required  from  the  ox.  The  form  of  the  under  part  of 
the  neck  is  much  influenced  by  the  levator  humeri,  which  is  seen  at  lig.  4, 
p.  332;  fig.  9,  p.  338;  and,  still  lower  down,  by  the  peeforcd  muscle;  for 
there  is  but  one  in  the  ox,  seen  at  fig.  13,  p.  339.  Considering,  however, 
the  laxity  of  the  muscular  fibre  in  the  ox,  and  the  interposition  of  fatiy 
matter  in  every  part  of  the  muscular  system,  this  muscle  can  acquire  con- 
siderable bulk,  and  is,  as  we  have  said,  that  on  which  the  form  and  bulk 
of  the  neck,  at  its  lower  and  more  important  part,  principally  depend. 
Whatever  may  have  been  said  of  fine  and  small  necks,  the  neck  must 
rapidly  thicken  as  it  descends,  or  we  shall  have  a  general  lightness  of 
carcass,  Avhich  will  render  the  animal  comparatively  worthless  as  a  grazing 
beast. 

There  are  other  muscles,  however,  placed  under  the  eomplexus — viz., 
the  eomplexus  minor,  and  the  large  and  small  recti,  and  oblique  muscles, 
concerned  in  the  lateral  motion  of  the  head,  which  have  comparatively 
greater  bulk  in  the  ox  than  in  the  horse  and  contribute  materially  to  the 
bulk  of  the  neck. 

THE  ARTERIES  OF  THE  NECK. 

Before  we  leave  the  neck  we  should  describe  the  principal  blood-vessels 
which  are  brought  into  view  in  the  cut  at  p.  332.  The  carotid  artery  (fig.  26, 
pp.  332  and  335,)  and  some  of  its  ramifications,  are  the  only  arteries  that  we 
could  bring  into  view.  The  carotid  artery  on  either  side,  as  in  the  horse, 
proceeds  from  the  hearl — escapes  from  the  chest  with  the  windpipe  and 
the  gullet;  and  approaching  the  windpipe,  and  clinging  to  its  posterior 
surface,  climbs  the  neck,  supplying  the  difierent  parts  with  blood,  until  it 
arrives  at  the  larynx,  where  it  divides  into  two  branches — the  external  and 
internal.  The  external  ramifies  over  the  face  and  external  part  of  the 
head — the  internal  enters  the  skull  and  is  the  main  source  whence  the 
brain  derives  its  arterial  blood.  Smaller  streams  are  sent  to  the  brain 
from  the  vertebral  arteries,  which,  defended  and  partly  concealed  in  canals 
formed  for  them  in  the  bones  of  the  neck,  after  having  fed  the  neighbour- 
ing parts,  likewise  expend  the  remainder  on  the  brain,  entering  by  the 
great  foramen,  through  which  the  spinal  chord  escapes.  A  third  and 
smaller  branch,  leaving  the  main  trunk  high  up  in  the  neck,  sends  a 
small  vessel  to  the  brain,  under  the  title  of  the  occipital  aitery. 

We  can  conceive  of  very  k\v,  if  any,  cases  in  which  it  would  be  either 
necessary  or  advisable  to  bleed  from  an  artery  in  the  ox.  The  temporal, 
which  we  sometimes,  but  not  quite  justifiably,  open  in  the  horse,  is,  in  a 
manner,  out  of  our  reach  in  the  ox  ;  and  the  artery  of  the  forehead, 
although  larger  than  in  the  horse,  is  so  defended  by  its  bony  canal, 
as  not  to  be  easily  got  at;  besides  which,  in  bleeding  from  an  arteiy,  there 
will  always  be  extreme  difliculty  either  in  getting  the  quantity  of  blood 
which  we  want,  on  account  of  the  contraction  of  the  vessel,  or  of  stop- 
ping the  haemorrhage,  if  the  blood  flowed  freely.  We  will,  therefore,  only 
speak  of  a  iew  anatomical  points  of  difference,  of  which  it  is  possible  that 
advantage  may,  yet  very  rarely,  be  taken  in  a  practical  point  of  view. 

There  is  one  circumstance  which  will  strike  every  oiie  who  compares  the 
vascular  system  of  the  horse  and  the  ox,  and  that  is — with  the  exception  of 


BLEEDING.  347 

the  larger  vessels  immediately  from  the  heart — the  smallness  of  the  arte- 
ries, and  the  largeness  of  the  veins.  "What  enormous  vessels,  compared 
with  the  corresponding  ones  in  the  horse,  are  the  jugulars  and  milk  veins! 
and  what  a  torrent  of  blood  will  pour  from  them  if  a  large  incision  is  made! 
Is  it  that  there  are  fewer  large  venons  trunks  in  the  ox  than  the  horse,  and 
that,  therefore,  these  few  must  be  large?  Anatomical  research  does  not 
sanction  this; — or  has  it  reference  to  ihe  functions  which  the  two  animals 
are  generally  called  on  to  discharge,  or  does  it  give  us  a  practical  lesson,  as 
to  the  nature  and  proper  treatment  of  these  two  classes  of  the  veterinary 
surgeon's  patients?  We  do  not  feel  ourselves  yet  qualified  to  enter  into 
the  consideration  of  these  questions,  although  they  are  most  important 
ones.     We  shall  bear  them  in  mind  as  we  pass  on. 

Most  of  the  arterial  vessels  of  the  head  and  face  are  smaller  than  in  the 
horse. 

The  sub-maxillary  artery  has  been  already  described  (fig.  27,  pp.  332 
and  335,)  pursuing  its  course  anteriority,  to  bury  itself  beneath  the  angle 
of  the  lower  jaw,  whence  it  speedily  emerges  again,  and  much  closer  to 
the  angle  of  the  jaw  than  in  the  horse.  This  should  be  remembered  when 
we  are  feeling  for  the  pulse;  for  many  a  beginner  has  felt  himself  a  little 
mortified,  because  he  could  not  find  the  vessel  in  what  he  supposed  was  its 
proper  place,  and  sometimes  could  not  find  it  at  all.  It  occurs  under  some 
circumstances  of  disease,  that  even  in  the  horse  it  is  difficult,  or  impossible, 
to  ascertain  the  pulse  at  the  jaw.  This  is  oftener  the  case  in  the  ox,  from 
circumstances  that  have  already  been  explained,  and  should,  therefore,  teach 
us  to  go  at  once  to  the  side  when  there  is  any  difficulty  about  the  jaw. 

The  temporal  artery  is  much  larger  in  the  ox  than  in  the  horse,  because 
it  has  a  greater  surface  to  ramify  upon  and  to  feed:  the  figure  will  point 
out  the  spot  at  which  the  pulse  will  usually  be  most  conveniently  felt. 

The  anterior  auricular  artery  is  also  large  in  the  ox.  It  supplies  not 
only  the  anterior  muscles  of  the  ear,  but  also  the  temporal  muscle;  not, 
indeed,  so  developed  as  thatof  the  horse,  but  deeply  lodged  in  the  temporal 
fossa.  The  pulse  may  be  very  readily  felt  by  means  of  it,  and  perhaps 
more  readily  than  from  the  temporal. 

The  superciliary  artery,  escaping  from  the  foramen  above  the  orbit  of 
the  eye,  is  a  considerable  one.  It  forms  two  branches,  of  which  one  goes 
to  the  root  of  the  horn,  and  contributes  to  the  vascularity  and  nutriment  of 
that  part.     The  other  descends  downward,  on  the  side  of  the  face. 

The  occipital  artery  is  smaller  than  in  the  horse:  the  brain  of  the  ox, 
which  a  branch  of  this  artery  supplies,  is  but  one  half  as  large  as  the  brain 
of  the  horse. 

THE  VEINS  OF  THE  NECK. 

We  here  recognize  the  two  jugulars  which  are  found  in  most  animals, 
but  not  in  the  horse.  The  smaller,  or  internal  jugular  (fig.  25,  p.  333,) 
is  deeply  seated,  and  no  practical  advantage  can  be  taken  of  it,  save  the 
knowledge,  that  in  inflammation  and  loss  of  the  external  vein  from  bleed- 
ing, the  return  of  the  blood  from  that  side  of  the  face  and  head  would  be 
facilitated  by  the  internal  one:  but  even  in  the  horse  little  injury  is  sus- 
tained by  the  loss  of  the  external  jugular,  for  nature  is  wonderfully  inge- 
nious in  making  provision  for  carrying  on  the  circulation. 


The  jugular  is,  by  common  consent,  adopted  as  the  usual  place  for 
bleeding  cattle.  The  vessel  is  easily  got  at;  it  is  large,  and  can  scarcely 
be  missed  by  the  clumsiest  operator.     The  strap  round  the  neck,  in  order 


348  CATTLE. 

to  raise  the  vein,  should  be  dispensed  with,  at  least  among  practitioners. 
It  presses  equally  on  both  sides  of  the  neck;  and  we  have,  more  than 
once  seen  consequences  that,  for  a  little  while,  bore  an  alarming  appear- 
ance, produced  by  this  sudden  stoppage  of  the  return  of  so  much  of  the 
blood  from  the  vein.  If  the  vein  is  pressed  upon  by  the  finger,  a  little 
below  the  intended  bleeding  place,  it  will,  as  in  the  horse,  become  suffi- 
ciently prominent  to  guide  any  one  who  should  be  entrusted  with  the  bleed- 
ing of  a  beast. 

The  instrument  of  the  veterinary  surgeon  should  be  the  lancet,  but  one 
consideralily  broader-shouldered  than  he  uses  for  the  horse.  A  larger 
vessel  will  bear  a  proportionably  larger  orifice;  and  the  good  effect  of 
bleeding  depends  more  on  the  rapidity  with  which  the  blood  is  abstracted, 
than  on  the  quantity  drawn.  The  cowherd,  or  the  owner  of  cattle,  would 
do  better  to  confine  himself  to  the  old  blood-stick  and  fleam,  for  the  hide 
of  the  ox  is  so  mucli  tliicker  than  that  of  the  horse,  and  the  edge  of  the 
lancet  is  so  apt  to  turn,  that  it  requires  a  little  experience  and  tact  to  bleed 
with  certainty  and  safety. 

In  the  abstraction  of  blood  from  the  ox,  and  especially  at  the  com- 
mencement of  a  disease,  or  while  inflammation  runs  high,  the  rule  is  the 
same  as  in  the  horse — viz.,  to  let  the  blood  flow  until  the  pulse  plainly 
indicates  that  the  circulation  is  affected.  All  other  bleeding  is  worse  than 
useless — it  is  sapping  the  strength  of  the  constitution,  and  leaving  the 
power  of  the  enemy  unimpaired. 

We  have  seen  as  bad  necks  in  cattle  after  bleeding,  as  in  the  horse,  but 
they  are  not  so  common.  They  must  be  treated  in  the  same  way,  by 
fomentations  and  emollient  lotions  at  first,  and  when  these  fail,  the  appli- 
cation of  the  heated  iron  to  the  lips  of  the  wound;  or,  in  very  bad  cases, 
the  introduction  of  setons,  or  the  injection  of  the  zinc-wash  into  the 
sinus. 

BLEEDING  PLACES. 

If  any  affection  of  the  mouth,  or  the  nasal  passages,  should  demand 
local  evacuation,  cattle  may  be  bled  from  the  palatine  vessels.  If  the 
operator  cuts  but  deep  enough,  plenty  of  blood  will  be  obtained.  The 
cephalics  before,  and  the  saphena  veins  behind,  are  proper  places  for 
bleeding — and  some  say  the  milk,  or  siib-cutancons  abdominal  veins. 
This  last  vein  is  large  enough  for  the  speedy  abstraction  of  any  quantity 
of  blood  in  the  shortest  period;  and  if  it  were  not  a  little  awkward  to  get 
at,  might  be  occasionally  used,  but  the  jugular  is  the  most  convenient 
bleeding-place  in  paiticular  cases;  and  tlie  only  question  is,  whether  any 
local  advantage  can  be  obtained  by  opening  the  sub-cutaneous  abdominal. 

THE  MILK,  OR  SUB  CUTANEOUS  ABDOMINAL  VEIN. 

We  will  very  briefly  inquire  into  this.  Professor  Girard,  in  his  excel- 
lent 'Anatomy  of  Domesticated  Quadrupeds,  thus  describes  the  milk  vein, 
or,  as  he  more  properly  terms  it,  the  sub-cutaneous  abdominal,  lying  im- 
mediately under  the  skin,  and  passing  over  the  belly.  '  This  vein,  the  sub- 
cutaneous abdominal,  first  comes  into  view  under  the  abdomen,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  cartilaginous  circle  of  the  false  ribs.  It  emerges  from 
two  foramina,  or  openings,  (the  situation  of  which  is  pointed  out  by  fig. 
18,  p.  338.)  It  approaches,  on  either  side,  the  mesian  line  of  the  abdomen, 
and  burying  itself  between  the  thighs,  it  pursues  its  course  towards  the 
inguinal  vein.  _  Sometimes  it  unites  with  the  superpubian  vein,  and  occa- 
sionally gives  a' branch  to  the  sub-pelvian.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
cartilaginous  circle,  it  presents  two  branches,  the  one  external  and  supe- 


THE  HEART.  349 

rior,  the  other  internal  and  inferior.  The  first  springs  from  various  cuta- 
neous ramili cations,  reaching  even  to  the  thorax,  and  anastomosing  with 
some  of  the  sub-cutaneous  veins  of  the  thorax.  The  other  branch  pene- 
trates within  the  cartilaginous  circle,  and  goes  to  unite  with  a  principal 
division  of  the  veins  of  the  sternum.' 

It  appears,  then,  that  this  milk  vein  is  derived  from  numerous  rami- 
fications from  the  walls  of  the  chest  as  far  anteriorly  as  the  sternum, 
and  taking  in  some  of  the  external  intercostals.  It  belongs  to  the  re- 
spiratory system  more  than  to  any  other.  As  it  advances  posteriorly 
along  the  abdomen,  it  creeps  by  the  side  of  the  udder,  or  of  the  scrotum, 
and  disgorges  itself  partly  into  the  inguinal,  and  pardy  into  the  sub- 
pelvian  vein.  As  it  travels  along  the  abdomen  and  the  groin,  it  receives 
some  muscular  and  cutaneous  fibres,  but  nothing  more.  Its  use  is 
to  assist  in  returning  the  blood  from  these  parts,  and  also  by  this  round- 
about journey,  and  these  curious  anastomoses,  to  establish  a  free  com- 
munication between  the  anterior  and  posterior  cavse,  or  the  blood  which 
is  returned  from  the  anterior  and  posterior  portions  of  the  body.  This 
may  be  a  matter  of  considerable  consequence  in  certain  states  of  the  con- 
stitution. 

Then  the  question.  Whether  we  should  have  recourse  to  the  milk 
vein  in  order  to  obtain  the  benefit  of  local  bleeding?  is  answ  ered.  We 
should  be  justified  in  so  doing,  in  cases  of  abdominal  inflammation,  for  we 
should  unload  the  vessels  of  the  walls  of  the  abdomen,  and  probably  assist 
in  unloading  some  of  the  internal  vessels  too,  and  we  should  abate  the 
danger  of  peritoneal  inflammation.  For  yet  stronger  reasons,  we  should 
have  recourse  to  it  in  thoracic  affection,  for  most  of  the  smaller  ramifica- 
tions which  compose  this  vein  come  from  the  thorax,  and  there  is  greater 
sympathy,  and  there  are  more  numerous  anastomoses  between  the  outer 
and  inner  portion  of  the  wall  of  the  chest  than  of  the  abdomen.  But  if 
we  were  to  have  recourse  to  bleeding  from  this  vein,  in  garget,  or  any 
inflammatory  affection  of  the  udder,  we  should  betray  our  ignorance  of 
anatomy;  and  still  more  so  should  we  do  it  if  we  regarded  this  milk  vein 
as  having  any  further  connexion  with  the  secretion  of  milk,  than  as  being 
a  kind  of  measure  or  standard  of  the  power  and  development  of  the  vas- 
cular system,  with  the  existence  of  which  the  secretion  of  milk,  as  well  as 
the  secretions  generally,  is  essentially  connected. 

THE    HEART. 

We  return  to  the  neck,  and  we  can  trace  the  veins  in  their  course  down 
it  to  the  heart,  and  the  arteries  working  their  way  upward  from  the  heart. 
We  therefore  naturally  enter  into  the  consideration  of  this  viscus — this 
great  source  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood.  We  shall  find,  by-and-by, 
that  the  lungs,  on  either  side,  are  inclosed  in  a  separate  and  perfect  bag; 
each  lung  has  its  distinct  pleura.  The  heart  lies  between  these  two  mem- 
branes; and,  more  perfectly  to  cut  oflf  all  injurious  connexion  between  the 
lungs  and  the  heart — all  communication  of  disease — the  heart  is  inclosed 
in  a  pleura,  or  bag,  of  its  own,  termed  the  pericardium.  This  membrane 
closely  invests  the  heart;  it  supports  it  in  its  situation,  prevents  too 
great  dilatation  when  it  is  gorged  with  blood,  and  too  violent  action 
when  it  is  sometimes  unduly  stimulated.  Notwithstanding  the  confine- 
ment of  the  pericardium,  the  heart  beats  violently  enough  against  the  ribs 
under  circumstances  of  unusual  excitation;  and  were  it  not  thus  tied  down, 
it  would  often  bruise  and  injure  itself,  and  cause  inflammation  in  the 
neighbouring  parts. 
31 


350  CATTLE. 

INFLAMMATION    OF    THE    PERICARDIUM. 

We  shall  speak  of  this  membrane  somewhat  at  length,  because  it  is  oc- 
casionally the  seat  of  obscure,  unsuspected,  and  fatal  disease.  The  cow  is 
a  greedy  animal;  she  will  swallow  almost  every  thing  that  comes  in  her 
way,  as  we  shall  have  occasion  to  show  when  we  treat  of  the  rumen  or 
paunch.  The  wire-riddles,  or  sieves,  which  are  used  in  the  winnowing  of 
corn,  have  sometimes  been  demolished  by  her  out  of  mere  idleness.  She 
will  pic4v  up  large  pins  and  needles,  and  especially  if  the  latter  should  have 
any  thread  attached  to  them.  A  friend  of  ours  lost  a  cow  from  some  disease 
which  neither  he  nor  the  medical  attendant  understood.  On  opening  her, 
a  piece  of  wire,  two  inches  in  length,  was  found  sticking  in  the  pericar- 
dium, and  which  had  produced  extensive  ulceration  and  gangrene  there. 

Another  cow  was  attended  by  Mr.  Cartwright  of  Whitchurch.  She  was 
near  the  time  of  calving,  when  she  became  seriously  ill,  but  the  symptoms 
did  not  indicate  any  connexion  with  parturition;  indeed  they  were  of  that 
obscure  nature  that  it  was  impossible  to  say  what  was  the  malady.  They 
were  dulncss,  unwillingness  to  move,  constipation,  and  oedematous  swell- 
ings about  her.  She  died  on  the  sixth  day.  On  opening  her,  it  appeared 
that  the  heart,  and  its  investing  membrane,  or  bag,  occupied  nearly  three 
times  their  natural  space.  The  delicate  and  transparent  membrane  was 
thickened  until  it  bore  no  slight  resemblance  to  a  portion  of  the  paunch; 
and  the  bag  contained  a  gallon  of  discoloured  fluid.  A  piece  of  a  darning 
needle,  two  inches  and  a  half  in  length,  with  the  eye  broken  oflf,  was  found 
in  the  pericardium,  and  a  small  ulcer,  three-quarters  of  an  inch  deep,  ap- 
peared near  the  apex,  or  point,  of  the  heart.  Two  sixpenny  nails  were 
found  in  her  paunch. 

Mr.  Horsefield,  of  Wentworth,  gives  a  similar  account.  He  was  de- 
sired to  see  a  large  fat  heifer.  She  was  dull;  the  breathing  quickened;  the 
pulse,  also,  quick,  but  intermitting;  the  extremities  cold;  she  refused  to  eat, 
and  there  was  no  rumination.  It  was  impossible  for  the  most  skilful 
practitioner  to  determine  what  was  the  nature  of  the  disease;  there  was 
fever,  general  derangement,  but  nothing  more  could  be  affirmed.  Mr.  H. 
did  all  that  he  could  do;  he  bled  her,  and  the  bowels  being  already  open, 
he  administered  fever  medicine.  The  next  day  she  was  no  better;  he 
bled  her  again;  and  physicked  her.  On  the  following  day,  some  slight 
symptoms  of  dropsy  in  the  chest  appeared;  he  watched  them,  he  made  use 
of  that  invaluable,  but  too  much  neglected  method  of  detecting  disease — 
the  application  of  the  ear  to  the  side  and  belly  of  the  patient — and  he  as- 
sured himself  that  there  was  effusion  in  the  chest.  He  then  knew  well 
that  no  good  could  be  done,  and  he  ordered  her  to  be  destroyed.  Not 
only  the  pericardic  bag,  but  the  whole  of  the  chest  was  filled  with  scrum: 
the  inflammation  had  spread  over  all  the  membranes;  but  the  focus  of  the 
evil  was  a  large  pin,  two  inches  long,  which  had  pierced  through  the  peri- 
cardium, and  wounded  the  heart.  The  pericardiam  was  thickened,  and 
the  apex  of  the  heart  enlarged.  These  cases  are  extracted  from  '  The 
Veterinarian,'  a  valuable  monthly  periodical,  devoted  to  the  diseases  and 
general  management  of  domesticated  animals,  and  from  which  we  shall  de- 
rive much  assistance  in  the  progress  of  this  work. 

We  are  strongly  inclined  to  believe  that  these  diseases  occur  oftener 
than  has  been  suspected;  and  it  is  an  unfortunate  circumstance  that  these 
pointed  substances,  which  in  other  animals  take  very  strange  paths,  but 
generally  comparatively  harmless  ones,  in  order  to  work  their  way  out  of 
the  body,  should  here  select  f,his  dangerous  and  fatal  course.     The  pro- 


DIFFERENCES  OF  CONSTRUCTION.  351 

prietors  of  cattle,  and  of  cows  particularly — for  the  cow  chiefly,  or  almost 
alone,  has  this  strange  propensity — will  be  a  little  more  careful  as  to  the 
manner  of  feeding  them. 

THE    HEART. 

In  all  animals  the  existence  of  life  is  connected  with,  or  we  may  rather 
say,  dependent  upon,  the  constant  supply  of  fresh  arterial  blood.  There  is 
not  a  secretion  that  can  be  performed,  or  a  function  discharged,  or  a  single 
motion  accomplished,  without  the  presence  of  this  vital  fluid.  The 
heart  is  the  grand  engine  by  which  it  is  circulated  through  the  frame.  It 
is  a  large  muscle,  or  combination  of  muscles,  totally  independent  of  the 
will,  as  those  essentially  connected  with  life  should  be,  and  working  with- 
out cessation  and  without  fatigue,  from  the  first  day  of  existence,  until  its 
close.  It  is  the  forcing  pump  by  which  the  vital  current,  having  com- 
pleted its  course,  is  made  to  flow  again  and  again  to  every  part  of  the  sys- 
tem. It  consists  of  four  cavities  surrounded  by  muscular  walls,  which, 
stimulated  by  the  organic  nerves,  can  contract  upon,  and  drive  out,  and 
propel  forward,  the  fluid  which  they  contain,  and  then,  left  to  themselves, 
can  instantly  re-assume  their  open  dilated  state  by  their  inherent  power  of 
elasticity. 

A  portion  of  the  blood  has  completed  the  circulation,  and  enters  the 
upper  cavity  of  the  heart — the  right  auricle — where  it  accumulates  as  in  a 
reservoir,  until  there  is  enough  to  fill  the  second  and  lower  cavity  on  the 
same  side — the  right  ventricle — when  the  auricle  suddenly  contracts  and 
drives  the  blood  forward  into  the  ventricle.  But  this  blood  is  in  a  venous 
state,  and  will  not  support  life ;  then  we  must  change  its  character  before 
we  throw  it  back  again  into  the  circulation.  We  must  convey  it  into  the 
lungs,  there  to  be  exposed  to  the  influence  of  the  atmospheric  air,  and 
purified,  and  arterialized.  For  this  purpose  the  ventricle,  stimulated  by 
nervous  energy,  contracts,  and  as  it  contracts,  it  drives  a  little  of  the  blood 
back,  but  it  forces  more  under  a  dense  fringed  membrane  which  hangs 
around  the  opening  between  the  auricle  and  the  ventricle,  and  this  mem- 
brane thus  raised  up  all  round,  closes  the  opening,  and  prevents  the  return 
of  the  principal  part  of  the  blood  that  way,  and  it  is  urged  through  another 
aperture  into  the  lungs. 

We  enter  into  these  particulars  that  we  may  have  opportunity  to  de- 
scribe two  or  three  points  of  difference  in  the  mechanism  of  the  heart  of 
the  horse  and  the  ox.  These  fringes,  which,  in  the  dilated  state  of  the  ven- 
tricle, hang  loose,  but  which  are  forced  up  as  the  blood  insinuates  itself 
behind  them  when  the  ventricle  contracts,  discharge  the  function  of  a 
perfect  valve :  but  they  are,  as  we  may  suppose,  tied  down  to  a  certain 
extent  by  cords  attached  to  their  edges,  and  which  spring  from  certain 
fleshy  or  muscular  columns  that  arise  within  the  ventricle.  The  edges, 
therefore,  are  permitted  to  be  elevated,  until  they  have  attained  an  horizontal 
direction,  and  meet  each  other,  and  perfecdy  close  the  opening,  and  then 
are  stopped  by  these  tendinous  cords,  which  oppose  their  strength  to  the 
further  elevation  of  the  fringes,  and  that  regulated  or  increased  by  the  mus- 
cular power  of  the  columns  beneath. 

DIFFERENCES  OF  CONSTRUCTION. 

We  have  said  that,  in  the  ox,  the  venous  system  is  more  developed  than 
in  the  horse.  The  vessels  are  more  numerous  and  larger,  and  more  blood 
is  pouring  on  towards  the  right  auricle  and  ventricle  of  the  heart.  These 
tendinous  cords,  and  the  muscular  columns  beneath,  are  very  considerably 
larger  and  stronger  in  the  ox  than  in  the  horse,  in  order  to  afford  adequate 


352  CATTLE. 

resistance  to  the  greater  pressure  of  the  blood.  In  this  ventricle  of  the 
heart  of  the  ox,  there  is  also  a  band,  or  fleshy  muscle,  running  across  from 
one  side  to  the  other,  the  double  effect  of  which  is  beautifully  evident,  viz., 
to  prevent  this  cavity  from  being  too  much  dilated,  or  possibly  ruptured, 
when  the  blood  flows  rapidly  into  the  heart;  and  to  assist  the  ventricle  in 
contracting  on  the  blood.  A  smaller  and  more  tendinous  band  runs  across 
the  same  ventricle  lower  down,  and  for  the  same  purpose.  There  is  no 
contrivance  of  the  kind  in  the  horse.  The  heart  of  that  animal  has  enough 
to  do,  and  especially  under  circumstances  of  excitation  or  disease,  to  cir- 
culate the  blood  in  sufficient  quantity  and  w-th  sufficient  force ;  but  the 
walls  are  thick  and  strong,  the  pump  has  great  power,  and  there  are  only 
occasional  demands  on  all  its  energies.  In  the  ox,  however,  from  the  pecu- 
liar arrangement  of  the  circulatory  system,  there  is  always  this  pouring  on 
of  blood  to  be  arterialized ;  for  the  secretion  of  milk,  or  the  deposition  of 
fat,  constitute  the  daily,  unremitting  duties  of  the  animal.  There  is  not 
only  to  provide  against  accident,  but,  to  fit  the  heart  for  this  incessant  hard 
work  ;  and  this  supplemental  muscle  in  the  form  of  a  fleshy  band  stretching 
across  from  one  side  to  the  other  is  given,  preventing  dilatation,  and  assist- 
ing in  contraction.  The  right  ventricle  of  the  heart  of  the  ox  is  worth 
inspecting  for  the  purpose  of  examining  this  contrivance. 

The  blood  is  driven  out  of  the  right  ventricle  into  the  lungs,  and  is  there 
exposed  to  the  action  of  the  atmospheric  air,  and  purified ;  thence  it  is 
returned  to  the  left  auricle,  passes  into  the  left  ventricle,  and,  by  the  con- 
traction of  that  cavity,  is  propelled  through  the  arteries.  The  left  ven- 
tricle is  composed  like  that  of  the  horse,  except  that  these  vessels,  being 
large  enough  doubtless  for  the  distribution  of  sufficient  blood  for  the  general 
purposes  of  nutrition,  yet  are  not  large  enough  for  the  occasional  enormous 
demands  on  the  heart  of  the  horse ;  in  fact,  being  smaller  than  they  are  in 
the  horse,  more  power  is  required  to  force  a  fluid  through  a  narrow  than  a 
capacious  canal,  and  the  walls  of  the  ventricle  are  thicker  in  the  ox.  The 
diminished  calibre  of  the  arteries  is  no  where  more  apparent  than  in  the 
neck ;  the  carotids  of  the  horse  are  nearly  double  the  size  of  those  of  the 
ox  ;  the  jugulars  are  scarcely  half  as  large. 

We  begin,  perhaps,  to  have  a  glimpse  of  the  cause  of  the  evident  differ- 
ence in  the  size  of  these  different  classes  of  blood-vessels  in  the  horse  and 
the  ox.  The  work  of  the  one,  although  hard,  is  equable.  There  is  little 
in  the  habits  or  the  services  of  the  one  to  cause  much  variation  in  the  de- 
mand for  blood.  The  labour  of  the  other  is  irregular,  often  to  the  greatest 
degree,  and  the  vessels  must  be  enabled  to  accommodate  themselves  to  this 
irregularity.  The  artery  is  a  highly  elastic  tube,  and  will  accommodate 
itself  to  the  smaller  quantity  of  blood  usually  circulating  in  the  horse,  but 
it  is  actually  of  greater  size,  to  give  free  passage  to  those  sudden  rushes 
of  blood  from  which  the  ox  is,  in  a  state  of  health,  comparatively  exempt. 
In  the  posterior  aorta,  however,  or  the  large  vessel  which  first  receives 
the  blood  from  the  heart  in  order  to  carry  it  to  the  viscera  and  the  hinder 
extremities,  this  is,  in  some  measure,  reversed,  or  at  least  some  of  the 
arteries  attain  a  magnitude  not  known  in  the  horse.  This  is  particularly 
the  case  with  the  coeliac  artery,  which  supplies  the  liver,  the  spleen,  and  the 
stomachs.  The  branch  going  to  the  liver  is  not  much  enlarged,  but  the 
splenic  one  is,  because  many  ramifications  from  it  go  to  the  rumen  ;  and 
the  gastric  artery,  or  the  artery  of  the  stomach,  is  considerably  larger  than 
the  whole  of  the  coeliac  in  the  horse.  We  need  not,  however,  wonder  at 
this  when  we  consider  the  immense  size  of  the  rumen,  or  paunch,  and  the 
important  offices  discharged  by  the  other  stomachs. 

The  vessels  from  the  left  ventricle,  which  carry  the  arterial  blood  through 


THE  CAPILLARIES.  253 

the  frame,  and  those  from  the  right  ventricle  that  convey  the  venous  blood 
to  the  lungs,  alike  spring  from  the  muscular  and  fleshy  septum,  or  wall, 
that  separates  the  cavities  of  the  heart,  and  divides  that  organ  into  two 
distinct  parts.  These  openings  are  so  strengthened  by  the  manner  in 
which  they  are  connected  with  the  septum,  that  their  rupture  or  dilatation 
in  the  horse  is  scarcely  possible,  however  powerful  may  be  the  action  of 
the  heart.  But  the  ventricles  of  the  heart  of  the  ox  have  more  constant 
and  hard  work  to  do,  and  additional  strength  is  given  by  the  insertion  of 
a  bone  into  the  septum  at  the  base  of  these  arteries,  more  belonging  to  the 
aorta  than  to  the  pulmonary  artery,  but  meant  as  a  support  to  both.  This 
OS  cordis,  or  bone  of  the  heart,  is  found  in  most  ruminants,  except  the  roe 
and  fallow  deer;  and  they  appear  to  be  formed  about  the  expiration  of  the 
third  year  of  the  animal's  life.  These  ossifications  have  been  occasion- 
ally found  in  the  heart  of  the  human  being,  and  considered  to  be  the  effect 
of  disease.  They  are  rather  an  effort  of  nature  to  give  strength  where  it 
was  wanted;  and  either  to  relieve  or  avert  disease,  although  too  often  a 
contrary  effect  is  produced. 

The  heart  is  subject  to  inflammation,  but  not  so  often  as  in  the  horse. 
It  would  be  principally  recognized  by  the  strength  of  the  pulse,  and  by 
the  bounding  action  of  the  heart,  evident  enough  when  the  hand  is  placed 
on  the  side  of  the  chest,  and  which  may  be  seen  and  heard  even  at  a  dis- 
tance. 

THE  ARTERIAL  SYSTEM. 

The  blood  is  carried  on  through  the  arteries  by  the  force  of  the  heart. 
These  are  composed  of  three  coats;  the  outer,  or  elastic,  by  which  they 
yield  to  the  gush  of  blood;  the  muscular  coat  by  which  the  artery  con- 
tracts again  when  the  gush  of  blood  has  passed;  and  the  inner,  or  smooth, 
glistening  coat,  Avhich  lessens  the  friction  of  the  blood  against  the  side  of 
the  vessel,  and  its  consequent  gradual  retardation  in  its  course. 

THE  PULSE. 

The  muscular  coat  of  the  artery  can  be  felt  giving  way  to  the  gush  of 
blood:  and  the  expansion  of  the  artery,  as  the  blood  passes,  is  called  t/ie 
pulse.  Every  one  who  knows  the  least  about  cattle  is  sensible  of  the  ira- 
portaiKe  of  the  indications  to  be  obtained  by  the  pulse.  The  heat  of  bloml 
may  be  felt  at  the  root  of  the  horn;  and  the  rallying  of  the  blood  round 
some  important,  but  inflamed  part,  m?iy  be  guessed  at  by  means  of  the 
coldness  of  the  ear,  or  the  extremities:  but  here  we  ascertain  the  state  of 
the  general  system,  and  the  increased  force  or  de-bility  of  that  central  ma- 
chine on  which  every  secretion  and  every  function  depends.  It  has  been 
stated  that  the  pulse  is  not  so  easily  felt  at  the  jaw  in  the  ox.  The  tem- 
poral artery  will  generally  be  sufficiently  distinct;  but,  on  the  whole,  it 
will  be  most  convenient  to  ascertain  the  beating  of  the  heart  itself,  by 
placing  the  hand  on  the  left  side,  a  little  within  and  behind  the  elbow. 
The  average  pulse  of  a  full-grown  healthy  ox  is  about  forty.  The  reader 
is  here  referred  to  what  ha3  been  said  of  the  pulse  in  the  Treatise  on  "  the 
Horse." 

THE  CAPILLARIES. 

The  blood  continues  to  circulate  along  the  arteries,  until  they  and  their 
ramifications  have  diminished  so  much  in  size,  as  to  be  termed  capillaries, 
or  hair-like  tubes,  although  many  of  them  are  not  one-hundredth  part  so 
large  as  a  hair.  The  heart  ceases  to  have  influence  here.  No  force  from 
behind  could  drive  the  blood  through  vessels  so  minute.     Another  power 


364  CATTLE. 

is  called  into  exercise,  namely,  the  influence  of  the  organic  motor  nerves 
on  the  muscular  sides  of  these  little  tubes. 

This  is  by  far  the  most  important  part  of  the  circulation.  The  blood  is 
carried  through  the  arteries  mechanically,  and  without  change;  it  is  re- 
turned through  the  veins  mechanically,  and  almost  without  change:  but  it 
is  in  the  capillary  system  that  every  secretion  is  performed;  and  that  the 
nutrition  of  every  part  is  effected.  The  arteries  and  veins  are  mere  me- 
chanical tubes;  these  are  connected  with  the  vital  principle; — they  are 
portions  of  life  itself. 

INFLAMMATION. 

The  arteries  are  subject  to  inflammation,  yet  so  rarely  in  the  ox  as  to 
render  it  unnecessary  to  detain  us  in  describing  it;  but  a  similar  affection 
of  the  capillaries  constitutes  the  very  essence  and  the  most  dangerous  part 
of  every  other  disease.  Inflammation  is  increased  action  of  these  vessels. 
When  the  increased  action  is  confined  to  a  few  capillaries,  or  a  small 
space,  or  a  single  organ,  the  inflammation  is  said  to  be  local;  but  when  it 
embraces  the  whole  of  the  system,  it  assumes  the  name  of  fever. 

If  inflammation  is  the  consequence  of  increased  action  of  the  capilla- 
ries, the  object  to  be  efl*ected  by  the  practitioner  is  to  reduce  that  inordinate 
action  to  the  healthy  standard,  before  the  part  has  become  debilitated  or 
destroyed  by  this  overwork.  Bleeding  is  one  of  the  most  effectual  mea- 
sures, and  especially  local  bleedmg.  The  increased  action  of  the  vessels, 
and  the  consequent  redness,  heat  and  swelling  of  the  part,  are  at  once  the 
consequence  of  inflammatory  action,  and  tend  to  prolong  and  to  increase 
it.  A  copious  bleeding,  therefore,  by  relieving  the  overloaded  vessels,  and 
enabling  them,  once  more,  to  contract  on  their  contents,  is  unquestionably 
indicated.  To  Tliis  physic  will  follow,  and  there  is  scarcely  an  inflamma- 
tory disease  in  the  ox  in  which  it  can,  by  possibility,  be  injurious.  Mashes 
and  cooling  diet  will  be  essential. 

As  to  external  applications,  they  will  be  best  treated  when  the  different 
species  of  inflammation  pass  in  review  before  us;  but,  as  a  general  rule, 
(for  the  practitioner  will  occasionally  be  puzzled  as  to  the  propriety  of  hot 
or  cold  remedies,)  in  cases  of  superficial  inflammation,  and  in  the  early 
stage  of  the  disease,  cold  lotions  will  be  the  most  useful;  in  cases  of  deeper- 
seated  injury,  and  of  considerable  standing,  warm  fomentations  will  be 
preferable.  The  first  will  best  succeed  in  abstracting  the  inflammatory 
heat;  the  other  will  relax  the  fibres  of  the  neighbouring  parts,  which  press 
upon,  and  perpetuate,  the  injury,  and  will  also  restore  the  suspended  per- 
spiration. Cases,  however,  will  continually  occur  in  which  the  most  op- 
posite treatment  will  be  required  in  different  stages  of  inflammation. 


We  have  described  fever  as  general  capillary  action,  and  with  or  without 
any  local  afl'ection;  or  it  is  the  consequence  of  the  sympathy  of  the  sys- 
tem with  inflammation  of  some  particular  part.  The  first  is  called  pure 
or  idiopathic  fever;  the  other  symptomatic  fever. 

Pure  fever  is  far  from  being  unfrequent  in  cattle.  A  beast,  yesterday  in 
good  health,  is  observed  to-day — dull,  the  muzzle  dry,  nmiination  and 
grazing  having  quite  ceased,  or  bemg  carelessly  or  lazily  performed,  the 
flanks  heave  a  little,  the  root  of  the  horn  is  unnaturally  hot,  the  pulse  is 
quickened,  and  is  somewhat  hard.  The  owner  or  the  practitioner  removes 
him  into  the  shed,  and  carefully  examines  him;  the  animal  is  evidently  not 
well,  but  he  cannot  discover  any  local  affection  or  disease;  he,  however,  does 


INFLAMMATORY  FEVER.  355 

that  which  a  prudent  man  would  do,  he  gives  a  dose  of  physic;  perhaps  he 
bleeds;  he  places  a  mash  before  his  patient,  and,  on  the  following  day,  the 
beast  is  considerably  better,  or  well;  or  possibly,  the  animal,  although  ap- 
parently better  in  the  morning,  becomes  worse  as  the  day  advances,  andj 
at  about  the  hour,  or  a  little  later,  when  he  was  seen  on  the  preceding  day« 
What  is  this  but  a  slight  attack  of  fever  without  local  affection?  Who,  es^ 
pecially  living  in  woody  and  undrained  districts,  has  not  observed  this  t 
This  is  a  species  of  intermittent  fever,  still  without  local  determination, 
and  which  goes  on  for  three  or  four  days,  returning,  or  being  aggravated 
at  a  particular  hour,  until  by  means  of  his  cordial  purgatives  the  practi- 
tioner or  the  owner  has  broken  the  chain. 

At  other  times,  the  fever  remains  without  these  intermissions.  It  in- 
creases daily  notwithstanding  the  means  that  we  employ,  and  at  length 
assumes  the  form  of  pleurisy,  or  enteritis,  or  some  local  inflammatory 
complaint.  The  general  irritation  has  here  concentrated  itself  on  some 
organ  either  previously  debilitated,  or  at  that  time  predisposed  to  take  on 
inflammation.  It  is  pure  or  idiopathic  fever,  assuming,  after  a  while,  a 
local  determination.  This  is  a  serious,  and  frequently  a  fatal  case;  for  the 
whole  system  having  been  previously  affected,  and,  probably,  debilitated, 
and  disposed  to  take  on  inflammatory  action,  the  proper  remedies  cannot  be 
so  fearlessly  and  successfully  used.  Local  means  of  abating  inflammation 
must  here  be  pushed  to  their  full  extent. 

Symptomatic  fever  is  yet  more  frequent  and  dangerous.  No  organ  of 
consequence  can  be  long  disordered  or  inflamed  without  the  neighbouring 
parts  being  disturbed,  and  the  whole  system  gradually  sharing  in  the  dis- 
turbance. By  the  degree  of  this  general  affection,  by  the  heat  of  the 
mouth,  and  the  frequency  of  the  pulse,  a  judgment  is  formed  not  only  of 
the  degree  of  general  disturbance,  but  of  the  intensity  of  the  local  affec- 
tion. The  subsidence  of  the  pulse,  and  the  return  of  the  appetite,  and  the 
recommencement  of  rumination,  are  hailed  as  indications  both  of  the  di- 
minution of  the  general  irration,  and  the  local  cause  of  it. 

Some  have  denied  the  existence  of  this  essential  fever  in  horses  and 
catde,  but  the  facts  that  have  been  stated  cannot  be  doubted.  Cattle  get 
unwell,  they  are  feverish;  a  dose  of  physic  is  given,  they  are  put  on  short 
commons  for  a  day  or  two,  and  they  are  well.  At  other  times  they  are 
feverish,  and  that  fever  all  at  once  terminates  in  hoove  or  pneumonia.  In 
one  case,  there  is  fever  never  becommg  associated  with  local  affection; 
in  the  other,  it  speedily  terminates  in  local  affection;  but,  in  both,  there 
is,  for  a  while,  pure  fever.  It  would  be  scarcely  necessary  to  recur  to  this 
were  there  not  so  many  instances  of  bad  and  dangerous  practice  in  the 
early  treatment  of  these  cases.  If  fever  were  plainly  recognised,  the 
owner  or  the  surgeon  would  be  more  anxious  to  get  rid  of  the  local 
affection  before  the  system  was  materially  afl^ected;  and  if  he  was  aware 
of  pure  and  essential  fever,  he  would  endeavour  to  knock  that  down 
before  it  took  on  local  determination.  These  are  the  golden  rules  of 
practice,  which  no  nonsensical  theories  should  cause  any  one  for  a  mo- 
ment to  forget. 

INFLAMMATORY    FEVER. 

Cattle  are  not  merely  subject  to  fever  of  common  intensity,  whether 
pure  or  symptomatic,  but  thousands  of  them  fall  victims  every  year  to  a 
disease,  which,  from  its  virulent  character  and  speedy  course,  may  be 
termed  inflammatory  fever.  A  disease  of  this  character,  but  known  by  a 
number  of  strange  yet  not  inexpressive  terms,  is  occasionally  prevalent, 
and  exceedingly  fatal  among  cattle  in  every  district.     It  is  termed  black- 


35G  CATTLE. 

quarter,  quarter  evil,  joint  murrain,  blood-striking,  shewt  of  blood,  &c.; 
and  although  it  may  not,  at  any  time,  embody  all  the  symptoms  of  either 
of  these  diseases,  according,  at  least,  as  they  are  understood  in  some  parts 
of  the  country,  there  are  few  cases  in  which  the  prevailing  symptoms  of 
most  of  them  are  not  exhibited  in  some  of  the  stages. 

Cattle  of  all  descriptions  and  ages  are  occasionally  subject  to  inflamma- 
tory fever;  but  young  stock,  and  those  that  are  thriving  most  rapidly,  are 
its  chief  victims.  So  aware  is  the  proprietor  of  young  short-horn  cattle  of 
this,  that  while  he  is  determined  to  take  full  advantage  of  their  unrivalled 
early  maturity  by  turning  them  on  more  luxuriant  pasture  than  prudence 
would  always  dictate,  he  endeavours  to  guard  himself  by  periodical  bleed- 
ing, or  by  the  insertion  of  setons  in  the  dewlap  of  all  his  yearlings.  This 
disease  is  sometimes  epidemic,  that  is,  the  cattle  of  a  certain  district  have 
been  pushed  on  too  I'apidly;  they  have  lurking  inflammation  about  them, 
or  they  have  a  tendency  to  it;  and,  by-and-by,  comes  some  change  or  state 
of  the  atmosphere  which  acts  upon  this  inflammatory  predisposition,  and 
the  disease  runs  through  the  district. 

There  are  few  premonitory  symptoms  of  inflammatory  fever.  Often 
without  any,  and  generally  with  very  slight  indications  of  previous  illness, 
the  animal  is  found  with  his  neck  extended;  his  head  brought,  as  much  as 
he  can  effect  it,  into  a  horizontal  position;  the  eyes  protruding,  and  red; 
the  muzzle  dry;  the  nostrils  expanded;  the  breath  hot;  the  root  of  the  horn 
considerably  so;  the  mouth  partly  open;  the  tongue  enlarged,  or  apparently 
so;  the  pulse  full,  hard,  and  from  65  to  70;  the  breathing  quickened  and 
laborious;  the  flanks  violently  heaving,  and  the  animal  moaning  in  a  low 
and  peculiar  way. 

Sometimes  the  animal  is  in  full  possession  of  his  senses,  but  generally 
there  is  a  degree  of  unconsciousness  of  surrounding  objects:  he  will 
stand  for  an  hour  or  more  without  the  slightest  change  of  posture,  he 
can  scarcely  be  induced  to  move,  or  when  compelled  to  do  so,  he  staggers; 
and  the  staggering  is  principally  referrible  to  the  hind-quarters;  rumina- 
tion has  ceased,  and  the  appetite  is  quite  gone.  After  awhile  he  becomes 
more  uneasy,  yet  it  is  oftener  a  change  of  posture  to  ease  his  tired  limbs, 
than  a  pawing:  at  length  he  lies  down,  or  rather  drops;  gets  up  almost 
immediately;  is  soon  down  again;  and,  debility  rapidly  increasing,  he  con- 
tinues prostrate;  sometimes  he  lies  in  a  comatose  state;  at  others,  there  are 
occasional  but  fruitless  efforts  to  rise.  The  symptoms  rapidly  increase: 
there  is  no  intermission;  and  the  animal  dies  in  twelve  or  twenty-four 
hours. 

In  the  majority  of  cases,  and  especially  if  the  disease  has  been  properly 
treated,  the  animal  seems  to  rally  a  little,  and  some  of  the  symptoms  ap- 
pear, from  which  the  common  names  of  the  disease  derive  their  origin. 
The  beast  attempts  to  get  up:  after  some  attempts  he  succeeds,  but  he  is 
sadly  lame  in  one  or  both  of  the  hind  quarters.  If  he  is  not  yet  fallen,  he 
suddenly  becomes  lame;  so  lame  as  to  be  scarcely  able  to  move.  He  has 
quarter  evil — -joint  murrain. 

This  is  not  always  an  unfavourable  symptom.  The  disease  may  be 
leaving  the  vital  parts  for  those  of  less  consequence.  If  the  apparent  re- 
turn of  strength  continues  for  a  day  or  two,  we  may  encourage  some  hope, 
but  we  must  not  be  sanguine;  for  it  is  too  often  only  a  temporary  and  de- 
lusive respite. 

One  of  the  symptoms  now  most  to  be  dreaded  is  the  rapid  progress  of 
that  which  has  already  begun  to  appear — tenderness  on  the  loins  and 
back.  The  patient  will^not  bear  even  the  slightest  pressure  on  these  parts. 
The  case  is  worse  if  to  these  are  added  swellings  about  the  shoulders. 


INFLAMMATORY  FEVER.  357 

and  back,  and  loins,  ■with  a  peculiar  crackling  emphysematous  noise,  as 
if  some  gas  were  extricated  in  the  cellular  membrane,  and  the  process 
of  decomposition  had  commenced  during  the  life  of  the  animal.  Worse 
even  than  this  is  the  appearance  of  sudden,  hard,  scurfy  patches  of  what 
seems  to  be  dead  skin.  It  is  a  kind  of  dry  gangrene,  and  it  is  the  com- 
mencement of  a  sloughing  process,  extensive  and  rapid  to  an  almost  incon- 
ceivable degree.  Now,  we  have  black  quarter,  with  all  its  fearful  cha- 
racter. 

The  ulcers  first  appear  about  the  belly,  the  quarters,  and  the  teats,  but 
they  spread  every  where,  and  particularly  about  the  mouth  and  muzzle. 
The  mouth  is  almost  invariably  ulcerated,  and  the  tongue  is  blistered  and 
ulcerated  too;  and  there  is  either  a  discharge  of  sanious,  offensive,  or 
bloody  fluid  from  the  nose  and  mouth,  or  considerable  haemorrhage  from 
both  of  them.  Now,  the  urine,  which  had  before  been  high-coloured,  be- 
comes darker,  or  bloody;  the  dung  likewise  has  streaks  of  blood  over  it, 
and  both  are  exceedingly  fostid. 

In  this  state  the  animal  may  continue  two  or  three  days,  until  it  dies  a 
mass  of  putridity;  unless  there  has  been  an  honest,  active  assistant,  who 
never  shrinks  from  his  duty — who  has  some  courage  and  a  good  sto- 
mach— and  who  will  properly  dress  the  ulcers  and  administer  the  medi- 
cines. Many  a  beast  has  been  saved  even  at  this  point  of  the  disease; 
and  the  farmer  or  the  veterinary  surgeon  should  prize  such  a  servant.  The 
first  favourable  symptom  will  be  a  slight  diminution  of  the  foetor — the  ul- 
cers will  then  speedily  heal,  and  the  strength  return. 

The  chief  appearance  after  death  will  be  venous  congestion  every  where. 
The  larger  and  the  smaller  trunks  will  be  black,  and  distended  almost  to 
bursting.  It  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  peculiar  vascular  system  of 
the  animal;  and,  as  will  be  presently  seen,  speaks  volumes  as  to  the  mode 
of  treating  this  and  similar  diseases. 

The  congestion  is  every  where.  It  affects  both  of  the  pleuras,  the  inter- 
costal and  the  pulmonary;  and  the  whole  substance  of  the  lungs.  It  ex- 
tends over  the  peritoneum,  and  more  particularly  over  the  mucous  mem- 
brane of  the  intestines;  and  patches  of  inflammation  and  ulceration  are 
found  in  every  part  of  the  colon.  These  are  the  appearances  when  the 
animal  is  carried  off  during  the  inflammatory  stage  of  the  disease. 

If  the  complaint  has  assumed  a  putrid  type,  there  is  effusion,  the  smell 
of  which  can  scarcely  be  borne,  both  in  the  chest  and  belly;  with  adhesion 
and  agglutination  of  all  the  small  intestines.  Often  vomicae  in  the  lungs, 
and  effusion  in  the  pericardium.  Every  stomach  is  inflamed,  and  the 
fourth  ulcerated  through.  The  substance  of  the  liver  is  broken  down. 
There  are  ulcerations  generally  of  the  smaller,  and  always  of  the  larger, 
intestines;  and  in  every  pait  of  the  cellular  membrane  there  are  large 
patches  of  inflammation  running  fast  into  gangrene. 

There  cannot  be  a  doubt  respecting  either  the  nature  or  treatment  of 
such  a  disease.  It  is,  at  first,  of  a  purely  inflammatory  character,  but  the 
inflammation  is  so  intense  as  speedily  to  destroy  the  powers  of  nature. 
The  capillary  vessels  must  have  been  working  with  strange  activity,  in 
order  to  fill  and  to  clog  every  venous  canal.  The  congestion  prevails  in 
the  cranium  as  well  as  in  other  parts,  and  the  distended  vessels  press  upon 
the  substance  of  the  brain,  and  that  pressure  is  propagated  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  nerves;  and  hence  debility,  and  staggering,  and  almost 
perfect  insensibility.  As  the  congestion  early  takes  place,  the  coma,  or 
stupor  is  early  in  its  appearance. 

The  nervous  energy  being  thus  impeded,  the  power  of  locomotion  seems 
first  to  fail;  then  general  debility  succeeds,  and  at  length  other  parts  of  the 


358  CATTLE. 

vascular  system  are  involved.  The  mouths  of  the  excretory  ducts  can  no 
longer  contract  on  their  contents,  hence  fluid  is  effused  in  the  chest  and 
in  the  belly,  and  in  the  cellular  membrane;  and  hence,  too,  the  rapid 
formation  of  others.  The  vital  powers  generally  are  weakened,  and  in 
consequence  of  this  there  is  the  speedy  tendency  of  every  excretion  to  pu- 
tridity, and  the  actual  commencement  of  decomposition,  while  the  animal 
is  yet  alive.  The  blood  shares  in  this  abstraction  or  deficiency  of  vitality, 
and  hence  the  disposition  to  ulceration,  gangrene,  and  dissolution,  by 
which  the  later  stages  of  the  disease  are  characterised. 

Inflammatory  fever,  although  not  confined  to  young  stock,  is  far  most 
prevalent  among  them.  It  appears  principally  in  the  spring  and  fall  of 
the  year,  for  then  we  have  the  early  and  late  flush  of  grass.  On  poor 
ground  it  is  comparatively  unknown;  but  the  young  and  the  old  stock,  in 
thriving  condition,  need  to  be  closely  watched  when  the  pasture  is  good 
and  the  grass  springing.  If  it  is  at  times  epidemic,  it  is  only  when  the 
season,  or  the  eagerness  of  the  farmer,  have  exposed  the  constitution  to 
an  excess  of  otherwise  healthy  stimulus;  and  when  the  animal  is,  in  a 
manner,  prepared  for  fever.  Some  have  attributed  the  disease  to  an  undue 
quantity  of  crow-foot,  or  other  acid  plants.  They  are  harmless  here.  It 
is  the  excess  of  healthy  stimulus. 

When  the  early  part  of  the  spring  has  been  cold  and  ungenial,  and  then 
the  warm  weather  has  suddenly  set  in,  nothing  is  so  common  as  for 
inflammatory  fever  to  appear;  but  the  change  in  the  temperature,  or  other 
qualities  of  the  atmosphere,  has  had  only  an  indirect  effect  in  producing 
this;  it  is  the  sudden  increase  of  nutriment  which  has  done  the  mischief. 
When  cattle  are  moved  from  a  poor  to  a  more  luxuriant  pasture,  if  the 
new  grass  is  sufficiently  high,  they  distend  the  paunch  almost  to  bursting, 
and  hoove  is  the  result;  but  if  the  change  is  more  in  the  quality  than  in  the 
quantity  of  the  food,  the  evil  is  more  slowly  produced,  and  it  is  more 
fatal — a  disposition  to  inflammation  is  excited,  which  wants  but  a  slight 
stimulus  to  kindle  into  a  flame.  It  is  the  penalty  which  the  breeder  must 
pay,  or  the  evil  which  he  must  carefully,  and  not  always  successfully,  en- 
deavour to  avoid,  when  he  is  endeavouring  to  obtain  all  the  advantage  he 
can  from  the  richness  of  his  pasture,  and  the  aptitude  to  fatten,  and  early 
maturity,  of  his  cattle. 

A  gendeman  who  speculated — and  with  very  considerable  advantage — 
in  the  enclosing  of  a  considerable  tract  of  land,  newly  recovered  from  the 
sea,  running  down  from  Wareham  towards  Poole,  bought  a  dairy  of  thirty 
Suffolk  cows.  They  arrived  in  the  very  early  part  of  the  spring;  they 
Avere  liberally  fed  on  Swedish  turnips,  and,  as  soon  as  it  was  practicable, 
they  were  turned  on  this  maiden  and  luxuriant  pasture.  In  the  course  of 
less  than  three  months  twelve  of  them  died.  This  was  rather  singular,  for 
milch  cows  are,  generally  speaking,  exempt  from  inflammatory  fever;  and 
perhaps  this  circumstance  prevented  both  the  owner  and  the  bailiff  from 
tracing  the  fearful  mortality  to  its  true  cause. 

A  veterinary  surgeon  was  sent  for  from  London  to  inquire  into  the 
nature  and  cause  of  the  disease.  There  was  not  a  sick  animal  on 
the  premises,  and  the  only  circumstance  which  could  excite  attention 
was,  that  the  cattle  looked  in  much  better  condition  than  Suffolk  cows 
usually  do,  or  ought  to  do.  The  bailiff  was  a  little  jealous  of  the  inter- 
ference of  the  veterinarian,  and  threw  no  more  light  upon  the  subject  than 
he  could  help;  and  the  veterinarian  was,  in  his  turn,  cautious  and 
guarded.  He  expressed  a  wish  to  see  a  little  of  this  fine  estate.  The 
request  could  scarcely  be  refused,  and,  indeed,  was  gratifying;  and,  soon 
arriving  at  a  somewhat  upland,  but  still  very  good  pasture,  he  stopped, 


INFLAMMATORY  FEVER.  359 

and,  turning  to  the  bailiff,  thus  addressed  him — '  Bleed  and  physic  every 
one  of  your  remaining  cows,  and  turn  them  up  here  ;  and  do  not  change 
their  pasture  until  you  are  forced  to  do  so,  and  then  take  care  that  they 
shall  work  a  litde,  in  order  to  obtain  their  living.'  This  led  to  a  frieadly 
understanding  between  them ;  the  nature,  the  cause,  and  the  remedy  of 
the  disease  were  canvassed ;  the  suggestions  of  the  veterinarian  were 
attended  to,  and  not  another  animal  was  lost. 

We  have  known  inflammatory  fever  caused  by  the  driving  of  fat  beasts 
in  the  beginning  of  summer — perhaps  no  very  great  distance — but  with 
somewhat  too  much  hurry.  It  has  broken  out  among  stall-fed  cattle  still 
later  in  the  year,  but  only  when  the  process  of  fattening  has  been  inju- 
diciously hastened.  In  fact,  from  the  peculiar  vascular  system  of  cattle, 
that  excitement  which  would  produce  pneumonia,  pleurisy,  or  inflam- 
mation of  the  feet  in  the  horse,  is  the  usual  cause  of  inflammatory  fever  in 
them.  The  weakest  part  is  attacked — the  lungs  and  the  feet  suffer  most 
from  our  mismanagement  in  the  horse — the  vascular  system  is  most  subject 
to  disease  in  the  ox,  for  we  keep  him,  as  nearly  as  we  can  with  any 
rational  hope  of  safety,  in  a  state  of  plethora. 

The  very  name  of  the  disease,  inflammatory  fever,  indicates  the  mode 
of  treatment.  In  a  case  of  excessive  vascular  action,  the  first  and  most 
important  step  is  copious  depletion.  As  much  blood  must  be  taken  as 
the  animal  will  bear  to  lose ;  and  the  stream  must  flow  on  until  the  beast 
staggers  or  threatens  to  fall.  Here,  more  than  in  any  other  disease,  there 
must  be  no  foolish  directions  about  quantities.  As  much  blood  m,ust  be 
taken  away  as  can  be  got;  for  it  is  only  by  the  bold  and  persevering  use 
of  depletory  measures  that  a  malady  can  be  subdued  that  runs  its  course 
so  rapidly. 

Purging  must  immediately  follow.  The  Epsom  salts  are  here,  as  in  most 
inflammatory  diseases,  the  best  purgative.  A  pound  and  a  half,  dissolved 
in  water  or  gruel,  and  poured  down  the  throat  as  gently  as  possible,  should 
be  our  first  dose ;  and  no  aroma-tic  should  accompany  it.  If  this  does  not 
operate  in  the  course  of  six  hours,  another  pound  should  be  given ;  and, 
after  that,  half-pound  doses  every  six  hours  until  the  effect  is  produced. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  first  six  hours  the  patient  should  be  carefully 
examined.  Is  there  any  amendment?  Is  the  pulse  slower,  softer?  If 
not,  he  must  be  bled  a  second  time,  and  until  the  circulation  is  once  more 
affected.  If  the  animal  is  somewhat  better,  yet  not  to  the  extent  that 
could  be  wished,  the  practitioner  would  be  warranted  in  bleeding  again, 
provided  the  sinking  and  fluttering  of  the  pulse  does  not  indicate  the  com- 
mencement of  debility. 

If  the  pulse  is  a  little  quieted,  and  purging  has  taken  place,  and  the  ani- 
mal is  somewhat  more  himself,  the  treatment  should  be  followed  up  by  the 
diligent  exhibition  of  sedative  medicines.  A  drachm  and  a  half  of  digitalis, 
and  one  drachm  of  emetic  tartar,  and  half  an  ounce  of  nitre,  should  be 
given  three  times  every  day  ;  and  setons  inserted  in  the  dewlap.  Those 
of  black  hellebore-root  are  the  best,  as  producing  the  quickest  and  the 
most  extensive  inflammation.  No  trouble'  need  be  taken  about  removing 
the  beast  now,  although  he  may  be  in  the  pasture  which  has  been  the 
cause  of  all  the  mischief,  for  he  will  not  eat  until  he  is  very  considerably 
better;  and  then  he  cannot  be  too  quickly  moved. 

If  the  animal  is  not  seen  until  the  inflammatory  stage  of  the  fever  has 
nearly  passed,  the  skill  of  the  practitioner  will  be  put  to  the  test ;  and 
yet  he  will  not  find  much  difliculty  in  deciding  how  he  ought  to  act.  Has 
the  animal  been  bled  at  all?  if  it  has  not,  nothing  can  excuse  the  neglect 
of  bleeding  now,  except  debiUty  too  palpable  to  be   mistaken.     It  may 


360  CATTLE. 

perhaps  be  more  truly  affirmed,  that  even  that  should  be  no  excuse.  This 
congestion  of  blood  is  a  deadly  weight  on  the  constitution,  which  the 
powers  of  unassisted  nature  will  not  be  able  to  throw  off.  It  must  be  very 
great  debility,  indeed,  which  should  frighten  the  practitioner  from  this 
course ;  and  debility  which,  in  ninety-nine  times  out  of  a  hundred,  would 
terminate  in  death.  As  a  general  rule  in  this  stage  of  the  disease,  the 
effect  of  bleeding  should  certainly  be  tried ;  but  cautiously — very  cau- 
tiously— and  with  the  finger  constantly  on  the  pulse.  If  the  pulse  gets 
rounder  and  softer  as  the  blood  flows,  the  abstraction  of  blood  will  as- 
suredly be  serviceable,  and  if  the  pulse  becomes  weaker,  and  more  indis- 
tinct, no  harm  will  have  been  done,  provided  that  the  orifice  is  imme- 
diately closed. 

Physic  will,  in  this  stage  of  the  disease,  also  be  indispensable  ;  but  double 
the  usual  quantity  of  the  aromatic  should  be  added,  in  order  to  stimulate 
the  rumen,  if  the  drink  should  get  into  it — and  also  to  stimulate  the  fourth 
stomach  and  the  whole  of  the  frame,  if  fortunately  it  should  reach  so  far  as 
this  stomach.  A  pound  of  the  Epsom  salts  at  first,  and  half-pound  doses 
afterwards,  until  the  bowels  are  opened,  will  be  sufficient  in  this  stage ; 
and  if,  after  the  fourth  dose,  (injections  having  been  given  in  the  mean 
time,)  purging  is  not  produced,  the  quantity  of  the  aromatic,  but  not  of 
the  purgative,  may  be  increased.  It  is  probable  that  the  medicine  has 
found  its  way  into  the  rumen,  where  it  will  remain  inert  until  that  cuticular 
and  comparatively  insensible  stomach  is  roused  to  action  by  the  stimulus 
of  the  aromatic.  No  other  medicine  should  be  given  until  the  bowels  have 
been  opened ;  and  in  many  cases  very  little  other  medicine  will  afterwards 
be  required. 

The  bowels  having  been  opened,  recourse  should  be  had  once  more  to 
the  pulse.  If  it  indicates  any  degree  of  fever,  as  it  sometimes  will, 
(for  the  apparent  debility  is  not  always  the  consequence  of  exhaustion, 
but  of  vascular  congestion,)  the  physic  must  be  continued,  but  the  con- 
stitution would  perhaps  be  too  weak  for  the  direct  sedative  medicine. 
On  the  other  hand,  however,  no  tonic  medicine  must  be  given :  the 
fire  must  not  be  kindled  afresh  after  it  has  been  partially  subdued.  If,  how- 
ever, the  pulse  is  weak,  wavering,  irregular,  giving  sufficient  intimation 
that  the  fever  has  passed,  and  debility  succeeded,  recourse  may  be  had  to 
tonic  medicines.  The  tonics,  however,  which  in  such  cases  would  be 
beneficial  in  cattle  are  very  few.  The  exhibition  of  the  mineral  tonics  has 
rarely  been  attended  by  any  satisfactory  result — the  barks  have  not  always 
appeared  to  agree,  but  in  gentian,  calombo,  and  ginger,  the  practitioner  on 
the  diseases  of  cattle  will  find  almost  every  thing  that  he  can  wish.  The 
two  first  are  excellent  stomachics,  as  well  as  tonics ;  the  last  is  a  tonic, 
simply  because  it  is  the  very  best  stomachic  in  the  cattle  pharmacopoeia. 
They  maybe  given  three  times  every  day  in  doses  of  a  drachm  each  of  the 
two  first,  and  half  a  drachm  of  the  last.  They  will  be  more  effectual  in 
these  moderate  doses  than  in  the  overwhelming  quantities  in  which  some 
administer  them,  and  in  which  they  oppress  and  cause  nausea,  rather  than 
stimulate  and  give  appetite.  They  should  always  be  given  in  gruel,  with 
half  a  pint,  or  even  a  pint  of  sound  ale. 

The  practitioner  may  possibly  be  called  in  after  ulcers  have  broken  out, 
and  the  sloughing  process  has  commenced :  there  must  be  no  bleeding 
then  ;  the  vitality  of  the  system  has  received  a  sufficient  shock,  and  vari- 
ous parts  of  it  are  actually  decomposing ;  but  physic  is  necessary,  with  a 
double  dose  of  the  aromatic,  in  order  to  rouse  the  energies  of  the  diges- 
tive system,  and  to  get  rid  of  much  offensive  and  dangerous  matter  col- 
lected in  the  intestinal  canal.     Epsom  salts  will  here  also  constitute  the 


INFLAMMATORY  FEVER.  361 

best  purgatives.  The  enlargements  about  the  knee,  and  elbow,  and  stifle, 
and  hock,  should  be  fomented  with  warm  water;  and  any  considerable 
indurations,  and  especially  about  the  joints,  embrocated  with  equal  parts 
of  turpentine,  hartshorn,  and  camphorated  spirit. 

The  ulcers  should  be  carefully  and  thoroughly  washed  several  times 
every  day  with  a  solution  of  the  chloride  of  lime,  of  the  strength  already 
recommended.  The  ulcers  about  the  muzzle,  mouth,  and  throat,  should 
be  treated  in  a  similar  manner;  and  a  pint  of  the  solution  may  be  horned 
down  twice  in  the  course  of  the  first  day.  If  there  is  hoose,  this  will 
combine  with  the  extricated  gas,  and  prevent  the  continued  formation  of  it; 
and  it  will  materially  correct  the  fostor  which  pervades  the  whole  of  the 
digestive  canal.  Mashes  and  plenty  of  thick  gruel  should  be  offered  to 
the  beast,  and  forced  upon  him  by  means  of  the  stomach-pump  if  he  re- 
fuses to  take  it  vohintarily.  In  this  case,  the  pipe  should  not  be  introduced 
more  than  half-way  down  the  oesophagus,  as  there  will  then  be  greater 
probability  of  the  liquor  flowing  on  into  the  fourth  stomach. 

Tonics  should  on  no  account  be  neglected,  but  they  should  not  he  ad- 
ministered with  any  nonsensical  views  of  their  antiseptic  nature,  or  their 
changing  the  properties  of  the  animal  fluid)?,  but  simply  as  calculated  to 
rouse  to  action  the  languid,  or  almost  lifeless  powers  of  the  frame. ^ 

If  the  stench  from  the  ulcers  does  not  abate,  the  solution  of  the  chloride 
should  be  quickly  increased  to  a  double  strength;  but  as  soon  as  the  fcetor 
has  ceased,  and  the  wounds  begin  to  have  a  healthy  appearance,  the  heal- 
ing ointment  or  the  tincture  of  aloes  may  be  adopted,  and  the  latter  is 
preferable.  When  the  animal  begins  to  eat  he  should  be  turned  into  a  field 
close  at  hand,  the  grass  of  which  has  been  cropped  pretty  closely.  A 
seton,  or  a  rowel  should  be  retained  for  three  or  four  weeks;  but  as  for 
medicine,  it  cannot  be  too  soon  discontinued  when  the  animal  is  once  set 
on  its  legs.  When  art  has  subdued  the  disease,  nature,  although  slowly, 
will  most  successfully  resume  her  wonted  functions. 

The  breeder  has  much  in  his  power  in  the  way  of  prevention.  His 
catde  should  be  carefully  examined  every  day.  Any  little  heaving  at  the 
flanks,  or  inflammation  of  the  eyes,  or  heat-bumps  on  the  back,  or  rub- 
bing, will  be  regarded  with  suspicion,  and  met  by  a  gende  purgative,  or 
the  abstraction  of  a  little  blood;  but  the  decided  appearance  of  inflamma- 
tory fever  in  one  of  them  will  not  be  misunderstood  for  a  moment,  it  will 
convince  him  that  he  has  been  making  more  haste  than  good  speed,  and 
in  the  disease  of  one,  he  will  see  the  danger  of  all.  All  who  have  been 
subject  to  the  same  predisposing  causes  of  disease,  should  be  bled  and 
physicked,  and  turned  into  a  field  of  short  and  inferior  keep. 

John  Lawrence,  whose  work  on  cattle  has  often  been  mentioned  with 
respect,  expresses  himself  in  his  own  somewhat  peculiar  way,  but  very 
much  to  the  purpose,  on  this  point.  'Prevention  of  this  malady  is  the 
only  cure  worth  notice,  because,  after  the  attack,  the  very  nature  of  the 
case  renders  all  remedy  either  uncertain,  or  of  very  little  profit,  even  if 
successful,  on  account  of  the  expense  of  time  and  money.  A  piece  of 
short  or  inferior  keep  should  be  reserved  as  a  digesting  place,  in  which  the 
cattle  may  be  occasionally  turned  to  empty  and  exercise  themselves. 
Those  observed  to  advance  very  fast  may  be  bled  monthly  for  several 
months,  of  the  efficacy  of  which  practice  I  have,  however,  by  no  means 
so  good  an  opinion  as  of  that  of  giving  medicines  which  prevent  internal 
obstruction.  I  am  well  aware  of  the  difficulty  of  such  measures  with  a 
number  of  cattle  in  the  field,  but  I  am  convinced  that  occasional  purges, 
of  alterative  medicines,  would  prevent  those  diseases  which  seem  to  take 
their  rise  in  over-repletion  and  accumulation.' 
33 


369  CATTLE. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  sterling  good  sense  and  practical  knowledge  in 
the  quotation.  The  editor  perfecdy  agrees  with  him  in  being  somewhat 
afraid  of  these  periodical  bleedings.  So  far  as  he  has  had  opportunity 
of  observing,  they  have  increased  rather  than  lessened  the  disposition  to 
make  blood  and  fat.  He  does  not  see  so  much  difficulty,  but  a  great  deal 
of  good,  in  the  occasional  administration  of  physic;  and  he  regards  the 
digesting  place  and  the  wearing  of  a  seton,  and  the  frequent,  careful 
examination  of  the  owner  or  the  bailifl',  as  worth  the  whole  veterinary 
pharmacopoeia. 

The  editor  is  far  from  ])eing  certain  that  he  has  been  enabled  to  give  a 
description  of  this  disease  satisfactory  to  all  his  readers,  for  it  differs  mate- 
rially in  its  symptoms  in  diflerent  districts,  and  in  tlie  same  district  at 
different  times.  The  difficulty  lies  in  the  other  diseases  with  which  tlie 
inflammatory  fever  is  combined — sometimes  one,  and  sometimes  another, 
assuming  a  prominent  character,  and  while  they  all  generally  follow 
inflammatory  fever,  yet  some  of  them  occasionally  precede  it. 

In  the  North  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  the  first  symptoms  are  those  of 
quarter  ill.  The  cattle  are  seized  first  in  one  quarter,  and  then  in  the  otiier. 
The  skin  pufis  up,  and  the  crackling  noise  is  heard  almost  from  the 
beginning.     The  disease  is  usually  fatal  when  it  assumes  tliis  form. 

In  the  West  Riding,  where  from  the  rapidity  with  which  it  runs  its 
course  is  called  the  speed,  it  also  generally  begins  behind.  Inflammation, 
or  rather  mortification  seizes  one  hock.  It  runs  up  the  quarter,  which 
becomes  actually  putrid  in  the  course  of  an  hour  or  two,  while  the  other 
limbs  continue  sound.  Few,  and  especially  young  beasts,  survive  an 
attack  of  this  kind.  Here  the  active  use  of  local  applications  is  indicated; 
and  yet  they  will  rarely  be  of  much  service. 

In  some  parts  of  Surry,  under  the  name  of  the  puck,  the  fore-quarter,  or 
the  side,  is  the  part  mostly  aflected;  and  the  animal  frequently  dies  in 
an  hour  or  two.  On  skinning  the  beast,  the  whole  quarter  appears  black 
from  the  extravasation  of  blood,  and  is  softened  and  decomposed  as  though 
it  were  one  universal  bruise. 

Mr.  Turner,  of  Reigate,  puts  this  in  a  very  clear  point  of  view.  He 
says,  'The  name  (quarter-evil)  is  indicative  only  of  a  variety  of  it;  or, 
rather,  is  one  of  the  diseases  that  connects  itself  with  it:  and  this  disease 
is  generally  as  completely  limited  to  the  quarter  attacked  as  a  fit  of  hemi- 
plegia is  to  one  side  of  the  human  being.  The  animal  is  generally  in  the 
highest  possible  state  of  fever;  but  the  quarter-evil  is  limited  to  the  quar- 
ter, which  feels,  as  it  is  popularly  expressed,  precisely  like  a  jelly.  There 
is  no  remedy,  but  there  are  many  preventives,  in  which  great  confidence 
is  placed,  and  which  agree  only  in  being  composed  of  the  most  powerful 
stimulants.' 

Mr.  Trayton  has  a  singular  notion  about  it,  yet  containing  in  it  some 
truth.  He  says,  '  that  it  is  caused  by  catde  feeding  on  the  buds  of  trees 
or  shrubs  in  copses  and  hedge-rows,  together  with  an  over-indulgence  in 
ruminating  while  lying  down,  whereby  they  acquire  a  sluggish  habit,  and 
the  blood  becomes  torpid.  His  preventive  is  very  consistent  with  this 
theory,  but  it  is  rather  a  singular  one.  He  says  that  they  should  be  turned 
into  large  enclosures  of  coarse  sharp-bladed  grass,  and  there  should  be 
mixed  among  them  colts  of  a  year  or  two  years'  growth,  which,  by  their 
mischievous  gambols,  will  harass  the  calves  thoroughly;  and  by  keeping 
them  in  action  keep  them  in  health. 

None  of  our  readers,  we  trust,  will  have  recourse  to  that  preventive, 
which  Mr.  J.  Lawrence  describes  in  his  usual  happy  manner  (p.  586.) 
'  Somf  skilful  leech  introduced  the  following  most  extraordinary  operation 


TYPHUS  FEVER.  363 

as  a  preventive  of  the  disease,  which  I  apprehend,  in  the  contemplation 
either  of  physiology  or  commonsensology,  could  have  no  better  prophy- 
lactic or  preventive  view  than  shaving  the  animal  would  have,  and  which 
I  beg  to  recommend  in  its  stead,  as  at  least,  free  from  cruelty.  The  ill- 
starred  beast  is  cast,  bound  to  a  stake,  and  then  all  his  four  legs  are  cut 
open  from  the  claws  upward  to  the  height  of  several  inches,  in  order  to 
find  among  the  tendons  and  ligaments  a  strong  blood-vessel  of  a  bluish 
colour,  guilty  of  the  sin  of  producing  joynt-murrain;  and  which,  being 
caught  with  a  crooked  needle,  is  cut  away.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  the 
abovesaid  blue  blood-vessel  had  not  been  called  a  worm,  since  the  brains 
of  so  many  of  our  calde-folk  have  been  infested  with  worms  from  very 
high  antiquity.' 

This  disease,  there  called  the  hasiy,  was  once  prevalent  in  Caithness 
and  many  of  the  Highland  Straths;  and  it  was  traced  to  the  numerous 
shrubs  which  grew  on  some  of  their  wild  pastures,  and  shaded  the  coarse 
grass  from  the  sun  until  it  had  attained  an  enormous  growth,  and  was 
become  of  an  acrid  and  stimulating  nature.  It  is  added,  that  when,  as 
agriculture  improved,  these  shrubs  were  cut  down,  the  herbage  became 
milder  and  more  wholesome,  and  the  disease  rarely  appeared.  The  effect 
may,  with  greater  probability,  be  attributed  to  the  improvement  in  the 
general  management  of  cattle,  and  the  increased  knowledge  of  their 
constitution  and  diseases.  Indeed,  some  more  accurate  knowledge  was 
required  of  the  nature  and  treatment  of  the  diseases  of  cattle,  when  the 
following  absurd  and  cruel  superstition  was  had  recourse  to  in  Caithness, 
not  merely  by  the  peasants  but  by  those  who  ought  to  have  known  better. 
The  beast  attacked  by  black  quarter  was  taken  into  a  byre,  or  house,  into 
which  catde  were  never  after  to  enter,  the  heart  was  taken  out  while  the 
animal  was  alive,  and  carried  into  the  byre  where  the  farmer  kept  his 
catde,  and  hung  up  there;  and  while  it  remained  there  none  of  the  beasts 
would  be  attacked  by  this  malady. 

They  have  more  harmless  superstitions  in  other  countries.  A  French 
veterinary  surgeon  was  called  on  to  treat  this  disease  in  some  cattle.  The 
owner  was  the  more  grieved  at  its  breaking  out  in  his  farm  since  he  had 
lately  purchased  at  considerable  expense,  an  amulet  that  was  to  ensure 
the  safety  of  his  cattle  for  ever.  The  surgeon  inquired  about  this  charm, 
and  was  told  that  it  had  been  buried  with  great  ceremony  at  the  door  of 
the  cow-house,  with  the  assurance  that  every  animal  that  passed  over  it 
was  charmed  against  the  complaint.  M.  Desplas  expressed  his  determi- 
nation to  dig  up  this  amulet,  and  see  what  it  was  made  of.  He  was 
entreated  not  to  do  so,  for  certain  and  sudden  death  would  follow  the 
profane  attempt.  He  obtained  the  proper  instruments,  and  presendy  dis- 
interred the  awful  talisman.  It  was  in  the  form  of  a  packet;  and,  on  being 
unfolded,  presented  a  farthing,  a  litUe  leavened  bread,  and  a  bit  of  wax, 
wrapped  in  a  small  piece  of  black  stuff"  pilfered  from  the  stole  of  a  priest. 
M.  Desplas  placed  these  sacred  things  in  his  museum,  and  set  to  work 
and  cured  the  beast.  The  enchanter  had  received  a  quantity  of  wheat, 
worth  five  francs,  and  several  couples  of  pullets.  It  is  added  (and  if 
descriptive  of  the  lower  class  of  French  agriculturists,  it  is  no  less  so  of 
those  of  England)  that  after  all,  he  who  had  taken  the  money  and  had 
not  cured  the  animal,  inspired  more  confidence  than  the  veterinary  surgeon, 
who,  sent  by  Government,  had  cured  the  beast  gratuitously. 

TYPHUS  FEVER. 

One  other  species  of  fever  is  yet  to  be  described,  that  has  not  been 
admitted  into  the  sadly  incomplete  veterinary  nosology,  but  with  which  every 


364  CATTLE. 

farmer  is  too  well  acquainted.  It  is  of  a  low,  chronic,  typhoid  form.  It 
sometimes  follows  intense  inflammatory  action,  and  then  it  may  be  consi- 
dered as  the  second  stage  of  that  which  has  just  been  considered;  but 
often,  there  have  been  no  previous  symptoms  of  peculiar  intensity,  at  least 
none  that  have  been  observed,  but  a  little  increased  heat  of  the  ears,  horns, 
and  mouth;  a  pulse  of  sixty  or  seventy;  a  certain  degree  of  dulness;  a 
deficiency  of  appetite;  an  occasional  suspension  of  rumination;  a  disincli- 
nation to  move;  a  gait  approaching  to  staggering;  and  a  gradual  wasting. 
These  are  plain  indications  that  there  is  a  fire  burning,  aad  rapidly  con- 
suming the  strength  of  tlie  animal.  The  vital  energies  are  evidently 
undermining;  but  the  fire  is  smothered.  It  is  not  phthisis  (consumption,) 
which  will  be  described  in  due  place;  it  is  not  murrain,  for  the  early 
symptoms  of  ulceration  and  decomposition  are  not  found;  and  it  is  not 
inflammatory  fever,  for  the  intense  inflammation,  which  lias  been  repre- 
sented as  characterising  that  malady,  is  seldom  seen — it  is  true  typhus 
fever. 

As  soon  as  it  becomes  established,  diaivhoea  succeeds;  and  this  is  either 
produced  by  small  doses  of  medicine  from  which  no  danger  could  be  sus- 
pected, or  it  comes  on  spontaneously.  It  is  not,  however,  violent,  but  it 
continues  day  after  day.  It  bids  defiance  to  the  skill  of  the  most  experi- 
enced practitioner,  or,  if  it  is  arrested  for  a  little  while,  it  is  sure  to  return- 
The  discharge  is  peculiarly  fcetid;  occasionally  mixed  with  blood,  and 
generally  containing  a  considerable  quantity  of  mucus. 

Three  or  four  weeks  have  probably  now  elapsed,  and  then  succeed  the 
peculiar  symptoms  oHow  fever  in  cattle.  Tumours  form  round  the  joints 
or  appear  on  the  back  or  udder;  these  ulcerate,  spread,  and  become  fcetid. 
The  beautiful,  sweet  breath  of  the  oxen  is  gone — it  is  as  ofiensive  as  the 
ulcers,  and,  in  fact,  we  have  that  which  can  scarcely  be  distinguished 
from  the  second  stage  of  inflammatory  fever. 

It  is  the  most  prevalent  in  the  spring  and  fall  of  the  year,  and  when  the 
first  has  been  ungenial  and  the  latter  wet.  The  pasture  generally  pos- 
sesses some  degree  of  luxuriance,  although  its  herbage  may  be  coarse; 
and  the  beast  is  usually  in  good  condition  when  first  attacked  by  the 
malady. 

This  disease  has  sometimes  been  epidemic  and  fatal  to  a  dreadful  extent, 
occasionally  assuming  the  form  of,  or  being  connected  with,  epidemic 
catarrh;  at  other  times  accompanied  by  dysentery,  but  frequently  being, 
for  many  a  day,  or  for  some  weeks,  typhoid  fever  without  any  local  deter- 
mination. 

The  cause  of  typhoid  fever,  both  in  the  ruminant  and  the  human  being, 
is  involved  in  much  obscurity.  Some  have  accounted  for  it  from  the  ex- 
trication of  certain  gases  or  miasmata  from  vegetable  substances  under- 
going the  process  of  decomposition.  Certainly  it  is  most  prevalent,  oa 
cold,  wet  lands;  and  during  cold,  wet,  variable  weather.  A  long  wet 
winter  is  sure  to  be  followed  by  typlius  fever  in  every  low,  marshy 
district.  In  the  higher  pastures,  where  the  cattle  seem  exposed  to  greater 
cold,  but  have  less  wet,  little  of  it  is  seen. 

It  is  much  to  be  doubted  whether  it  is  infectious;  but  all  the  cattle  have 
been  exposed  to  the  same  predisposing  causes  of  disease.  The  farmer 
would  do  well  to  remove  the  infected  beasts  from  the  sound  ones  as  soon 
as  possible;  and  the  carcass  of  the  animal  that  dies  of  inflammatory  or 
typhoid  fever  should  be  buried  without  delay. 

These  are  cases  which  puzzle  the  farmer  and  the  practitioner  too;  and, 
when  treated  in  the  best  way,  they  too  frequently  will  not  yield  to  medical 
skill.  There  is  one  rule,  however,  which  cannot  mislead.     If  there  is  fire, 


TYPHUS  FEVER.  365 

it  must  be  put  out.  No  apparent  debility  should  mislead  here.  That  debi- 
lity may,  and  often  does,  result  from  the  presence  of  fever,  and  not  from 
any  dangerous  impairment  of  vital  power;  and  the  incubus  being  thrown 
off,  nature  will  rally;  at  all  events,  the  debility  is  the  consequence  of  the 
fever,  and  is  daily  and  rapidly  increasing  while  the  fever  continues:  there- 
fore, the  first  step  is  to  bleed,  and  to  bleed  until  the  character  of  the  pulse 
begins  to  change.  It  should  never  be  forgotten  by  the  proprietor  or  the 
practitioner  that  one  bleeding  of  this  kind  will  often  do  good,  and 
cannot  be  injurious.  It  is  the  fear  of  bleeding  lest  the  animal  should 
be  more  debilitated,  or  tlie  pushing  on  of  the  bleeding,  in  order  to  obtain 
a  definite  quantity,  after  the  pulse  has  begun  to  falter,  that  has  done  ail 
the  mischief. 

If  the  heat,  and  heaving,  and  disinclination  to  food  should  have  been 
relieved  by  this  bleeding,  but,  a  day  or  two  afterwards,  should  threaten 
fo  return,  more  blood  should  be  taken,  but  with  the  same  caution  as  to  the 
pulse. 

Physic  will  naturally  follow,  but  with  some  caution,  too;  for  it  has 
been  already  stated  that  there  is  a  natural  tendency  to  diarrhoea  connected 
with  this  disease,  and  which  is  often  troublesome  to  subdue.  One  dose  of 
Epsom  salts  should  be  given  with  the  usual  quantity  of  aromatic  medicine; 
but  the  action  of  this  purgative  should  be  secured  and  kept  up  by  half- 
pound  doses  of  sulphur,  administered  as  circumstances  may  indicate. 

To  this  will  follow  the  usual  sedative  medicine — digitalis,  emetic  tartar, 
and  nitre.  The  practitioner  must  not  be  deluded  here.  While  the  mouth 
■and  horns  are  hot,  and  the  pulse  rapid,  tonics  would  be  poison:  he  wants 
them  not  at  all.  He  has  to  put  out  the  fire,  and  not  to  feed  it.  When 
the  fever  is  subdued,  but  nature  finds  some  difiieulty  in  rallying,  we  may 
give  our  gentian,  calumbo,  and  ginger,  Avilh  advantage.  There  are  few 
circumstances  in  which  the  cow  leech  has  done  so  much  harm  or  destroyed 
so  many  victims,  as  when  a  fire  has  been  smouldering  and  consuming  the 
energies  of  life,  and  he  has  fed  it,  and  caused  it  to  burst  out  with  resistless 
force,  by  means  of  his  abdominal  cordials,* 

When  the  tumours  and  ulcerations  appear,  the  second  stage  of  inflam- 
matory fever  is  established,  and  the  measures  recommended  when  that 
malady  passed  under  consideration  must  be  adopted.  This  disorder  attacks 
cattle  of  all  ages.  Full-grown  beasts  are  more  subject  to  typhoid  than  to 
inflammatory  fever;  but  among  the  younger  ones  and  the  weaning  calves, 
and  those  of  eight,  nine,  and  ten  month's  old,  it  is  extremely  fatal,  for 
they  have  not  strength  to  bear  up  against  this  secretly-consuming  fire. 

The  mode  of  prevention,  when  it  first  breaks  out  among  the  stock,  is 
similar  to  that  of  inflammatory  fever — namely,  to  bleed  and  physic; 
the  grand  thing  of  all,  however,  is  to  remove  not  merely  to  shorter,  but 
to  dryer  pasture.     With   the  youngsters,  bleeding  may,  perhaps,  be  dis- 

*  We  transcribe  the  ingredients  of  a  felon  drink,  a  name  for  cold,  rheumatism,  fever, 
and  various  unclasscd  diseases.  It  is  recommended  by  Mr.  Knowlson,  wlio  has  been 
fifty-seven  years  in  full  practice.  He  first  describes  the  disease.  The  beast's  hide  is 
stiff,  and  not  good  to  get  hold  of:  it  loses  its  flesh;  walks  stiff  in  its  limbs;  its  eyes  look 
dim  and  watery;  and  it  neither  eats  nor  drinks  so  freely  as  it  should  do.  Take,  for  a 
strong  beast,  2  ounces  of  beast  spice,  1  do.  turmeric,  1  do.  powder  of  aniseed,  1  do.  canary 
seed  in  powder,  2  do.  ginger  in  powder,  2  do.  grains  of  Paradise  in  powder,  1  do.  diapente, 
1  do.  sweet  fennel,  1  do.  Mithridate.  All  these  are  to  be  mixed  together  in  2  quarts  of 
ale  with  a  httle  treacle,  and  to  be  given  fasting. 

The  next  he  calls  the  common  felon  drink:  it  is  the  usual  cordial  drink  of  the  cow-leech, 
and  administered  for  almost  every  disease.  Take  2  ounces  of  beast  spice,!  do.  ginger, 
1  do.  aniseed,  1  do.  long  pepper,  1  do.  diapente,  I  do.  Foenugreek,  1  do.  turmeric,  1  do. 
Mithridate,  I  do.  grains  of  Paradise,  1  do.  Galengal,  1  do.  carraway  seeds. — Can  we 
wonder  at  the  almost  uniformly  fatal  termination  of  iuflammatory  diseases  in  cattle? 

32* 


366  CATTLE. 

pensed  with;  but  a  dose  of  physic  should  be  given,  and  a  seton  inserted 
in  the  dewlap;  and  the  cliange  of  pasture  should  be  considered  as  indis- 
pensable. 

Low  and  damp  situations  do  not  agree  with  ruminants  of  any  kind. 
After  a  long,  wet  winter,  there  is  a  strange  mortality  among  the  deer  in 
some  parks.  A  wet  situation  is  the  acknowledged  cause  of  the  most  fatal 
disease  to  which  slieep  are  subject;  and  the  inhalntants  of  low,  marshy 
grounds  have  too  often  a  sad  account  to  render  of  their  catde. 

THE  VEINS. 

The  principal  disease  of  the  capillary  vessels,  including  inflammation 
and  the  various  kinds  of  fever,  having  thus  been  disposed  of,  the  blood 
must  be  again  traced  back  to  the  heart. 

By  means  of  the  various  important  functions  which  are  discharged  by 
the  capillaries  the  blood  is  essentially  changed  as  it  traverses  them.  It 
becomes  black,  venous,  and  no  longer  capable  of  sustaining  life;  and  it  must 
be  sent  back  to  the  heart  to  be  again  rendered  arterial.  The  capillaries 
in  which  the  blood  has  undergone  this  change  begin  to  unite,  and,  when  a 
sufficient  number  of  them  have  joined  their  streams,  that  branch  is  called 
a  vein.  The  coats  of  the  vein  are  much  weaker  and  thinner  than  those  of 
the  artery,  and  the  blood  flows  through  them  by  a  different  principle  from 
that  which  influences  the  circulation  either  in  the  arteries  or  capillaries. 

All  the  veins  of  the  limbs,  or  that  are  subject  to  the  pressure  of  any  of 
the  muscles,  have  valves,  which  permit  the  blood  to  flow  on  towards  the 
heart,  but  oppose  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  its  course  in  a  contrary  direc- 
tion; thus,  by  the  pressure  of  the  nuiscles,  a  considerable  power  is,  occa- 
sionally at  least,  called  into  exercise  to  propel  the  blood  along  the  veins. 
All  the  veins,  however,  are  not  under  tlie  influence  of  these  muscles.  The 
large  veins  of  the  chest  and  belly  are  out  of  the  reach  of  muscular  pressure, 
and  are  destitute  of  this  valvular  apparatus,  but  they  are  acted  upon  by  a 
more  powerful  principle. 

The  heart  has  been  described  as  an  elastic  muscle.  It  has  scarcely 
closed  by  the  stimulus  of  the  organic  nerves  when  it  expands  again  by  its 
own  inherent  elasticity,  and  that  important  principle,  by  the  influence  of 
which  the  water  follows  the  sucker  in  the  common  pump,  and  rushes  in 
and  fills  the  barrel  when  the  piston  is  raised  in  the  fire-engine — that  prin- 
ciple— the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere — acts  here,  too,  and  the  cavities  of 
the  heart  are  filled  again  as  soon  as  they  expand;  and  this  living  pump 
would  work  on  while  there  was  fluid  in  circulation.  It  would  be  forced  in 
from  the  nearest  and  from  the  most  distant  veins,  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  water  would  flow  along  the  pipes  from  the  most  distant  reservoir  in 
order  to  supply  the  inferior  machines — the  works  of  men's  hands.  Thus 
the  circulation  is  maintained  by  the  action  of  the  heart,  while  the  blood  is 
passing  through  the  arteries;  by  the  muscular  power  of  the  capillaries, 
while  it  permeates  those  little  vessels;  and  by  the  pressure  of  the  muscles 
and  the  valvular  apparatus  of  the  veins  in  some  part  of  its  course  through 
them;  and  by  atmospheric  pressure,  and  the  principle  of  the  pump,  through 
their  whole  extent. 

VARICOSE  VEINS. 

The  horse,  except  under  the  form  of  bog  and  blood  spavin,  and  occa- 
sional enlargement  of  the  jugular  and  thigh  veins,  is  free  from  varicose 
tumours:  in  the  cow,  they  seldom  appear,  except  in  the  veins  of  the  udder, 
and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  joints  that  have  suffered  even  more  than  usual 
from  the  tumours  of  these  parts  to  which  cattle  are  so  liable.     An  old  cow 


THE  CHEST.  367 

that  has  been  a  superior  milker,  frequently  has  the  vehis  of  the  teats  per- 
manentlj'  enlarged.  No  application  will  take  down  the  swelling,  but 
which,  however,  is  rarely  productive  of  any  serious  inconvenience.  The 
veins  of  the  teats  are  sometimes  much  enlarged  under  Garget.  Warm 
fomentations,  in  order  to  abate  the  general  inflammation  of  the  bag,  will 
afford  most  relief.  In  two  cases,  however,  in  the  experience  of  the  writer, 
one  connected  with  garget,  and  the  other  not  to  be  traced  to  any  satisfactory 
cause,  there  arose  a  tumor  on  the  bag,  evidently  containing  venous  blood. 
They  were  superficially  situated,  and  were  rapidly  increasing.  The  first 
was  punctured  and  venous  blood  flowed  out  in  a  full  stream,  nor  could 
the  haemorrhage  be  arrested  but  by  the  severe  application  of  the  cautery,  and 
that  applied  at  a  venture,  for  the  precise  situation  of  the  bleeding  vessel 
could  not  be  ascertained.  Alarmed  by  this,  the  operator  dissected  out 
the  other.  He  found  that  two  considerable  venous  trunks  poured  their 
blood  into  a  cellated  structure,  dense  within,  but  the  cells  increasing  in 
size  towards  the  surface,  and  communicating  with  each  other.  These 
vessels  were  secured  by  a  ligature,  and  the  cellular  substance  was  removed, 
and  which,  emptied  of  its  blood,  shrunk  into  an  unexpectedly  small 
compass. 

The  varicose  enlargement  was  never  removed  from  the  first  cow,  and 
occasionally  it  became  hot  and  tender,  and  interfered  with  the  milking. 
The  v/ound  presently  healed  in  the  second  cow,  and  there  was  an  end  of 
the  matter. 

THE  CHEST. 

The  form  of  the  chest  is  of  as  much  consequence  in  the  ox  as  in  the 
horse;  nay  it  is  of  considerably  greater  moment;  for  plenty  of  courage 
will  compensate,  to  a  certain  degree,  for  defects  in  the  form,  and  for  dimi- 
nution of  strength.  His  own  natural  spirit  will  carry  many  a  horse, 
evidently  deficient  in  physical  power,  through  exertions  under  which  the 
coward  would  sink  and  die.  No  labour  of  this  kind  is  required  from 
the  ox;  but  still  there  are  important  oflSces  to  be  performed  by  the  viscera 
of  the  chest  which  demand  constant  energetic  action,  over  which  the 
mind  has  no  control,  and  where  all  depends  on  the  form  and  extent  of  the 
thoracic  cavity.  The  blood  must  be  purified,  and  it  must  be  circulated 
through  the  frame,  and  that  with  a  rapidity  and  perfection  which  must 
not  know  a  moment's  intermission. 

The  chest  consists  of  13  ribs  on  either  side,  or  26  in  the  whole;  being 
10  less  than  are  found  in  the  horse.  Of  these  8  on  each  side  are,  as  in 
the  horse,  directly  connected  with  the  stermwi,  or  breast  bone,  and  are 
termed  true  ribs;  the  other  5  are  attached  to  cartilages,  which  are  linked 
together,  and  also  connected  with  the  sternum  in  an  indirect  manner — 
these  are  termedy«/se  ribs. 

The  true  ribs  are  considerably  longer,  larger,  thicker,  and  farther  apart 
from  each  other  than  in  the  horse;  for,  in  consequence  of  the  smaller 
number  of  short,  or  false  ribs,  they  take  a  more  backward  direction,  and 
cover  a  portion  of  the  abdomen  above,  while  the  sternum  supports  it 
below. 

They  are  so  formed  i>i  the  ox  as  to  render  the  cavity  of  the  chest  of  a 
far  more  circular  shape  than  it  could  be  in  the  horse.  The  reader  is 
referred,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  sternum,  or  breast  bone.  In  the  horse, 
as  shown  in  page  163  of  the  Treatise  on  that  animal,  the  breast  bone  is 
narrow  and  deep;  it  bears  no  indistinct  resemblance  to  the  keel  of  a 
ship.  It  is  plainly  contrived  for  the  purposes  of  strength;  it  opposes  its 
curved  form  and  its  depth  to  the  weight  which  it  is  destined  to  support, 
and  the  momentum,  or  force,  wilh  which  that  M'eight  will  sometimes  be 
thrown  on  it  in  rapid  motion. 


CATTLE. 


IThe  Breast  Bone  of  the  Ox.} 

1.  The  body  of  the  sternum,  (so  called  from  its  resemblance  in  the 
horse  to  the  stern  of  a  ship)  or  breast  bone. 

2.  The  cartilages  by  which  the  ribs  are  attached  to  the  sternum. 

3.  The  ribs  cut  off. 

4.  The  xiphoid  cartilage  (resembling  a  sword,  which  it  does  in  the 
horse)  at  the  posterior  part  of  the  sternum,  supporting  the  rumen. 

5.  5.  The  joints,  with  their  capsular  ligaments,  uniting  the  cartilages 
with  the  sternum. 

6.  6.  Do.,  uniting  the  cartilages  with  the  ribs. 

7.  The  socket  receiving  the  moveable  bone  at  the  point  of  the  sternum. 
In  the  ox,  as  the  above  cut  will  show,  the  sternum  is  thin  and  flat.     It 

presents  a  level  surface  of  considerable  width  for  the  floor  of  the  cliest,  and, 
therefore,  ensures  a  circular  form  for  the  chest,  which  the  horse  could  never 
liuve.  It  would  be  a  defect  in  him  if  he  had  it,  for  it  would  throw  too  much 
weight  before,  and  would  render  him  dangerous  both  to  ride  and  drive. 

Breadth  at  the  breast  is  an  essential  requisite  in  the  ox.  'J'he  Lin- 
colnshire ox  was  one  foot  and  ten  inches  between  the  fore  legs.  It  is  this 
conformation  alone  which  will  give  sufficient  surface  for  the  attachment 
of  muscles  of  the  character  of  those  of  the  ox,  and  will  secure  sufficient 
room  for  the  lungs  to  purify,  and  the  heart  to  circulate  blood  enough  for 
the  proper  discharge  of  every  function.  The  following  cut  of  the  breast 
of  Firby,  Lord  Althorp's  bull,  will  afford  a  practical  illustration  of  these 
observations. 


THE  CHEST. 


369 


[Lord  Althorfs  Bull.] 

Now  comes  another  illustration  of  the  admirable  manner  in  which  different 
animals  are  adapted  for  the  purposes  which  we  require  of  them;  and  of 
the  economy  of  nature  in  giving  to  each  that  which  he  needs,  and, no  more. 
The  horse  cannot  have  this  permanently  circular  chest;  for  although  it 
would  ensure  to  him  a  plentiful  supply  of  arterial  blood,  it  would  give  him 
a  heaviness  before,  and  a  general  accumulation  of  muscle  and  fat  which 
would  interfere  with  his  general  usefulness:  yet  that  the  chest  may  pos- 
sess the  power  of  expansion  to  a  certain  degree,  every  rib  is  attached  to 
the  sternum  by  a  perfect  joint;  and  thus  the  hurried  breathing  of  un- 
usually quickened  action  is  materially  assisted.  The  chest  is  expanded 
and  contracted  much  more  rapidly,  and  to  a  greater  extent,  and  with  less 
expenditure  of  muscular  power,  than  could  be  effected  without  these 
joints. 

The  flatness  of  the  breast  bono  at  the  base  of  the  chest  of  the  ox-  secures 
2.  permanent  sufficiency  of  capacity;  and  a  ■perfect  joint  between  the  ribs 
and  the  sternum  is  not  only  not  wanted,  but  might  interfere  with  the 
equable  action  of  the  respiratory  apparatus  in  this  animal.  The  union, 
however,  between  the  rib  and  the  sternum  does  admit  of  a  considerable 
degree  of  motion,  and  would,  to  a  great  extent,  contribute  to  the  enlarge- 
ment of  tiie  chest,  if  rapid  action,  or  accident,  or  disease  should  require  it. 

The  sternum  of  the  ox  has  a  process  projecting  very  considerably 
anteriorly,  but  not  closing  the  entrance  into  the  chest  so  much  as  is  done 
in  that  which  is  found  in  the  horse.  That  process,  or  first  division  of  the 
sternum,  has  a  joint  which  is  not  found  in  the  horse.  It  admits  of  a  certain 
degree  of  lateral  action  only.  It  materially  assists  the  walking  or  other 
action  of  the  animal,  and  which  appears  to  be  absolutely  necessary,  when 
we  consider  the  vast  accumulation  of  flesh  and  fat  about  these  parts;  and 
especially  that  singular  collection  of  them,  the  brisket,  scarcely  a  vestige 
of  which  is  observed  in  the  horse. 

The  muscles  which  are  most  concerned  in  giving  bulk  to  the  breast  are 
the  transverse  pectorals.    They  form  the  grand  prominences  in  front  of  the 


370  CATTLE. 

chest,  and  extend  from  the  anterior  extremity  of  the  sternum  to  the  middle 
of  the  arm. 

The  great  pectoral  (tig.  13,  pp.  3.38,  339,)  arising  from  the  lateral  and 
the  posterior  part  of  the  sternum,  may  be  considered  more  as  a  continu- 
ation of  the  muscles  of  the  breast,  extending  laterally  and  backwards. 


THE  BRISKET. 

This  is  a  singular  portion  of  the  breast  of  the  ox,  and  to  which,  and 
very  properly,  much  importance  has  been  universally  attaclied,  although, 
perhaps,  on  false  grounds.  It  has  been  considered  as  a  part  of  the  anterior 
wall  of  the  chest,  and  as  a  proof  of  its  depth  and  capacity.  This  is  altogether 
erroneous.  It  is  a  mere  appendix  to  the  chest.  It  is  a  projection  of 
substance,  partly  muscular,  but  more  cellular  and  fatly,  from  the  anterior 
and  moveable  division  or  head  of  the  sternum,  extending  sometimes  from 
12  to  20  inches  in  front  of  it,  and  dipping  downwards  nearly  or  quite  as 
much.  It  is  no  proof  of  depth  of  chest.  It  is  found  of  a  great  size  in 
all  the  improved  cattle,  varying  in  size  in  diflerent  breeds,  and  in  difl'erent 
cattle  of  the  same  breed;  and  it  was  always  looked  for  and  valued  in  the 
better  specimens  of  the  old  cattle.  It  is,  at  least,  a  proof  of  tendency  to 
fatness.  A  beast  that  will  accumulate  so  much  flesh  and  fat  about  the 
brisket  will  not  be  deficient  in  other  points. 

In  the  Lincolnshire  ox,  the  brisket  was  only  14  inches  from  the  ground. 
Mr.  Mure's  Queen  of  Scots  carried  her  brisket  only  15^-  inches  from  the 
ground. 

It  is  very  probable  that  this  may  be  carried  too  far.  An  enormously 
projecting  brisket  may  evince  a  more  than  usual  tendency  to  fatten;  but  not 
nnfrequentlv  a  tendency  to  accumulate  that  fat  irregularly — to  have  it 
too  much  in  patches,  and  not  spread  equally  over  the  frame.  Many 
examples  of  this  must  present  themselves  to  the  recollection  of  the  grazier, 
and  especially  in  some  of  the  short-horn  breeds.  In  a  very  few  instances 
it  has  been  almost  fancied  that  this  enormously  projecting  brisket  was  a 
defect,  rather  than  an  excellence;  at  least,  that  it  somewhat  impaired  the 
uniform  beauty  of  the  animal,  if  it  did  not  diminish  his  sterling  excellence. 

The  brisket  should  be  prominent  as  well  as  deep;  perhaps  on  one 
account  more  prominent  than  deep,  for  it  will  then  be  more  likely,  either 
before,  or  by  the  time  it  arrives  at  the  posterior  border  of  the  elbow  or 
fore-arm,  to  have  subsided  to  the  thickness  of  the  fatty  and  other  substance 
naturally  covering  the  sternum.  One  defect,  but  not  of  half  the  con- 
sequence which  it  is  generally  supposed  to  be,  would  then  be  avoided — 
the  apparent  diminution  of  the  chest  at  the  girthing  place,  or  immediately 
behind  the  elbows.  Some  have  evidently  considered  this  to  be  an  actual 
elevation  of  the  floor  of  the  chest,  and  a  consequent  lessening  of  its 
capacity  at  this  point;  and,  on  that  account,  a  most  serious  defect.  There 
are  few  things  which  the  patrons  of  the  short-horns  have  laboured  more 
zealously,  and  generally  more  unsuccessfully,  to  remedy.  It  is  certainly 
a  defect,  because  it  evinces  a  disposition  to  accumulate  fat  in  a  somewhat 
patchy  manner;  but  it  is  not  so  bad  as  has  been  represented  or  feared. 
It  indicates  no  elevation  of  the  sternum — no  diminution  of  tlie  capacity 
of  the  chest:  it  is  a  rather  too  sudden  termination  of  the  protuberance 
of  the  brisket,  either  from  the  accumulation  of  the  the  principal  part  of 
its  substance  too  forward,  or  from  a  want  of  disposition  in  the  beast  to 
fatten  in  an  equable  way.  If  the  brisket  were  removed,  the  bicast-bond 
would  be  found  to  be  gradually  rounding,  and  rising  from  this  spot,  and 
not  let  down  lower  between  the  elbows.     It  will  be  interesting  to  compare 


THE  RIBS.  371 

the  different  forms  of  the  brisket  in  the  different  breeds  of  cattle.  The 
bulls  of  Mr.  Berry  and  Lord  Althorp  will  show  how  much  variety  can 
exist  in  different  animals,  and  favourite  ones  too,  of  the  same  breed; 
and  those  who  recollect  the  portrait  of  Mr.  C.  Colliiig's  Comet,  to  Avhose 
brisket,  few,  perhaps,  could  at  first  reconcile  themselves  so  far  as  beauty 
or  form  was  concerned,  will  be  aware  of  greater  variety  still. 

When  the  observer  now  admires  or  wonders  at  the  protuberant  and 
unwieldy  briskets  of  these  cattle,  he  will  recognise  the  use  of  the  joint  in 
the  first,  or  supplementary,  bone  of  the  sternum  of  oxen.  They  could  not 
walk  with  ease,  and  it  would  be  scarcely  possible  for  them  to  turn  at  all,  if 
it  were  not  for  the  lateral  motion  which  this  joint  permits.  The  muscles 
most  concerned  in  this  action,  and,  indeed,  that  constitute  the  bulk  of  the 
fleshy  part  of  the  brisket,  are  the  anterior  portions  of  the  external  and 
internal  sternocostal  muscles  (those  which  are  concerned  with  the  sternum 
and  the  ribs,)  and  whose  action  is  to  elevate  the  ribs,  and  so  dilate  the 
chest,  and  assist  in  inspiration. 

THE    RIBS. 

The  first  rib  on  either  side  is  a  short,  rather  straight,  and  particularly 
strong  bone.  It  has  much  of  the  head  and  neck  to  support;  and  it  is  the 
fulcrum  or  fixed  point  on  which  all  the  other  bones  are  to  move.  Each 
rib  is  united  to  the  spine  by  a  strength  of  attachment  which  will  almost 
rival  that  of  the  horse. 

They  spring  from  the  spine  in  a  more  horizontal  direction  than  in  the 
horse;  and  consequently,  there  is  a  provision  for  the  capacity  of  the  chest 
above  as  well  as  below.  The  ribs  of  the  horse  take  from  the  beginning  an 
evident  slanting  direction.  The  bones,  being  more  numerous,  give  greater 
elasticity  and  ease  of  motion  by  their  multiplied  joints;  the  withers,  and 
back,  and  loins,  are  narrower,  for  the  convenience  of  the  rider:  but  in 
the  ox  the  bones  are  fewer,  in  order  that  they  may  be  larger  for  the  attach- 
ment oLadditional  muscle;  they  spring  out  at  once  laterally,  taking  such 
a  direction  as  would  render  them  exceedingly  awkward  for  the  saddle,  in 
order  to  secure  that  perm  anient  capacity  of  chest  which  the  functions  of 
the  ox  require. 

Therefore  it  is  that  in  some  breeds  a  little  flat-sidedness  (the  less  the 
better)  may  be  forgiven,  because  the  width  of  the  sternum  below,  and  of 
the  spine,  in  some  degree,  but  more  particularly  the  springing  out  of  the 
ribs  above,  secure  a  sufficient  and  an  unsuspected  capacity  of  chest.  It  is 
on  this  account  that  the  Devon  ox  is  active  and  profitable  while  at  work, 
and  afterwards  grazes  kindly.  The  conformation  of  the  bones  which  have 
been  just  described  give  him  a  considerable  capacity  of  chest,  notwith- 
standing his  somewhat  too  fiat  sides:  yet  in  the  animal  which  was  chiefly 
valued  for  his  grazing  properties,  something  more  would  be  looked  for, 
and  would  be  found. 

The  shoulder  being  past,  this  horizontal  projection  of  the  ribs  is  more 
and  more  evident;  and,  in  order  that  the  barrel-form  shall  be  as  complete 
as  it  can  be  made,  each  rib  is  twisted.  Its  posterior  edges  are  turned 
upwards  and  outwards;  and  as,  proceeding  backwards,  each  projects 
beyond  the  preceding  one,  not  only  until  the  eighth  true  ribs  is  passed, 
but  also  the  five  false  ones,  the  carcass  of  a  well-made,  profitable  beast 
increases  in  width  and  in  capacity,  until  we  arrive  at,  or  nearly  at,  the 
loins.  For  illustration  of  this,  reference  may  be  made  to  any  or  all  of  the 
cuts  of  the  Kyloe,  Galloway,  or  New  Leicester,  or  Short-horn  cattle. 

In  point  of  fact,  however,  the  thorax  is  now  passed,  and  the  abdomen 


373  CATTLE. 

presents  itself;  but  the  prinriple  is  the  same:  the  ribs  are  spread  out, 
not  only  to  atTord  room  in  the  thorax  for  lungs  considerably  larger  than 
those  of  the  horse,  but  for  that  immense  macerating  stomach,  the  rumen, 
■which  fills  the  greater  part  of  the  abdomen,  and  which  must  be  preserved 
as  much  as  possible  from  injury  and  pressure. 

THE  SPINK. 

The  principal  diflerence  between  the  spine  of  the  ox  and  that  of  the 
horse  consists  in  the  greater  size  of  the  individual  bones,  the  small 
quantity  of  elastic  ligamentous  substance  interposed  between  them,  and  the 
length  and  roughness  of  all  the  processes  in  the  former.  Two  objects  are 
accomplished,  sufficient  strength  is  obtained  for  the  protection  of  the  parts 
beneath,  and  for  the  purposes  for  which  the  animal  may  be  required,  and 
as  much  roughened  surface  as  possible  for  the  insertion  of  muscles.  As 
the  joints  are  fewer,  some  provision  seems  to  be  made  for  this,  by  their 
being  more  complicated  than  in  the  horse. 

The  spinous  processes  of  the  anterior  bones  of  the  back,  constituting 
the  withers,  are  stronger,  but  not  so  long  as  they  are  in  the  horse.  While 
a  very  slight  curve  should  mark  the  situation  of  the  withers,  the  irregu- 
larity of  the  processes  of  the  bones  should  never  be  visible.  The  less  the 
curve  the  belter,  and  no  decided  hollow  behind  should  point  out  the  place 
Avhere  the  withers  terminate,  and  the  more  level  surface  of  the  back  com- 
mences. This  is  a  departure  from  good  conformation,  for  which  nothing 
can  compensate.  It  not  only  takes  away  so  much  substance  from  the 
spot  on  which  good  flesh  and  fat  sliould  be  thickly  laid  on,  but  it  generally 
shows  an  indisposition  to  accumulate  flesh  and  fat  in  the  right  places. 
The  proper  form  of  these  parts,  however,  will  be  better  understood  when 
we  describe  the  fore  limbs  of  the  ox;  and  the  spine  generally  more  pro- 
perly belongs  to  the  cavity  of  the  belly,  of  Avliich  it  is  the  roof.  We, 
therefore,  once  more  go  back  to  the  upper  part  of  the  neck. 

THE  LARYNX. 

At  the  posterior  part  of  the  pharynx,  and  at  the  top  of  the  windpipe,  we 
find  a  curiously  constructed  cartilaginous  box  called  the  larynx.  It  is  the 
guard  of  the  lungs,  lest  particles  of  food,  or  any  injurious  substance  should 
penetrate  into  the  air-passages,  and  it  is  at  the  same  time  the  instrument 
of  voice.  (See  cut  3,  p.  32.5.)  Every  portion  of  food,  whether  swallowed 
or  returned  for  the  purpose  of  re-mastication,  passes  over  it;  and  it  would  be 
scarcely  possible  to  avoid  frequent  inconvenience,  and  danger  of  suffoca- 
tion, were  it  not  for  a  lid  or  covering  to  the  entrance  of  this  box,  termed 
the  epiglottis  (fig.  5,)  which  yields  to  the  pressure  of  the  food  passing 
over  it,  and  lies  fiat  on  the  entrance  into  the  windpipe,  and,  being  of  a  car- 
tUaginous  structure,  rises  again  by  its  inherent  elasticity  as  soon  as  the 
l)ellet  has  been  forced  along,  and  permits  the  animal  to  breathe  again. 
The  whole  of  the  larynx  is  composed  of  separate  cartilages,  to  which 
muscles  are  attached,  that  regulate  the  size  of  the  opening  into  the 
windpipe,  as  the  voice  or  alteration  in  breathing  from  exertion  or  disease, 
may  require.  Fig.  11  gives  a  view  of  the  rimx  glottidis,  or  edge 
of  the  glottis,  or  opening  into  the  windpipe.  It  appears  a  little  more  pro- 
minent than  in  the  horse,  but  the  opening  into  the  windpipe  is  consider- 
ably smaller  than  in  that  animal,  because  little  speed  is  required  in  the 
labour  of  the  ox,  and  there  is  rarely  any  hurried  or  distressed  breathing. 

But  although  the  opening  into  the  windpipe  is  smaller,  there  is  more 
danger  of  substances  getting  into  it,  for  all  the  food  passes  thrice  over  it; 


THE  WINDPIPE.  373 

and  at  its  first  passage  is  formed  into  a  very  loose  and  imperfect  pellet. 
Provision  is  made  for  this;  the  epiglottis  of  the  ox  is  broader  than  that  of 
the  horse:  it  more  than  covers  the  opening  into  ihe  windpipe.  In  the 
horse  it  merely  fits  it:  and  while  care  is  taken  that,  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, the  air-passages  shall  be  sufiiciendy  guarded,  equal  or  more  care 
seems  to  be  bestowed  on  the  removal  of  every  impediment  to  the  breath- 
ing, and  therefore  the  epiglottis  of  tlie  horse  (fig.  5,  cut  1,  p.  325,)  with 
its  sharp  termination,  was  adjusted  so  as  just  to  cover  the  rimae  glottidis 
and  no  more.  In  the  ox,  the  breathing  is  seldom  hurried,  and  the  food 
passes  oftener  over  the  opening,  and  therefore  the  epiglottis  is  broad  and 
rounded.     (Fig.  5,  cut  2,  p.  325.) 

Not  only  so,  but  in  the  horse  the  food  only  passes  one  way;  it  is  sim- 
ply swallowed:  in  the  ox  it  is  returned  for  a  second  mastication.  The  pro- 
vision made  for  the  horse  would  be  totally  insuflicient,  for  portions  of  the 
food  would  insinuate  itself  under  the  epiglottis,  and  enter  the  larynx.  In 
order  to  prevent  this,  we  have  the  broad  epiglottis,  overlapping  on  either 
side,  and  at  the  angle  of  the  opening;  the  cartilage  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed is  thinner,  its  rounded  extremity  is  curled — turned  back — so  as  to 
yield  and  be  pressed  doivn,  and  give  an  uninterrupted  passage,  and  securely 
cover  the  opening  when  the  food  is  returned,  while  also,  from  its  thinness, 
it  yields  in  another  way,  and  uncurls  and  covers  the  opening  when  the 
food  is  swallowed.* 

The  arytcEniiid  cartilages  (fig.  6)  are  smaller  in  the  ox  than  in  the  horse: 
the  thyroid  cartilages  (fig.  7)  are  larger.  The  interior  of  the  larynx  of 
the  ox — the  organ  of  voice — is  more  simple  than  in  any  other  domesticated 
animal.  There  is  neither  membrane  across  the  opening,  nor  are  there  any 
duplicatures  of  membrane  resembling  sacs  within  the  larynx;  in  fact,  his 
voice  is  the  least  capable  of  modulation  of  any  of  our  quadruped  servants. 

THE   WINDPIPE. 

The  trachea,  or  windpipe,  of  the  catde  is  considerably  smaller  than  in 
the  horse,  because  so  much  air  is  not  wanted.  The  ox  is  not  a  beast  of 
speed,  and  he  rarely  goes  beyond  the  walk  or  trot.  Tiie  cartUaginous 
rings  are  narrower  (fig.  9,  cut  2,  p.  325,)  and  although  thicker,  they  are 
of  less  firm  consistence.  The  interposed  ligamentous  substance  is  weaker 
(fig.  10,  cut  1,  p.  325.)  It  is  also  wider  in  the  fresh  subject  although  from 
its  thinness  and  weakness,  it  quickly  contracts  as  closely  as  i^  is  represent- 
ed in  this  cut.  A  tube  of  looser  construction  is  sufficient  for  the  portion 
of  air  which  the  ox  needs  in  respiration;  and  gathering  usually  the  whole 
of  his  food  from  the  ground,  and  gathering  it  slowly,  and  being  longer  oc- 
cupied about  it,  more  freedom  of  motion,  and  a  greater  degree  of  extension 
is  requisite. 

*  Some  persons  have  said,  and  indeed  the  author  is  very  much  incHned  to  believe  it, 
and  his  old  recollections  and  present  experience  confirm  that  belief,  that  many  of  the 
tongues  wliich  in  large  towns  are  pickled  by  the  drysalter,  and  find  their  way  to  the  tajbles 
of  the  taverns,  or  of  private  individuals,  never  came  from  the  mouth  of  the  ox.  The 
epiglottis,  however,  will  tell  tales.  It  is  generally  preserved  in  tlie  pickled  tongue;  or  if 
it  is  not,  that  will  be  regarded  as  a  very  suspicious  circumstance.  The  observation, 
then,  whether  this  cartilage  is  rounded  and  curled,  or  sharp,  will  decide  the  question  as 
to  the  animal  to  which  it  once  belonged.  One  inspection  of  fig.  5  in  the  cuts  of  tlie  la- 
rynx in  page  325  will  prevent  all  doubt  on  a  subject  of  some  importance  to  the  lovers 
of  good  living.  It  may  be  added  that  the  tongue  of  the  horse  is  tied  down  by  the  spur 
of  the  hyoid  bone,  and  is  short  and  thick.  (See  fig.  I,  in  the  cut  of  the  larynx  of  the 
horse,  cut  1,  p.  325.)  In  the  ox  the  spur  is  a  mere  tubercle  (see  cut  2,  fig.  ],  ]>.  325,) 
and  the  tongue  released  from  this  curb  is  used  to  clean  the  whole  of  the  muzzle,  and 
can  be  insinuated  even  into  the  nostril.  A  short  plump  tongue,  then,  until  the  epiglot- 
tis is  seen,  is  a  suspicious  affair;  but  a  long,  ugly  looking  tongue,  with  a  rounded  epi- 
glottis, may  be  eaten  without  fear. 
33 


374  CATTLE. 

In  addition  to  this,  it  will  be  observed  by  the  comparative  anatomist, 
and  by  every  one  who  feels  pleasure  in  comparing  the  structure  of  animals 
with  their  situation  and  wants,  that  there  is  no  careful  and  intricate  over- 
lapping of  the  cartilages  behind  as  described  in  '  the  Horse,'  p.  159;  they 
are  simply  brought  into  approximation  with  each  other;  and  their  oppos- 
ing edges  project  behind  so  tliat  they  are  very  loosely  bound  to  the  cervi- 
cal vertebrae.  There  is  also  no  transverse  muscle,  because  the  calibre  of 
the  tube  can  seldom  or  never  be  so  much  varied  as  in  the  rapid  progres- 
sion of  the  horse:  but  then,  by  way  of  compensation,  the  lining  membrane 
of  the  trachea  is  denser  and  more  extensible,  and  more  elastic,  and  capable 
of  discharging,  although  imperfectly,  a  function  similar  to  that  of  the  trans- 
verse muscle. 

At  the  lower  part  of  the  windpipe  there  is  even  a  more  striking  differ- 
ence; the  triangular  prolongation  of  cartilage  for  the  defence  of  the  tube 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  lungs  is  smaller,  and  the  additional 
plates  of  cartilage  given  to  the  horse  for  the  same  purpose  are  altogether 
wanting.  The  rings  of  the  windpipe  of  the  ox  are  about  60,  or  8  or  10 
more  than  are  usually  found  in  the  horse. 

TRACHEOTOMY. 

Although  there  are  fewer  diseases  of  cattle  in  which  the  animal  is 
threatened  with  suffocation  than  there  are  in  the  horse,  yet  occasionally  in 
blain,  in  inflammation  of  the  parotid  gland,  and  in  those  varieties  of  fever 
which  in  the  ox  are  so  much  characterized' by  the  formation  of  tumours, 
there  will  be  pressure  on  the  windpipe,  much  contracting  its  calibre,  and 
rendering  the  act  of  respiration  laborious,  and  almost  impracticable.  In 
inflammation  of  the  larynx,  to  which  cattle  are  much  exposed,  the  dis- 
tressing labour  of  breathing  is  scarcely  credible. 

Tracheotomy,  or  the  formation  of  an  artificial  opening  into  the  wind- 
pipe, is  an  operation  very  easily  and  safely  performed.  The  beast  should 
be  secured,  and  the  hair  cut  closely  from  the  throat  over  the  windpipe,  and 
opposite  to  the  fifth  or  sixth  ring.  The  skin  is  then  tightened  by  the  fin- 
ger and  thumb,  and  an  incision  is  made  through  it  at  least  three  inches  in 
length.  This  must  be  carefully  dissected  off  from  the  parts  beneath,  and 
then  a  portion  of  the  windpipe,  half  an  inch  wide,  and  an  inch  in  length, 
carefully  cut  out.  There  is  no  occasion  for  the  solicitude  required  in  the 
horse,  that  this  shall  consist  of  equal  quantities  of  two  rings,  for  any  little 
contraction  of  the  windpipe  here  would  be  a  matter  of  no  consequence : 
sufficient  speed  is  not  exacted  from  the  ox  for  roaring  to  be  a  nuisance,  or 
even  to  be  perceived.  The  lips  of  the  wound  should  be  kept  open  by 
threads  passed  through  the  edges  and  tied  over  the  neck;  until  the  pres- 
sure or  inflammation  above  no  longer  exists,  and  then  they  may  be  brought 
together  and  the  wound  healed. 

It  is  wonderful  what  instantaneous  and  perfect  relief  this  operation  af- 
fords. The  beast  that  was  struggling  for  breath,  and  seemed  every  mo- 
ment ready  to  expire,  is  in  a  moment  himself. 

In  cases  of  permanent  obstruction,  as  tumour  in  the  nostrils,  or  distor- 
tion of  the  larynx  or  trachea,  the  animal  will  generally  be  consigned  to 
the  butcher;  but  instances  may  occur  in  which  it  is  desirable  to  pre- 
serve the  beast  for  the  sake  of  breeding,  or  for  other  purposes.  Then  a 
tube  may  be  introduced  into  the  opening  two  or  three  inches  long,  curved 
at  the  top,  and  the  external  orifice  turning  downward,  with  a  little  ring  on 
each  side,  by  which,  through  the  means  of  tapes,  it  may  be  retained  in  its 
situation.     A  horse  has  worked  two  or  three  years  wearing  a  tube  of  this 


THE  BRONCHIAL  TUBES.  375 

kind,  and  a  favourite  cow  or  bull  might  be  thus  preserved,  but  extraordi- 
nary cases  alone  would  justify  such  a  proceeding. 

THE  THYMUS  GLAND,  OR  SWEETBREAD. 

Before  the  track  of  the  windpipe  is  followed  into  the  chest,  it  may  be 
convenient  to  notice  an  irregular  glandular  body,  of  a  pale  pink  colour, 
situated  in  the  very  fore  part  of  the  thorax,  and  vulgarly  called  the  sweet- 
bread. In  the  early  period  of  the  life  of  the  foetus,  it  is  of  no  considera- 
ble size,  and  is  confined  mostly  to  the  chest;  but  during  the  latter  months 
it  strangely  develops  itself.  It  protrudes  from  the  thorax;  it  climbs  up  on 
each  side  of  the  neck,  between  the  carotids  and  the  trachea,  and  reaches 
even  to  the  parotid  gland,  and  becomes  a  part  and  portion  of  that  gland. 
It  cannot  be  separated  from  the  parotid;  and  when  cut  into  a  milky  fluid 
exudes  from  it. 

Very  soon  after  birth,  however,  a  singular  change  takes  place;  it  spon- 
taneously separates  from  the  parotid;  it  gradually  disappears,  beginning 
from  above  downwards;  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  not  a  vestige 
of  it  remains  along  the  whole  of  the  neck.  It  then  more  slowly  dimi- 
nishes within  the  chest;  but  at  length  it  disappears  there  too,  and  its  situa- 
tion is  occupied  by  the  thoracic  duct. 

It  is  evidently  connected  with  the  existence  of  the  animal  previous  to 
birth,  and  more  particularly  with  the  latter  stages  of  fostal  life.  It  seems 
to  be  a  part  of  the  nutritive  system.  It  pours  a  bland  and  milky  fluid 
through  the  parotid  duct  into  the  mouth,  and  so  into  the  stomach,  in  order 
to  habituate  the  stomach  by  degrees  to  the  digestive  process,  and  to  pre- 
pare it  for  that  function  on  which  the  life  of  the  animal  is  to  depend;  and 
also  to  prepare  the  intestines  for  the  discharge  of  their  duty.  When,  after 
birth,  it  begins  to  be  separated  from  the  parotid  gland,  it  has  no  means  of 
pouring  its  secretion  into  the  stomach,  and  it  gradually  dwindles  away, 
and  disappears. 

THE  BRONCHIAL  TUBES. 

The  windpipe  pursues  its  course  down  the  neck,  until  it  arrives  at  the 
chest.  It  there  somewhat  alters  its  form,  and  becomes  deeper  and  nar- 
rower in  order  to  suit  itself  to  the  triangular  opening  through  which  it  is 
to  pass.  It  enters  the  chest,  and  preserves  the  same  cartilaginous  struc- 
ture until  it  arrives  at  the  base  of  the  heart,  where  it  separates  into  two 
tubes  corresponding  with  the  two  divisions  of  the  lungs.  These  are  called 
the  bronchial  tubes.  They  plunge  deep  into  the  substance  of  the  lungs; 
these  presently  subdivide;  and  the  subdivision  is  continued  in  every  direc- 
tion, until  branches  of  the  trachea  penetrate  every  portion  of  the  lungs. 
These  are  still  air-passages,  and  they  are  carrying  on  the  air  to  its  desti- 
nation for  the  accomplishment  of  a  vital  purpose.  The  lungs  of  the  ox 
afford  the  most  satisfactory  elucidation  of  the  manner  in  which  these  air- 
tubes  traverse  that  viscus.  They  can  be  followed  until  they  almost  elude 
the  unassisted  sight,  but  the  greater  part  of  them  can  be  evidently  traced 
into  the  lobuli,  or  little  divisions  of  the  substance  of  the  lung  which  are 
so  evident  here.  The  minute  structure  of  these  lobuli  has  never  been  de- 
monstrated; but  we  may  safely  imagine  them  to  consist  of  very  small  cells 
in  which  the  bronchial  tubes  terminate,  and  to  which  the  air  is  conveyed; 
and  that  these  cells  are  divided  from  each  other  by  exceedingly  delicate 
membranes. 


376  CATTLE. 

THE  ALTERATION  OF  THE  BLOOD. 

The  blood  has  already  been  described  as  pent  from  the  riglit  ventricle  of 
the  heart  into  the  lung,  and  the  blood-vessels  dividing  and  subdividing  un- 
til they  have  attained  a  state  of  extreme  minuteness,  and  then  ramifying 
over  the  delicate  meml)rane  of  these  cells.  The  blood,  however,  is  in  a 
venous  state;  it  is  no  longer  capable  of  supporting  life;  and  it  is  forced 
through  the  lungs,  in  order  that  it  may  be  rendered  once  more  arterial,  and 
capable  of  supporting  life  and  all  its  functions.  For  this  purpose  these 
minute  veins  spread  over  the  delicate  membrane  of  the  cells,  and  for  this 
purpose  also  the  air  has  been  conveyed  to  these  cells  by  the  bronchial  tubes. 

Now  the  chemical,  it  may  almost  be  said,  the  vital  difference,  between 
venous  and  arterial  blood  is,  that  the  former  is  loaded  with  carbon,  and  de- 
ficient in  oxygen.  It  here  comes,  if  not  in  absolute  contact  with  atmos- 
pheric air,  yet  so  close  as  to  be  separated  only  by  a  gossamer  membrane, 
which  offers  litde  obstacle  to  the  power  of  chemical  affinity  or  attraction; 
and  the  carbon  which  it  contains  is  attracted  by  the  oxygen  which  abounds 
in  the  atmospheric  air,  and  is  taken  out  of  the  circulation,  and  empoisons 
the  air  instead  of  the  blood.  Carbonic  acid  gas,  or  fixed  air,  is  formed 
by  the  union  of  the  oxygen  and  the  carbon,  the  presence  of  which  in  un- 
due quantities  renders  the  air  destructive  to  life.  The  other  constituents 
of  the  blood  have  also  an  affinity  for  oxygen,  and  more  of  that  gas  is  taken 
from  the  atmospheric  air,  and  passes  through  the  membrane  of  the  air- 
cells,  and  mingles  with  the  blood. 

The  change,  then,  from  venous  to  arterial  blood  consists  in  the  carbon 
being  taken  away,  and  oxygen  imbibed;  and  this  is  effected  by  the  blood 
being  brought  so  nearly  into  contact  with  atmospheric  air,  of  which  oxy- 
gen is  a  constituent  part,  and  which  has  a  greater  affinity  for  carbon,  and 
other  principles  in  the  blood,  than  it  has  for  the  gases  with  which  it  was 
combined  in  the  constitution  of  atmospheric  air. 

The  capillary  vessels,  now  carrying  arterial  instead  of  venous  blood, 
unite  and  form  larger  and  yet  larger  vessels,  until  the  united  stream  is 
poured  into  the  right  cavity  of  the  heart,  thence  to  be  propelled  through 
the  frame.  This  subject  has  been  treated  at  somewhat  greater  length,  be- 
cause the  lungs  of  the  ox  afford  the  best  illustration  of  the  division  of  the 
bronchial  tubes,  and  the  separation  of  the  substance  of  the  lungs  into  dis- 
tinct lobuli,  or  litUe  lobes,  in  which  the  bronchial  tubes  terminate,  and  the 
air-cells  are  developed. 

CATARRH  OR  HOOSE. 

Anatomical  detail  may  now,  for  a  considerable  time,  be  laid  aside,  and 
inquiry  be  made  into  the  diseases  of  the  respiratory  organs.  Those  only 
of  the  first  of  the  air-passages,  that  of  the  nose  have  as  yet  been  consider- 
ed; however,  inflammation  has  spread  beyond  the  lining  membrane  of  the 
nasal  cavities,  and  begins  to  involve  the  fauces,  the  glands  of  the  throat, 
and  the  upper  air-passages  generally;  it  is  no  longer  coryza,  but  assumes 
the  name  of  catarrh,  or  is  better  known  in  the  country  by  the  term  hoose. 
This  is  a  disease  too  little  regarded  by  the  owner  of  catde,  but  the  fore- 
runner of  the  most  frequent  and  fatal  diseases  to  which  they  are  subject. 

It  is  often  hard  to  say  whence  catarrh,  or  common  cold,  arises.  The 
slightest  change  of  management  or  of  temperature  will  sometimes  pro- 
duce it.  In  the  beginning  of  spring,  and  towards  the  latter  part  of  au- 
tumn, it  is  particularly  prevalent.  Young  beasts,  and  cows  after  calving, 
are  very  subject  to  it.     In  a  great  many  cases,  however,  it  is  the  result  of 


CATARRH  OR  HOOSE.  377 

mismanagement.  When  cattle  are  crowded  together  they  are  seldom 
without  hoose.  If  the  cow-house  is  suffered  to  be  heated  to  a  considerable 
number  of  degrees  above  the  temperature  of  the  external  air,  it  is  sure  to 
be  present  there.  Many  a  sad  cold  is  caught  at  the  straw-yard,  and  parti- 
cularly by  young  cattle:  the  food  is  scanty  there;  it  is  not  sufficient  to 
afford  proper  nourishment,  or  to  keep  up  the  proper  warmth;  and  the 
more  forward  drive  the  others  about,  and  permit  them  to  obtain  only  a 
small  portion  of  their  proper  share  of  the  provender;  and  then  the  depress- 
ing effects  of  cold,  and  wet,  and  hunger,  so  debilitate  these  poor  beasts, 
that  they  are  seldom  without  catarrh — and  that  catarrh  too  frequently  runs 
on  to  a  more  serious  disease. 

Some  breeds  are  more  subject  to  hoose  than  others.  The  natives  of  a 
southern  district  are  seldom  naturalized  in  a  northern  and  colder  clime 
without  several  times  passing  through  the  ordeal  of  severe  catarrh;  and, 
where  the  system  of  breeding  in  and  in  has  been  carried  to  too  great  an 
extent,  and  been  pursued  in  defiance  of  many  a  warning,  hoose,  perpe- 
tually occurring,  difficult  to  remove,  and  degenerating  into  confirmed 
phthisis,  will  painfully,  but  somewhat  too  late,  convince  the  farmer  of  his 
mistake. 

The  principal  error,  however,  of  the  agriculturist  is,  not  that  he  suffers 
the  causes  of  hoose  to  exist,  or  always  gives  them  existence,  but  that  he 
underrates  the  mischievous  and  fatal  character  of  the  disease.  To  this 
point  we  shall  have  to  refer  again  and  again;  and  if  we  can  but  induce 
him  to  listen  to  the  dictates  of  humanity  and  of  interest,  the  present  trea- 
tise may  rank  among  those  which  have  diffused  some  '  useful  knowledge.' 

There  is  no  disease  of  a  chronic  nature  by  which  cattle  are  so  seriously 
injured,  or  which  is  eventually  so  fatal  to  them,  as  hoose;  yet  not  one 
herdsman  in  twenty,  and  very  few  of  those  whose  interest  is  more  at 
stake,  pay  the  slightest  attention  to  it.  The  cow  may  cough  on  from  week 
to  week,  and  no  one  takes  notice  of  it  until  the  quantity  of  milk  is  seri- 
ously decreasing,  or  she  is  rapidly  losing  flesh,  and  then  medical  treat- 
ment is  generally  unavailing.  The  disease  has  now  reached  the  chest; 
the  lungs  are  seriously  affected;  and  the  foundation  is  laid  for  confirmed 
consumption. 

It  is  far  from  the  wish  of  the  author  to  inculcate  a  system  of  over-nurs- 
ing. He  knows  full  well  that  those  cattle  are  most  healthy  that  are 
exposed  to  the  usual  changes  of  the  weather,  yet  somewhat  sheltered, 
from  its  greatest  inclemency.  He  would  not  consider  every  cow  that 
hooses  as  a  sick  animal,  and  shut  her  up  in  some  close  place,  and  physic 
and  drench  her,  but  he  would  endeavour  to  prevail  on  the  farmer  to  be  a 
great  deal  more  on  the  look  out.  The  farmer  or  the  herdsman  should 
be  aware  of  every  beast  that  coughs.  It  may  be  only  a  slight  cold, 
and  in  a  few  days  may  disappear  of  itself.  He  may  wait  and  see  whether 
it  will  unless  there  are  some  urgent  symptoms;  but,  these  few  days  hav- 
ing passed,  and  the  cow  continuing  to  hoose,  it  begins  to  be  imperatively 
necessary  for  him  to  adopt  the  proper  measures,  while  they  may  be  ser- 
viceable. 

Let  her  be  taken  up  and  examined.  Does  she  feed  as  well  as  ever? 
Does  the  dew  st<and  upon  her  muzzle?  Are  her  flanks  perfectly  quiet? 
then  one  (Tr  two  nights'  housing,  and  a  mash  or  two,  or  a  dose  of  physic, 
may  set  all  right.  But  if,  on  examination,  the  muzzle  is  a  little  dry,  and 
the  root  of  the  horn  hot,  and  she  heaves  (although  not  much)  at  the 
flanks,  and  the  coat  is  not  so  sleek  as  usual,  and  she  is  a  Utile  ofl'  her 
feed,  let  her  be  bled.  Experience  will  teach  the  farmer  lliat  these  chest 
33* 


378  CATTLE. 

affections,  in  cattle,  often  and  speedily  assume  a  highly  inflamraable  ctia* 
racter,  and  that  they  must  be  conquered  at  the  first,  or  not  at  all. 

To  bleeding  should  succeed  a  dose  of  Epsom  salts,  with  half  an  ounce 
of  ginger  in  it,  to  prevent  griping  and  to  promote  perspiration,  and  to  ex- 
cite the  rumen  to  action;  but  none  of  the  hot,  stimulating  drinks  of  the 
cowleech,  and  of  the  farmer  too,  by  means  of  which  they  cause  the  fire  to 
burn  with  tenfold  fury,  instead  of  extinguishing  it.*  To  this  should  be 
added  warmth,  warm  mashes,  warm  drinks,  warm  gruels,  and  a  warm  but 
well  ventilated  cow-house. 

EPIDEMIC    CATARRH. 

Catarrh  occasionally  assumes  an  epidemic  form;  it  spread':  over  whole 
districts;  it  is  more  than  usually  violent;  it  associates  with  itself  the 
symptoms  of  other  and  of  worse  diseases,  and  it  is  strangely  fatal.  If  a 
cold  yet  variable  spring  succeeds  to  a  wet  and  mild  winter,  there  will  be 
scarcely  a  dairy  or  a  straw-yard  in  some  districts  in  which  a  considerable 
number  of  cows  will  not  labour  under  distressing  hoose.  Obstinate  costive- 
ness  attends  the  early  stage  of  this  disease,  on  which  neither  Epsom  salts, 
nor  common  salt,  nor  linseed  oil,  can  make  any  impression.  All  seems  to 
go  into  the  rumen,  and  has  for  a  while  no  power  on  the  cuticular  coat  of 
that  stomach;  and  then,  whether  the  purgative  course  is  pursued  or  sus- 
pended, diarrhoea  suddenly  comes  on,  and  bids  equal  defiance  to  all  astrin- 
gent medicines.  Sometimes,  however,  diarrhoea  is  present  and  obstinate 
I'rom  the  very  beginning. 

Tumours  about  the  head,  the  roots  of  the  ears,  the  neck,  the  back,  and 
loins,  and  many  of  the  joints,  soon  succeed,  accompanied  by  a  singular 
crackUng  sound  when  pressed  upon.  There  is  decomposition  going  on 
every  where,  and  in  the  cellular  texture  among  the  rest,  accompanied  by  the 
extrication  of  gas,  the  passage  of  which  among  the  cells  beneath  the  skin 
is  the  cause  of  this  crackling. 

While  these  tumours  indicate  decomposition  in  one  part,  the  appearance 
and  odour  of  the  faeces  show  that  it  is  not  inactive  in  the  intestinal  canal. 
The  discharge  is  oflensive  to  a  high  degree,  the  breath  loses  its  peculiar 
and  beautiful  scent,  and  the  vital  powers  are  rapidly  exhausted. 

In  most  of  these  epidemics,   the  first  attack  seems  to  be  made  on  the 

*  Future  ages  will  scarcely  believe  that,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  a  work  was  pub- 
lished on  the  diseases  of  cattle,  and  which  had  an  unexampled  sale,  in  which  the  tollow- 
ing  drink  is  recommended  as  powerful  in  removing  '  fever  and  inflammation  of  the 
lungs,  and  diseases  of  this  kind.'  There  is  not  a  single  good  ingredient  in  the  whole 
mixture  :  there  are  some  inert  drugs,  and  the  bulk  is  made  up  of  absolute  poison. 

'  Take  balsam  of  sulphur,  two  ounces ;  Barbadoes  tar,  one  ounce  ;  the  yolks  of  two 
eggs  ;  heat  them  well  together  in  a  large  basin  until  they  are  properly  incorporated,  then 
add  ginger,  aniseeds,  cummin.seeds,  elecampane-root,  grains  of  paradise,  and  liquorice- 
root,  of  each  one  ounce,  in  powder.  Salt  of  tartar,  half  an  ounce;  honey,  four  ounces. 
Mix  all  together,  and  add  by  a  little  at  a  time,  constantly  stirring,  one  quart  of  warm 
ale  or  gruel.  If  gruel  is  used,  add  a  wine-glass  of  gin  or  brandy,  and  give  it  when  new- 
milk  warm. 

'  If  it  be  given  at  the  commencement  of  the  disease,  one  or  two  of  the  drinks  are  gene- 
rally found  suificient  to  remove  the  complaint.  Its  effects  are  powerful  in  removing 
and  carrying  off  the  offending  humours  trom  the  pulmonary  vessels,  and  in  restoring 
them  to  their  proper  tone  again.  It  w^arms,  stimulates,  and  gives  fresh  action  to  the 
stomach  and  intestines,  by  which  nature  will  return  to  its  regular  course,  and  the  health 
of  the  animal  be  speedily  restored.' 

This  is  extracted  from  Clater's '  Every  Man  his  own  Cow-doctor.'  We  will,  however, 
do  justice  to  the  proprietors  of  that  work;  they  have  endeavoured  to  keep  pace  with  the 
increasing  knowledge  of  the  times ;  all  this,  worse  than  nonsense,  is  expunged,  and  the 
work  is  now  of  a  respectable  character. 


THE  MALIGNANT  EPIDEMIC— MURRAIN.  379 

powers  of  organic  life,  and  soon  afterwards  the  animal  system  shares  in 
the  deleterious  influence.  The  beast  is  unwilling  to  move  ;  it  scarcely  can 
move  ;  it  staggers  as  it  walks.  It  loses  fliesh  every  day  ;  the  coat  stares, 
and  clings  to  the  bones ;  the  appetite  is  quite  gone ;  a  fostid  discharge 
commences  from  the  mouth  and  nostrils,  and  death  soon  follows. 

The  treatment  of  this  disease  in  its  early  stage,  and  when  alone  it  can 
be  treated  with  reasonable  hope  of  success,  may  be  characterized  under 
two  words — promptitude  and  vigour.  The  state  of  inflammatory  fever 
which  accompanies  the  early  period  of  the  disease  is  intense ;  and  unless 
arrested  it  will  (as  we  have  seen  in  treating  of  that  disease)  speedily 
exhaust  every  vital  power ;  therefore,  fever  existing,  bleeding  is  impera- 
tive. The  quantity  of  blood  to  be  abstracted  will  be  regulated  by  the 
intensity  of  the  inflammation,  the  apparent  approach  or  commencement  of 
debility,  and  the  effect  produced  while  the  blood  continues  to  flow.  All 
of  these  circumstances  should  be  most  carefully  attended  to.  If  the  fever 
rages,  the  ox  will  bear  to  lose  a  much  greater  quantity  of  blood  than  the 
horse,  and  uniformly  with  manifest  advantage.  If  the  state  of  debility  is 
evidently  approaching,  or  has  even  commenced,  bleeding,  regulated  by  the 
pulse,  and  stopped  the  moment  that  that  falters,  will  generally  be  bene- 
ficial :  but,  debility  being  established,  or  the  bleeding  carried  on,  after 
the  pulse  has  forbidden  it,  the  abstraction  of  blood  will  only  hasten  the 
catastrophe. 

Aperients  should  undoubtedly  be  administered,  accompanied  or  not  by 
aromatics,  or  the  proportion  of  the  aromatic  regulated  by  the  preponder- 
ance of  fever  or  debility.  The  sulphate  of  magnesia  will  be  preferred ; 
and  early  recourse  should  be  had  to  the  stomach-pump,  in  the  manner 
which  has  been  already  described,  should  the  physic  seem  to  accumulate 
in  the  paunch. 

The  other  medicines  will  also  be  regulated  by  the  symptoms.  While 
fever  continues,  the  digitalis  emetic  tartar  and  nitre  will  be  indicated. 
When  the  febrile  stage  is  passed,  spirit  of  nitrous  ether,  laudanum,  gen- 
tian, and  ginger  will  be  indicated.  The  cow-house  should  be  warm,  yet 
well  ventilated.  Mashes  should  be  given,  and  green  meat  of  every  kind, 
and  this  changed  daily,  if  necessary,  in  order  to  humour  the  capricious 
appetite  of  the  patient.  The  strength  being  a  little  renovated,  the  beast 
may  be  turned  into  some  pasture,  close  at  hand,  for  a  few  hours  during 
the  middle  of  the  day. 

THE  MALIGNANT  EPIDEMIC. MURRAIN. 

Epidemic  catarrh  much  oftener  assumes  a  malignant  form  in  cattle  than 
in  horses,  on  account  of  the  greater  vascularity  of  the  system,  and  intensity 
of  febrile  action,  and  consequent  vital  exhaustion.  It  also  appears  as  a 
disease  which  is  malignant  from  its  very  commencement.  In  former 
times  it  was  the  pest  of  cattle,  while  horses  comparatively  escaped ;  and, 
in  the  present  day,  there  is  no  disease  of  the  horse,  with  the  exception  of 
farcy  and  glanders  combined,  so  malignant  as  the  murrain  of  cattle.  It 
once  used  to  sweep  away  the  horned  stock  of  whole  districts,  and  there 
are  few  years  in  which  it  is  not  now  seen  in  some  part  of  the  kingdom. 
It  is  here  ranked  under  the  diseases  of  the  respiratory  system,  because  that 
system  is  usually  first  of  all  affected,  and  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time  alone 
affected ;  but  the  disease  gradually  takes  on  a  typhoid  character,  and  its 
pestilential  influence  invades  every  portion  of  the  frame.  It  principally 
appears  in  marshy  and  woody  districts,  or  where  under-draining  has  been 
neglected,  or  the  cattle  have  been  exposed  and  half-starved. 

There  are  few  diseases  that  assume,  in  its  earlier  or  later  stages,  a 


380  CATTLE. 

greater  variety  of  forms ;  but,  disarmed  of  somewhat  of  its  virulence  in 
modern  times,  or  at  least  having  not  appeared  in  all  its  terrors  for  some 
years  past,  it  will  generally  be  distinguished  by  some  or  the  greater  part  of 
the  following  symptoms. 

There  will  be  cough,  frequent  and  painful,  and,  in  many  cases,  for  a 
week  or  more  before  there  is  any  other  marked  symptom.  The  farmer 
may  not  always  be  aware  of  this,  but  he  will  find  it  out  if  he  inquires 
about  it ;  and  he  will  be  fully  aware  of  the  importance  of  the  fact  before 
we  have  done  with  this  division  of  our  subject. 

After  a  few  days  some  heaving  of  the  flanks  will  be  added  to  the  cough; 
the  pulse  will  be  small,  hard,  frequent,  and  sometimes  irregular  ;  the  mouth 
hot ;  the  root  of  the  horn  cold ;  the  feeces  sometimes  hard  and  black,  at 
others  liquid  and  black,  and  then  very  fcelid.  Presently  afterwards,  that 
of  which  we  have  to  speak  again  and  again,  is  observed — extreme  tender- 
ness along  the  spine,  and  particularly  over  the  loins. 

The  cough  becomes  more  frequent  and  convulsive,  and  a  brown  or 
bloody  matter  runs  from  the  nostrils  and  mouth;  the  eyes  are  swelled  and 
weeping ;  the  patient  grinds  his  teeth ;  there  is  frequent  spasmodic  con- 
traction about  the  nostrils  ;  and  the  animal  rarely  lies  down,  or,  if  he  does, 
rises  again  immediately. 

The  eyes  soon  afterwards  become  unusually  dull ;  the  pulse  remains 
small,  but  it  has  become  feeble  ;  the  respiration  is  quicker ;  the  flanks  are 
tucked  up;  the  tenderness  on  the  loins  is  removed;  insensibility  is  steal- 
ing over  the  frame  ;  and  the  faeces  are  more  loaded  with  mucus,  and  more 
foetid.  The  patient  moans  and  lows,  and  grinds  his  teeth  almost  inces- 
santly ;  the  head  is  agitated  by  a  convulsive  motion  ;  blood  begins  to 
mingle  with  the  faeces :  the  breath,  and  even  the  perspiration,  become 
off'ensive  ;  and  the  beast  staggers  as  he  walks. 

Tumours  and  boils  now,  or  often  earlier,  appear  on  various  parts.  If 
they  are  to  come  forward,  the  sooner  they  rise  the  better,  for  much  de- 
pends on  what  becomes  of  them.  If  the  animal  has  sufficient  strength  for 
them  to  go  through  the  usual  process  of  suppuration,  although  the  slough- 
ing and  the  stench  may  be  greater  than  could  be  thought  possible,  the 
beast  will  have  a  chance  to  recover ;  but  if  there  is  not  energy  to  bring 
them  forward — if  tbey  become  stationary — and  most  assuredly,  if  they 
recede  and  disappear,  the  patient  will  die. 

The  treatment  of  this  disease  is  most  unsatisfactory.  If  the  farmer 
could  be  brought  to  attend  more  to  this  cough  in  cattle — if,  here,  he  had 
recognised  the  violent  and  increasing  cough — and,  although  he  had  not 
dreamed  of  murrain,  had  bled  and  physicked  the  beast  on  account  of  the 
cough,  the  disease  would  probably  have  been  arrested,  or  at  least  its  viru- 
lence would  have  abated. 

The  early  stage  even  of  murrain  is  one  of  fever,  and  the  treatment 
should  correspond  with  this — bleeding.  Physic  should  be  cautiously  yet 
not  timorously  resorted  to.  For  sedative  medicines  there  will  rarely  be 
room  except  the  cough  should  continue.  Small  doses  of  purgative 
medicine,  with  more  of  the  aromatic  than  we  generally  add,  will  be 
serviceable,  effecting  the  present  purp-jse,  and  not  hastening  or  increasing 
the  debility  which  generally  is  at  hand;  but  if  the  bowels  are  sufficiently 
open,  or  diarrh(Ea  should  thieaten,  and  yet  symptoms  of  fever  should  be  ap- 
parent, no  purgative  must  be  given,  but  the  sedatives  should  be  mingled  with 
some  vegetable  tonic.  The  peculiar  foetid  diarrhoea  must  be  met  with 
astringents,  mingled  also  with  vegetable  tonics.  In  combating  the  pustular 
and  sloughing  gangrenous  stage,  the  chloride  of  lime  will  be  the  best 
external    application ;  while  a   little  of    it  administered    with    the  other 


THE  MALIGNANT  EPIDEMIC— MURRAIN.  381 

medicines  inwardly  may  possibly  lessen  the  tendency  to  general  decompo- 
sition. The  external  application  of  it  should  not  be  confined  to  the  ulce- 
rated parts  alone,  but  it  should  be  plentifully  sprinkled  over  and  about  the 
beast;  and  the  infected  animal  should  be  immediately  removed  from  the 
sound  ones. 

There  is  no  satisfactory  account  of  the  malignant  distemper  which  occa- 
sionally appeared  in  former  times,  and  swept  away  almost  the  whole  of 
the  catde  in  many  districts.  Those  which  do  exist  were  written  mostly 
by  physicians.  They  were  the  best  chroniclers,  certainly,  which  the  age 
afforded,  but  they  knew  little  about  cattle  either  in  sickness  or  health;  and 
were  not  aware  how  litde  many  of  the  principles  of  human  medicine  apply 
either  to  the  theory  or  the  treatment  of  the  diseases  of  cattle;  and  (most  to 
be  lamented,  and  most  disgraceful  to  the  parties)  the  farmer  would  not 
furnish  die  physicians  with  sufficient  relations  of  the  symptoms,  but  pur- 
posely misled  them,  because  they  had  recommended  to  the  government 
restrictions  with  regard  to  these  diseased  cattle  inconsistent  with  the  inat- 
tention, prejudice,  and  fatalism  of  the  owners. 

An  endeavour  will  here  be  made  to  supply  this  chasm  in  the  history  of 
catde,  and  to  collect  a  connected  account  of  these  devastations.  It  will  be 
useful  and  not  uninteresting  as  a  record,  and  it  will  throw  considerable 
light  on  the  nature  of  the  disease  which  yet  remains,  but,  fortunately  for 
the  farmer  and  his  catde,  under  an  incomparably  milder  form. 

The  earliest  record  we  have  of  murrain  is  the  destruction  of  the  cattle 
of  the  Egyptians  (Exod.  ix.  2,  &;c.:)  '  If  thou  refuse  to  let  them  go,  be- 
hold the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  upon  thy  cattle  which  is  in  the  field;  there 
shall  be  a  very  grievous  murrain.  To-morrow  the  Lord  shall  do  this  thing 
in  the  land.  'And  the  Lord  did  that  thing  on  the  morrow,  and  all  the  cattle 
of  Egypt  died.' 

During  the  siege  of  Troy  vast  numbers  of  the  cattle  of  the  Greeks,  and 
of  the  Greeks  themselves,  are  said  to  have  perished  by  a  pestilence.  Ho- 
mer, the  father  of  Grecian  poetry,  who  is  supposed  to  have  written  about 
900  years  before  Christ,  in  attributing  the  disorder  to  the  arrows  of 
Apollo,  might  have  meant  only  to  suggest  that  the  cause  of  these  ma- 
lignant diseases  was  in  the  air:  and  thus,  perhaps,  brutes  receive  the  con- 
tagion first,  because  their  sense  of  smell  is  more  acute  than  that  of  the 
human  being.* 

Hippocrates,  who  flourished  about  500  years  after  Homer,  and  is  the 
earliest  writer  on  medicine,  while  he  justly  ascribes  all  disorders  to  divine 
agency,  yet  combats  this  supernatural  and  judicial  interference,  as  the  off- 
spring of  superstition  and  hypocrisy. t 

Plutarch  tells  us  that,  during  the  reign  of  Romulus,  a  pestilence,  after 
destroying  the  fruits  of  the  earth  and  the  cattle,  swept  oflf  many  of  the 
Romans;  and  Livy,  speaking  of  another  visitation  of  the  pest,  says  that 
the  consuls  had  the  greater  difficulty  in  raising  their  recruits,  because  the 
plague  which  the  year  before  had  raged  among  the  horned  catde  had 
then  broken  out  among  the  men,| 

Virgil,  in  his  '  Georgics,'  by  very  far  the  most  beautiful  of  his  poems, 

*  'OugSa;  fjtev  TTsaoTov  ETrajp^ETO  xa.i  xuvof  a^yovi 
'Ai/tsj  etteit'  ahroin  BiXoqj-xiniuKit;  a(f)iEi? 
BaXX. — Iliad,  lib.  i. 

On  mules  and  dogs  th'  infection  first  began, 
And  last  the  vengeful  arrows  Tixed  in  man. — Pope. 
+  ne«t  '  lEfBf  Naa-a. 

X  Delectus  consulibus  eo  difficilior  erat,  quod  pestilentia,  quas  priori  anno  in  boves  in- 
gruerat,  eo  verterat  in  hominum  morbos. — Liv.  lib.  xli. 


382  CATTLE. 

and  containing  many  good  agricultural  precepts,  which  modern  improve- 
ments have  not  rendered  obsolete,  gives  a  long  history  of  the  murrain  as  it 
devastated  some  of  the  Roman  farms.*  He  wrote  about  50  years  before 
the  Christian  era. 

*  The  picture  is  drawn  from  the  very  life,  and  the  reader  will  forgive  the  length  of 
some  of  the  extracts. 

Hie  quondam  morbo  cooli  niiseranda  coorta  est 

Tempcstas,  totoque  autumni  incanduit  aestu, 

Et  genus  omne  neci  pccudum  dedit,  omne  ferarum, 

Corrupitque  lacus,  infecit  pabula  tabo. 

Nee  via  mortis  erat  simplex,  sed  ubi  ignea  venis 

Omnibus  acta  sitis  iniscros  adduxcrat  artus; 

Rursus  abundabat  fluidus  liquor;  omniatjue  in  se 

Ossa  minutatim  morbo  collapsa  trahebat. 

Saepe  in  bonore  Deum  medio  stans  hostia  ad  aram, 

Lanea  dum  nivea  circumdatur  infula  vitta, 

Inter  cunctantes  cecidit  moribunda  ministros. 

Aut  si  quam  ferro  mactaverat  ante  saccrdos; 

Inde  neque  impositis  ardent  altaria  fibris, 

Nee  responsa  potest  consultus  reddere  vatcs; 

Ac  vix  suppositi  tinguntur  sanguine  cultri, 

Summaque  jejuna  sanie  infuscatur  arena. 

Georg.  lib.  iii.  ver.  478,  &c. 
Here  from  the  vicious  air  and  sickly  skies 
A  plague  did  on  the  dumb  creation  rise: 
During  th'  autumnal  heats  th'  infection  grew. 
Tame  cattle  and  the  beasts  of  Nature  slew, 
Pois'ning  the  standing  lakes  and  pools  impure; 
Nor  was  the  foodful  grass  in  fields  secure. 
Strange  deatii !  for,  when  the  thirsty  fire  had  drunk 
Their  vital  blood,  and  the  dry  nerves  were  shrunk. 
When  the  contracted  limbs  were  cramp'd,  cv'n  then 
A  wat'rish  humour  swell'd  and  ooz'd  agen. 
Converting  into  bane  the  kindly  juice, 
Ordain'd  by  Nature  for  a  better  use. 
The  victim  ox,  that  was  for  altars  prest, 
Trimm'd  with  white  ribbons  and  with  garlands  drest. 
Sunk  of  himself,  without  the  God's  command. 
Preventing  the  slow  sacriticers'  hand. 
Or,  by  the  holy  butcher  if  he  fell, 
Th'  inspected  entrails  could  no  fates  foretell; 
Nor  laid  on  altars,  did  pure  flames  arise; 
But  clouds  of  mould'ring  smoke  forbade  the  sacrifice. 
Scarcely  the  knife  was  redden'd  with  his  gore. 
Or  the  black  poison  stain'd  the  sandy  floor. — Dryden. 

It  would  seem  that  the  disease  assumed  in  that  part  of  Italy  the  character  which  it 
does  there,  and  on  the  continent  generally,  at  the  present  day,  much  oftcncr,  and  to  a 
greater  extent,  than  is  seen  in  our  country:  it  is  what  the  French  call  "  Fievre  pernicieux 
carbonculaire."  It  is  not  merely  that  inflammation  of  the  cellular  texture  beneath  the 
skin,  so  peculiarly  the  disease  of  cattle,  which  causes  general  tenderness  wherever  the 
animal  is  touched,  and  pain  which  he  cannot  bear  when  he  is  pressed  on  the  loins;  but 
it  proceeds  to  the  formation  of  tumours,  carbuncles,  ulcers,  and  deposit  of  purulent  fluid 
every  where.  When  the  animal  is  examined  after  death,  no  blood  follows  the  knife,  but 
a  yellow,  or  glairy,  and  pus-like  fluid;  and  this  not  only  immediately  beneath  the  skin, 
but  deep  between  the  muscles.  Even  during  life  there  is  a  kind  of  bloodlessness,  and 
the  knife  must  penetrate  deeply  in  order  to  find  the  vital  fluid.  The  latter  part  of  the 
above  quotation  refers  to  this;  the  former  to  the  efl'usions  either  in  the  thorax  or  abdo- 
men, which  are  sometimes  found  on  examining  cattle  that  have  died  of  murrain: 

Hinc  Iffitis  vituli  vulgo  moriuntur  in  herbis, 

Et  dulees  animas  plena  ad  pnesupia  reddunt. 

Hinc  canibus  blandis  rabies  venit,  et  quatit  tegros 

Tussis  anhela  sues,  ac  faucibus  angitobcsis. 

Labitur  infelix  studiorum,  atque  immemor  herbae 

Victor  equus,  fontesque  avertitur,  et  pede  terrain 


THE  MALIGNANT  EPIDEMIC— MURRAIN.  383 

Our  accounts  of  this  disease  are  now  few  and  meagre  for  many  a  cen- 
tury. In  the  year  376  after  Christ,  a  murrain  broke  out  among  the  cattle 
over  the  whole  of  Kiirope.  The  historian  is  Cardinal  Baronius,  who, 
either  deeply  imbued  with  the  superstition  of  the  age,  or  scrupling  not  to 
support  a  noble  cause  by  means  unworthy  of  it,  says  that  '  none  escaped 
but  such  as  were  marked  on  the  forehead  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  by 
which  miracle  maay  people  were  converted  to  Christianity.'* 

In  810  every  head  of  cattle  was  destroyed  in  the  Emperor  Charlemagne's 
army,  and  also  throughout  the  greater  part  of  his  dominions,!  In  1514, 
and  again  in  1599,:^  the  Venetian  states  were  so  ravaged  by  it,  that  to  pre- 

Crebro  ferit:  demissae  aures:  incertes  ibidem 

Sudor,  et  iile  quidem  morituris  frigidus:  aret 

Pellis,  et  ad  tactum  tractanti  dura  resistit, 

Heec  ante  exitium  primis  dant  signa  diebus. 

Sin  in  processu  coepit  crudescere  morbus, 

Turn  vero  ardentes  oculi,  atque  attractus  ab  alto 

Spiritus  iiiterdum  gemitu  gravis:  imaque  longo 

Ilia  singultu  tendunt:  it  naribus  ater 

Sanguis,  et  obsessas  fauces  premit  aspera  lingua. 

Ecce  autem  duro  fumans  sub  vomere  taurus 

Concidit,  et  mixtum  spumis  vomit  ore  cruorem, 

Extremosque  ciet  gemitus:  it  tristis  arator, 

Moerentem  abjungens  fraterna  morte  juveneum, 

Atque  opere  in  medio  defixa  relinquit  aratra. 

Non  umbrce  altorum  nemorum,  non  mollia  possunt 

Prata  movere  animum,  non  qui  per  saxa  volutus 

Purior  electro  campum  petit  amnis:  at  ima 

Solvuntur  latera,  atque  oculos  stupor  urguet  inertes, 

Ad  terramque  fluit  devexo  pondere  cervix. — 

Georg.  lib.  iii.  ver.  494,  &c. 

The  thriven  calves  in  meads  their  food  forsake, 

And  render  their  sweet  souls  before  the  plenteous  rack. 

The  fawning  dog  runs  mad;  the  wheezing  swine 

With  coughs  is  chok'd,  and  labours  from  the  chine: 

The  victor  horse,  forgetful  of  his  food, 

The  palm  renounces,  and  abhors  the  flood. 

He  paws  tiie  ground,  and  on  his  hanging  ears 

A  doubtful  sweat  in  clammy  drops  appears: 

Parch'd  is  his  hide,  and  rugged  are  liis  hairs. 

Such  are  the  symptoms  of  this  young  disease; 

But  in  time's  process,  when  his  pains  increase. 

He  rolls  his  mournful  ej^cs;  he  deeply  groans 

With  patient  sobbing,  and  with  manly  moans. 

He  heaves  for  breath;  which  from  his  lungs  supplied. 

And  fetch'd  from  far,  distends  his  lab'ring  side. 

To  his  rough  palate  his  dry  tongue  succeeds; 

And  ropy  gore  he  from  his  nostril  bleeds. 

The  steer  who  to  the  yoke  was  bred  to  bow 

(Studious  of  tillage,  and  the  crooked  plough) 

Falls  down  and  dies;  and,  dying,  voids  a  flood 

Of  foamy  madness,  mix'd  with  clotted  blood. 

The  clown,  who  cursing  Providence,  repines. 

His  mournful  fellow  from  the  team  disjoins; 

With  many  a  groan  forsakes  his  fruitless  care. 

And  in  th'  unfinish'd  furrow  leaves  the  share. 

The  pining  steer  nor  shades  of  lofty  woods 

Nor  flow'ry  meads,  can  ease,  nor  crystal  floods 

RoU'd  from  the  rock:  his  flabby  flanks  decrease: 

His  eyes  are  settled  in  a  stupid  peace; 

His  bulk  too  weighty  for  his  thighs  is  grown; 

And  his  unwieldy  neck  hangs  drooping  down — Dryden. 
*  Layard,  on  the  Contagious  Distemper  among  Horned  Cattle,  p.  11. 
t  Lancisi  de  Bovilla  Peste.     Part  III.  p.  110. 
t  Rammazini  de  Contagiosa  Bourn  Epidemia.     Ed.  Lend.  1717,  p.  456. 


384  CATTLE. 

vent  the  supposed  ill  consequences  of  eating  the  flesh  of  tainted  beasts, 
as  well  as  to  save  the  little  remnant  of  cattle  that  was  left,  all  beef  and 
veal  were  forbidden  by  the  senate  to  be  eaten  throughout  their  state. 

The  Journal  dcs  Savans  for  1682  contains  an  account  of  an  epidemic 
which  destroyed  a  great  number  of  cattle  in  most  of  the  provinces  of 
France.  The  history  of  its  symptoms  shows  how  little  was  then  known 
of  the  diseases  of  cattle,  or  how  careless  were  the  examinations  that  were 
made  even  by  scientific  men,  and  for  the  purpose  of  enlightening  the  pub- 
lic. The  animals  ate  and  worked  as  usual  until  they  fell  dead  in  a  mo- 
ment. The  explanation  of  tliis  is  a  little  marvellous,  and  does  not  quite 
agree  wiih  the  previous  story.  'A  violet-coloured  vesicle  is  found  under 
the  tongue,  on  which  an  eschar  or  scab  forms  in  five  or  six  hours,  and  on 
the  falling  of  the  eschar,  the  animal  dies;  and  when  he  was  opened,  the 
intestines  were  in  a  state  of  gangrene,  and  so  was  the  tongue,  for  it  often 
fell  to  pieces.'  This  was  the  gloss-anthrax,  or  blain  which  has  been  al- 
ready described,  but  of  a  very  malignant  character,  and  associated  with 
murrain,  as  it  is  now  sometimes  found  to  be;  but  the  marvellous  story  of 
the  animal  di'opping  all  at  once  betrays  inattention  or  ignorance,  or  both,  and 
makes  us  a  little  cautious  how  we  implicitly  trust  to  the  records  of  those 
times.  The  practitioners  of  that  day  had,  however,  a  glimpse  of  the  mode 
of  treatment  on  which  alone  the  slightest  dependence  can  be  placed,  for 
they  rubbed  the  part  (the  vesicle  under  the  tongue)  with  a  piece  of  silver, 
until  it  bled,  and  then  they  washed  the  wound  with  vinegar,  well  season- 
ed with  pepper  and  salt. 

It  was  in  1711  that  the  epidemics  commenced,  which,  although  some- 
times suspending  their  ravages  for  a  few  years,  or  rather  visiting  new  dis- 
tricts when  they  ceased  to  desolate  others,  continued  to  be  objects  of  ter- 
ror until  the  establishment  of  veterinary  schools. 

The  origin  of  the  epidemic  of  1711  seems  to  be  clearly  traced.*  Some 
cattle-merchants  were  importing,  according  to  their  annual  custom,  beasts 
from  Dalmatia,  which  were  in  request  in  some  parts  of  Italy.  One  of 
these  oxen  being  taken  ill,  and  straying  from  the  herd,  was  abandoned  by 
the  merchants  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Padua.  A  servant  of  the  canon 
of  Paduu  found  him,  and,  whether  with  or  without  the  knowledge  of  his 
master  does  not  appear,  took  possession  of  him,  and  put  him  into  a  cow- 
house among  others  that  were  perfectly  well.  In  a  few  days  he  died;  but 
not  until  he  had  infected  every  beast;  and  so  surely  that  they  all  perished 
except  one,  in  whose  neck  setons  had  been  placed.t  The  contagious  na- 
ture of  the  disease  (for  the  contagiousness  of  true  murrain  cannot  for  a 
moment  be  doubted,)  finding  a  too  powerful  auxiliary  in  some  peculiar 
state  of  the  atmosphere  at  that  time,  the  malady  quickly  spread  through 
tlje  whole  Venetian  territory. 

Two  Italian  physicians,  Rammazini  and  Lancisi,  have  left  us  more  in- 
telligible and  consistent  accounts  of  it  than  we  have  of  any  of  the  epi- 
demics which  speedily  followed  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  or  of  those 
that  occurred  in  our  own  country  nearly  half  a  century  afterwards. 

By  giving  a  short  sketch  of  it  as  it  appeared  in  Italy,  there  will  be  less 
occasion  to  dilate  on  the  succeeding  epidemics  of  the  Continent.  It  com- 
menced with  a  shivering  fit,  followed  by  unnatural  heat,  extreme  thirst, 
difficulty  of  breathing,  and  general  debility.  A  thick  mucous  discharge 
from    the  nose  and  mouth  speedily  succeeded,   attended  by  a  very  un- 

*  Vid.  Rammazini  et  Lancisi. 

t  Rammazini  de  Contagiosa  Epidemia,  p.  456.  See  also  Hira  on  the  Mortality  of 
Horned  Cattle,  p.  16. 


THE  MALIGNANT  EPIDEMIC— MURRAIN.  385 

pleasant  smell.  There  were  twitchings  of  various  parts  of  the  frame;  fre- 
quent foetid  and  bloody  ejections;  and  the  appetite  and  rumina-tions  ceased. 
On  the  fifth  day  there  was  a  pustular  eruption  in  the  mouth,  which  covered 
the  tongue  and  the  pharynx;  and  abscesses  followed,  and  the  bones  be- 
neath quickly  became  carious.  The  cattle  died  generally  on  or  about  the 
fifth  or  ninth  day. 

The  hair  usually  came  partly  or  entirely  off.  If  after  the  fall  of  the  hair, 
the  skin  became  firmer;  or  if  the  disease  attacked  the  legs  or  thighs,  and 
there  were  swellings  of  the  joints,  or  about  the  limbs,  and  which  almost 
prevented  the  motion  of  the  animal,  he  generally  recovered.  Cows  that 
gave  milk  often  survived,  but  their  calves  uniformly  perished. 

On  examination  after  death,  hydatids  were  found  in  the  brain  and  luno-s; 
and  it  was  said  that  they  contained  an  infectious  gas  that  could  scarcely  1>e 
endured.  If  this  were  the  case,  they  were  vesicles  formed  by  the  extra- 
vasated  air  in  the  process  of  decomposition,  and  not  hydatids.  Ulcers 
were  found  at  the  root  of  the  tongue,  and  gangrene  in  the  intestines.  The 
third  stomach  always  contained  a  hard,  black,  infectious  mass,  which  ad- 
hered to  the  lining  membrane,  and  could  scarcely  be  separated  from  it. 

Lancisi  says,  that  he  found  no  medicine  effectual  against  this  com- 
plaint. Selons  and  the  actual  cautery  were  sometimes  serviceable.  Ram- 
mazini  fully  confirms  this,  and  says,  that  the  cattle  in  which  either  setons 
or  the  cautery,  or  natural  tumours  and  ulcerations,  had  produced  a  copious 
discharge  of  thick,  purulent,  and  f(Etid  matter,  were  the  only  ones  that 
escaped.* 

The  pest  was  soon  propagated  over  the  greater  part  of  Italy.  It  ap- 
peared in  Milan,  under  even  a  more  virulent  character  than  it  had  assumed 
in  the  Venetian  States;  and  when  it  reached  the  duchy  of  Ferrara,  it  had 
so  fearfully  acquired  strength  as  it  proceeded,  that  it  was  the  prevalent 
opinion  among  the  best-informed  persons  in  the  duchy,  that  the  whole 
species  of  horned  catde  would  quickly  become  extinct.  As  it  travelled 
it  selected  other  victims;  horses,  deer,  swine,  and  domestic  poultry  of 
every  kind  were  attacked  by  it. 

As  might  be  supposed,  the  most  absurd  ideas  were  entertained  of  its 
nature  and  cause.  Many  of  the  beasts  that  had  died  in  the  preceding  year 
liad  not  been  buried  deep  enough,  and  clouds  of  hornets  had  burrowed 
down  to  them,  and  fed  on  the  putrid  flesh.  It  was  confidently  affirmed 
that  a  great  proportion  of  the  cases  of  murrain  might  be  traced  to  the  era- 
poisoned  stings  of  these  hornets.  Some  persons  pretended  to  find  the 
black  stings  of  these  winged  insects  in  different  parts  of  the  animals. f 

In  1714,  it  reached  Piedmont,  still  apparently  increasing  in  malignity. 
According  to  Fantoni,  Professor  of  medicine  at  Turin,  more  than  seventy 
thousand  cattle  perished  in  that  little  territory  .J 

From  Piedmont,  it  easily  found  its  way  into  France.  All  the  provinces 
of  the  south  of  France,  and  bordering  on  Germany,  were  devastated  by 
it.  And  now  its  progress  was  rapid  and  murderous  to  a  fearfsl  degree ; 
for  before  the  end  of  the  year  it  had  reached  Brabant  and  Holland;  in  the 
latter  of  which  at  least  two  hundred  thousand  cattle  perished;  and  it  had 
crossed  the  channel  to  England,  where  it  was  as  destructive  as  on  the  con- 
tinent: but  of  its  history  and  specific  character  in  Great  Britain  there  is  not 
any  authentic  record. 

The  disease  afterwards  began  to   exhibit  new  symptoms.     If  it  first 

*  Vid.  Rammazini,  ct  Lancisi  in  loc.  t  liurtrel  d'Arboval  (Typhus.) 

t  Ibid. 
34 


386  CATTLE. 

attacked  the  membrane  of  the  nose  it  sometimes  confined  its  virulence  io 
that  and  the  neighbouring  parts,  and  the  malady  assumed  the  precise 
form  of  malignant  acute  glanders.  The  septum  was  ulcerated  through 
and  through,  and  the  horse  and  the  ox  died,  in  consequence  of  the  local 
mischief  there  done,  and  the  constitutional  irritation  consequent  upon 
it,  without  determination  of  the  malignant  principle  to  any  other  part. 

If  the  first  attack  was  on  the  alimentary  canal,  there  the  fury  of  the 
disease  was  expended,  and  the  animal  was  destroyed  by  dysentery:  if  the 
membrane  of  the  mouth  was  affected,  it  was  soon  covered  by  tumours,  of 
greater  or  less  size,  and  many  of  them  running  on  to  ulceration. 

The  extensive  ravages  of  murrain  seemed  now  for  a  while  to  cease;  but 
it  frequently  appeared  in  certain  districts,  confining  itself  to  them,  but 
being  there  murderous  enough,  and  exciting  the  too  well-grounded  fear 
that  it  would  break  out  again,  clothed  with  all  its  terrors. 

In  1731,  the  epidemic  of  1682  seemed  to  return.  Glossanthrax,  or 
blain,  of  a  malignant  character,  was  prevalent  in  many  of  the  provinces  of 
France,  and  very  fatal  there. 

The  vesicle  formed  most  rapidly,  and,  if  neglected,  suffocated  the 
animal  in  less  than  twenty-four  hours;  or,  if  the  vesicle  broke,  it  was 
succeeded  by  a  chancrous  ulcer,  far  more  corroding  than  chancres  generally 
are,  and  which,  destroying  the  tongue  and  the  posterior  part  of  the  mouth, 
produced  the  death  of  the  animal.  The  incomprehensible  story  was 
again  revived,  (there  were  no  veterinary  surgeons  yet,)  that  the  beast  con- 
tinued to  eat  and  to  drink,  and  to  appear  well,  until  the  tongue  fell  piece- 
meal from  the  mouth. 

The  cause  of  the  disease  was  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  in  1682,  and 
it  fared  even  worse  with  the  horse  than  it  did  with  the  ox. 

In  1743  and  1744,  it  appeared  again,  with  increased  fury,  in  the  north 
of  France,  and  great  part  of  Germany. 

In  1745,  it  laid  Holland  waste  a  second  time.  More  than  200,000 
cattle  now  perished.  In  the  same  year,  it  again  found  its  way  to  the 
coast  of  Britain.  It  seems  to  have  been  clearly  brought  to  us  from  Hol- 
land, although  there  are  two  versions  of  the  story.  Dr.  Mortimer  says 
that  it  was  imported  by  means  of  two  white  calves  which  a  farmer  at 
Poplar  sent  for,  in  order  to  cross  his  own  breed;  and  that  it  spread  into 
Berkshire  by  means  of  two  cows  that  were  brought  out  of  Essex.  The 
other  account  is,  that  one  of  our  tanners  bought  a  parcel  of  distempered 
hides  in  Zealand,  and  which  were  forbidden  to  be  sold  there,  and  should 
have  been  buried,  and  so  transplanted  this  dreadful  disease  among  us. 
"  Thus  by  one  man's  unlawful  gain,"  says  Dr.  Layard,  "  if  by  this  way 
it  was  conveyed,  the  ruin  of  many  graziers  and  farmers  was  effected."  It 
is  certain,  however,  that  the  pest  first  appeared  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood of  London,  and  on  the  Essex  side  of  the  river,  and  that  thence 
it  gradually  spread  through  Essex  and  Hertfordshire,  and  the  whole  of  the 
kingdom. 

For  more  than  twelve  years  it  continued  to  lay  waste  the  country.  The 
number  of  beasts  that  were  actually  destroyed  by  it  was  not,  and  perhaps 
could  not,  be  ascertained;  but,  in  the  third  year  of  the  plague,  when  the 
government  had  so  seriously  taken  up  the  matter  as  to  order  that  every 
beast  that  exhibited  the  slightest  marks  of  infection  should  be  destroyed, 
a  remuneration  being  made  to  the  owner,  no  fewer  than  80,000  cattle  were 
slaughtered,  besides  those  which  died  of  the  disease,  and  which  formed, 
according  to  the  narration  of  one  of  the  commissioners,  nearly  double 
that  number.  In  the  fourth  year  of  the  plague  they  were  destroyed  at 
the  rate  of  7000  pei  month,  until,  from  the  numerous  impositions  that 


THE  MALIGNANT  EPIDEMIC— MURRAIN.  387 

were  practised,  this  portion  of  the  preventive  regulations  was  sus- 
pended. 

In  the  year  1747,  more  than  40,000  cattle  died  in  Nottinghamshire  and 
Leicestershire,  and  in  Cheshire  30,000  died  in  about  half  a  year. 

The  symptoms  of  the  disease  are  best  described  by  Drs.  Brocldesby 
and  Hird,  who,  with  many  other  medical  men,  exerted  themselves  in  the 
most  praiseworthy  manner  to  ascertain  the  nature  and  method  of  cure,  or 
the  prevention,  at  least,  of  this  dreadful  malady.  Dr.  Layard's  work  is 
the  most  laboured  performance ;  but  he  drew  too  much  from  Hippocrates, 
and  Sydenham,  and  Aldrovandus,  and  Areteeus,  and  gives  us  far  too  little 
of  the  result  of  his  own  observation. 

The  disease  generally  commenced  with  a  dry,  short,  husky  cough,  as  it 
does  at  the  present  day  ;  but,  as  cattle  are  very  subject  to  hoose,  and  par- 
ticularly in  the  spring  and  fall,  this,  although  it  continued  without  any 
other  symptoms  for  eight  or  ten  days,  was  generally  overlooked.  At  length 
the  coat  began  to  appear  unhealthy ;  the  eyes  were  heavy ;  rumination 
ceased ;  the  animal  refused  all  food  and  drink ;  the  milk  began  to 
decrease ;  it  acquired  an  unpleasant  taste ;  it  became  yellow,  and  soon 
afterwards  dried  up. 

These  were  precursory  symptoms.  The  real  and  serious  attacks  of  the 
disease  was  a  shivering  fit,  succeeded  by  an  intense  heat  and  uncertain 
remissions.  The  eyes  became  more  heavy  and  dejected,  and  the  conjunc- 
tiva inflamed.  The  cough  was  now  more  violent,  and  respiration  so  diflS.- 
cult  that  the  animals  seemed  to  struggle  and  pant  for  breath. 

A  swelling  became  visible  externally  about  the  glands  of  the  throat, 
which,  in  some  cases,  became  so  large  as  to  threaten  immediate  suflfoca- 
tion.  The  tongue  and  internal  part  of  the  mouth  were  hot  and  slimy  ;  the 
head  hung  down ;  the  ears  drooped  ;  there  was  an  unusual  listlessness 
and  unwillingness  to  stir ;  a  choice  of  solitude ;  a  separation  from  the  rest 
of  the  herd ;  and  an  evident  dislike  of  being,  in  the  slightest  degree, 
disturbed. 

The  bowels  were  at  first  costive,  but  looseness  succeeded  in  less  than 
forty-eight  hours  after  the  shivering  fit.  The  excrement  was  at  first 
green,  watery,  and  intolerably  foetid ;  but  it  afterwards  altered  to  a  viscid 
slimy  matter.  The  purging  continued,  in  fatal  cases,  through  the  whole 
of  the  disease ;  in  those  that  recovered,  it  began  to  abate  about  the  seventh 
day.  The  existence  of  this  looseness  for  a  while  was  necessary  to  the 
favourable  termination  of  the  disease ;  for  all  in  whom  it  did  not  appear 
within  a  few  days  after  the  shivering  fit  died. 

A  considerable  ftstid  discharge  proceeded  in  every  case  from  the  nos- 
trils, and,  in  some  instances,  from  the  eyes  and  mouth.  It  was  thinner, 
and  of  a  more  serous  nature  in  the  animals  which  died  of  the  distemper ; 
but  more  consistent  and  better  digested  in  those  that  recovered. 

If  the  disease  terminated  fortunately,  the  inner  surface  of  the  mouth,  and 
the  glands  of  the  throat  continued  to  have  a  healthy,  inflammatory  blush, 
without  any  tendency  to  gangrene  or  mortification.  Internal  ulceration  was 
generally  regarded  as  a  most  unfavourable  symptom  ;  but  if  the  external 
swellings,  whether  of  a  greater  or  less  size,  which  usually  appeared, 
about  the  third  or  fourth  day,  broke,  and  discharged  a  great  quantity  of 
stinking  purulent  matter,  the  beast  usually  did  well,  although  the  ulcers 
occasionally  spread  to  a  most  fearful  degree,  and  were  always  very  difficult 
to  heal.  Most  of  the  beasts  had  a  universal  emphysema,  or  crackling 
under  the  skin,  and  this  in  some  proceeded  to  a  very  strange  and  curious 
extent. 

The  continuance  of  the  disease  was  very  uncertain.     Some  died  almost 


388  CATTLE. 

suddenly;  in  others,  inflammation  of  the  brain  seemed  to  come  rapidly 
on,  and  tlie  cattle  became  so  furious  and  dangerous,  that  it  was  necessary 
to  destroy  them.  Most  died  on  the  sixth  or  seventh  day,  and  very  few 
lived  on  to  the  eleventh.  The  approach  of  death  was  usually  indicated 
by  the  mouth  becoming  cold,  the  breath  fcetid  and  cadaverous,  the  eyes 
sunk  in  their  orbits,  the  skin  tense  and  clinging  to  the  bones,  and  especially 
the  horns  and  teats  becoming  intensely  cold. 

The  recovery  was  generally  very  rapid.  On  one  day  a  beast  appeared 
in  extreme  distress,  with  every  symptom  urgent,  and  in  less  than  four-and- 
twenty  hours  rumination  had  returned,  the  milk  flowed  free,  and  of  its 
natural  colour,  and  she  turned  to  the  crib  with  some  degree  of  appetite. 

On  dissection  the  paunch  was  always  found  very  much  distended  with 
food.  In  the  second  stomach  there  was  nothing  unusual ;  but  on  the  third 
being  cut  into,  there  generally  flowed  from  it  a  great  quantity  of  thin 
greenish  water,  of  a  most  offensive  smell.  The  fourth  stomach  exhibited 
marks  of  inflammation,  sometimes  running  on  to  gangrene.  The  intes- 
tines had  patches  of  inflammation,  or  grangrene ;  but  the  liver,  the  spleen, 
and  the  kidneys  were  scarcely  affected.  The  lungs  exhibited  traces  of  the 
intenses-t  inflammation  ;  they  were  usually  congested  with  blood,  while 
purulent  matter  ran  from  every  part  of  the  bronchi. 

The  disease  was  evidently  epidemic.  It  would  cease,  in  a  great  degree, 
towards  the  approach  of  summer.  During  one  or  two  summers,  in  the 
twelve  years  that  it  raged,  it  seemed  to  have  altogether  disappeared ;  but 
at  the  approach  of  winter  it  broke  out  afresh,  sometimes  in  districts,  the 
cattle  of  which  it  had  previously  thinned  ;  at  other  times,  in  places  which 
had  hitherto  escaped  its  fury,  and  very  distant  from  those  in  which  it  had 
seemed  gradually  to  die  away.  It  prevailed  most  generally  and  was  most 
fatal  towards  the  latter  part  of  the  winter.  February  and  sometimes  March 
were  destructive  months.  There  was  also  a  strange  caprice  about  it.  It 
would  select  its  victims  here  and  there.  It  would  carry  oflf  half  the  cattle 
in  every  dairy  round  a  certain  farm,  and  not  touch  a  single  beast  there;  but 
six  months  afterwards,  it  would  return,  and  pounce  upon  this  privileged 
spot,  and  not  leave  one  animal  alive.  There  were  other  instances  in  which, 
although  it  attacked  the  cattle  on  a  certain  farm,  it  readily  yielded  to  the 
power  of  medicine,  or  to  that  of  nature,  and  not  one  in  a  dozen  was  lost; 
whde  on  a  contiguous  farm,  the  soil,  the  produce,  and  the  management 
being  apparently  the  same,  not  one  in  a  dozen  was  saved.  Its  virulence 
evidently  depended  on  some  mysterious  atmospheric  agency. 

Was  it  contagious  as  well  as  epidemic?  This  seems  to  have  been 
taken  for  granted  by  every  one  who  had  opportunity  of  observing  the 
disease ;  and  on  this  were  founded  the  orders  in  council  for  the  non- 
removal  of  infected  beasts,  the  slaughter  of  them,  and  their  burial  within 
three  hours  after  death. 

That  it  was  communicable  by  immediate  contact  there  can  be  little 
doubt.  The  history  of  its  introduction  into  Padua,  and  its  propagation 
through  the  neighbouring  territory,  were  sufficient  proofs  of  this.  That 
it  might  be  communicated  in  a  more  indirect  vvay,  by  the  contact  of  the 
person  or  thing  that  had  been  near  or  had  touched  the  deceased  animal, 
was  probable  enough,  and  there  were  said  to  have  been  numerous  instances 
of  it;  but,  as  is  natur.al  in  these  cases,  the  public  were  a  great  deal  more 
frightened  about  the  matter  than  the  real  danger  would  justify. 

The  disease  had  far  more  of  an  epidemic  than  of  a  contagious  character 
about  it ;  and  all  that  was  really  necessary,  or  could  be  of  avail  in  those 
cases,  (and  in  the  same  disease,  when  it  appears  in  the  present  day,)  was 
to  remove  the  infected  animal  from  all  possible  contact  with  others  as  soon 


THE  MALIGNANT  EPIDEMIC— MURRAIN.  389 

as  possible;  to  destroy  all  the  litter  and  forage  which  was  left  behind;  to 
burn  the  less  valuable  harness  or  utensils;  to  scour  the  place  well  with 
chloride  of  lime;  and  to  forbid  those  who  attended  on  the  sick  beasts  from 
having  any  thing  to  do  with  the  healthy  ones. 

The  contagion  would  now  be  limited  in  virulence  and  extent;  and,  in 
many  cases,  it  would  be  altogether  destroyed  by  the  plentiful  use  of  the 
chloride  of  lime. 

It  was  also  very  proper  to  have  the  carcasses  buried  as  soon  as  possible. 
After  such  diseases  the  body  runs  to  decomposition  very  rapidly,  and  the 
neighbourhood  of  a  mass  of  putrid  matter  cannot  at  any  time  be  conducive 
to  health. 

As  to  the  using  for  human  food  the  flesh  of  an  animal  that  had  died  of 
such  a  disease,  common  decency  would  forbid  it.  The  law  which  pro- 
hibits the  flesh  of  an  animal  that  had  perished  by  any  disease  from  being 
eaten,  is  a  very  proper  one;  for  it  is  impossible  to  say,  however  strong 
may  be  the  antiseptic  power  of  the  stomach,  or  the  power  of  converting 
a  semiputrid  matter  into  wholesome  nutriment,  that  injurious  effects  might 
not  be  produced  on  constitutions  debilitated,  or  predisposed  to  disease. 

There  were  stories  of  pigs,  and  dogs,  and  ducks  having  perished  in 
consequence  of  eating  the  flesh  of  an  animal  that  had  died  of  murrain; 
but,  on  the  other  hand.  Dr.  Brocklesby  relates  a  story  of  a  countryman 
who  had  often  solicited  a  butcher  to  give  him  a  beef-steak:  at  length  the 
butcher,  tired  with  the  fellow's  importunities,  determined  to  satisfy  his  de- 
sire, and  presented  him  with  a  large  slice  of  meat  from  a  beast  that  had 
died  of  murrain.  The  clown  was  thankful  enough,  and  soon  afterwards 
he  returned  with  fresh  solicitations  for  such  another  steak.  After  three 
weeks  had  elapsed,  the  man  was  pointed  out  to  Dr.  Brocklesby,  and  was 
apparently  in  perfect  health;  but  he  certainly  did  not  know  what  kind  of 
meat  he  had  eaten. 

Inoculation  for  this  disease  was  tried  by  some  celebrated  agriculturists, 
and  particularly  by  Sir  William  St.  Quentin,  of  Scrampton,  in  Yorkshire. 
Eight  calves  were  inoculated;  seven  of  which  had  the  distemper  and  re- 
covered, and  were  afterwards  turned  into  a  herd  of  infected  cattle,  without 
being  diseased  a  second  time. 

He  likewise  inoculated  an  old  ox,  which  had  the  distemper  from  inocu- 
lation and  recovered.  This  beast  was  afterwards  turned  into  a  herd  of  in- 
fected cattle,  and  continued  in  the  pasture  with  them  until  they  were  all 
dead;  he  was  then  put  with  another  herd  of  infected  cattle,  but  still  he  es- 
caped. 

Dr.  Layard  produces  some  singular  testimonies  to  this  effect.  He 
speaks  of  one  farmer  who  had  eight  cows  that  survived  the  distemper  in 
1746,  and  which,  when  the  disease  was  again  among  his  stock  in  1749, 
1755,  and  1756,  were  in  the  midst  of  the  sick  cattle,  lay  with  them  in  the 
same  barns,  ate  of  the  same  fodder,  and  even  of  such  as  the  distempered 
beasts  had  left  and  slavered  upon,  drank  after  them,  and  constantly  receiv- 
ed their  breath  and  steam,  without  being  in  the  least  affected.  The  farm- 
ers were  so  assured  of  this,  that  they  were  always  ready  to  give  an  ad- 
vanced price  for  those  who  recovered. 

By  order  of  council,  boards  of  health  were  established  in  various  parts 
of  the  kingdom.  They  had  instructions  to  prevent  the  sale  or  removal  of 
cattle  from  one  district  to  another;  to  cut  off  all  communication  between 
the  healthy  and  infected  parts  of  the  country;  to  kill  every  beast  that 
they  deemed  to  be  infected,  and  to  see  that  every  beast  that  died  was 

34* 


390  CATTLE. 

immediatel)'  buried.     They  were  likewise  charged  with  the  institution  of 
certain  means  of  cure,  and  more  particularly  of  prevention.* 

*  As  a  matter  of  curiosity,  we  put  upon  record,  the  first  legislative  enactment  on 
such  a  matter. 

First  Commission,  March  12th,  1745. 

His  Majesty  being  desirous  of  doing  all  in  his  power  to  put  a  stop  to  the  spreading 
of  the  said  distemper,  has  thought  it  fit,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  his  privy  council 
(who  have  consulted  physicians  and  surgeons  thereupon,  and  they  have  given  it  as  their 
opinion  that  all  the  methods  of  cure,  which  have  been  put  in  practice  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  have  proved  so  unsuccessful,  that  they  have  rather  contributed  to  propagate  than 
stop  the  infection;  for  while  means  have  been  using  to  save  the  sick,  tlie  disease  spread 
amongst  the  sound,  and  is  increasing  more  and  more,  in  proportion  to  the  number 
seized  with  it,)  to  make  and  establish  the  rules  and  regulations  following,  which  his  Ma- 
jesty does,  by  this  order  of  his  priv}'  council,  requiring  and  commanding  all  his  sub- 
jects, in  the  several  counties,  cities,  towns,  corporations,  and  parishes,  and  all  parts  of 
his  realm,  strictly  to  pursue  and  observe,  during  his  royal  pleasure. 

First.  That  all  cowkecpers,  farmers,  and  owners  of  any  of  the  said  several  sorts  of 
cattle,  in  any  place  where  the  said  distemper  has  appeared,  or  shall  hereafter  appear,  do, 
as  soon  as  any  of  the  said  cattle  shall  appear  to  have  any  signs  or  marks  of  the  said 
distemper,  immediately  remove  such  cattle  to  some  place  distant  from  the  rest,  and  cause 
the  same  to  be  shot,  or  otherwise  killed,  with  as  little  effusion  of  blood  as  may  be,  and 
the  bodies  to  be  immediately  buried,  with  the  skin  and  horns  on,  at  least  four  feet  in 
depth  above  the  body  of  the  beast  so  buried,  having  first  cut  and  slashed  the  hides 
thereof  from  head  to  tail,  and  quite  round  the  body,  so  as  to  render  them  of  no  use. 

Secondly.  That  they  do  cause  all  the  hay,  which  such  infected  cattle  have  breathed 
upon,  and  all  the  hay,  straw,  or  litter  that  they  have  touched  or  been  near,  to  be  forth- 
with removed  and  burned;  and  that  no  person  who  shall  attend  any  infected  cattle,  shall 
go  near  the  sound  ones  in  the  same  clothes. 

Thirdly.  That  they  do  cause  the  houses,  or  buildings,  where  such  infected  cattle  have 
stood,  to  be  cleared  from  all  dung  and  filth,  and  wet  gunpowder,  pitch,  tar,  or  brim- 
stone, to  be  burnt  or  fired  in  several  parts  of  such  buildings,  at  the  same  time  keeping 
in  the  smoke  as  much  as  possible;  and  that  the  same  be  allerwards  frequently  washed 
with  vinegar  and  warm  water;  and  that  no  sound  cattle  be  put  therein  for  two  nsonths 
at  least. 

Fourthly.  That  they  do  not  suffer  any  of  their  cattle  that  shall  have  recovered  from 
the  said  distemper  before  the  notification  of  this  order,  to  be  brought  amongst  the  sound 
cattle,  until  they  shall  have  been  kept  separate  a  month  at  least,  and  until  they  shall 
have  been  well  curried  and  washed  with  vinegar  and  warm  water. 

Fifthly.  That  no  person  whatsoever  do  buy,  sell,  or  expose  for  sale,  the  milk,  or  any 
part  of  the  flesh  or  entrails  of  any  such  infected  cattle;  or  feed,  or  cause  to  be  fed,  any 
hog,  calf,  lamb,  or  any  other  animal  therewith;  or  drive,  or  cause  to  be  drove,  any  such 
infected  cattle  to  any  fair  or  market,  eitlier  in  or  out  of  the  county  where  the  said  cat- 
tle now  are,  or  to  or  from  any  place  whatsoever,  out  of  their  own  respective  ground 
while  they  are  so  distempered. 

Sixthly.  That  no  person  do  drive  or  remove  any  of  the  said  sorts  of  cattle,  whether 
infected  or  not  infected,  from  any  farm  or  ground,  where  any  such  infected  cattle  are, 
or  shall  have  been,  within  the  space  of  one  month  before  such  removal. 

Seventhly.  That  as  soon  as  the  distemper  shall  appear  in  or  amongst  any  of  the  said 
sorts  of  cattle  of  any  cowkecpers,  farmers,  or  other  persons,  they  do  immediately  give 
notice  thereof  to  the  constable  of  the  town  or  parish,  and  also  to  the  churchwardens 
and  overseers  of  the  parish  or  place  where  such  infected  cattle  shall  be,  of  the  appear- 
ance of  such  infection,  or  to  any  inspector  to  be  appointed  by  the  justices  of  the  peace 
for  the  district  where  such  parish  or  place  shall  be,  pursuant  to  the  directions  hereinaf. 
ter  given,  to  the  end  that  the  said  officers  may  be  the  better  enabled  to  do  their  duty,  ac- 
cording to  the  directions  hereinafler  mentioned. 

That  no  person  do  presume  to  obstruct  any  constable,  churchwarden,  or  overseer  of 
the  poor,  or  other  person,  to  be  appointed  by  the  justices  of  the  peace,  to  assist  in  the 
execution  of  the  powers  or  directions  given,  or  to  be  given,  in  pursuance  of  this  order. 

That  whosoever  shall  disobey  these  said  rules,  orders,  or  regulations  shall  be  strictly 
prosecuted  for  the  penalties  inflicted  by  the  said  act. 

And  his  Majesty  doth  further  strictly  command  all  constables,  churchwardens,  and 
overseers  of  the  poor,  and  such  inspectors,  if  any  shall  be  appointed  as  aforesaid,  as  soon 
as  they  shall  know,  or  be  informed,  that  any  of  the  said  sorts  of  cattle,  within  their  re- 
spective districts,  are  infected,  to  go  to,  and  take  an  exact  account  of  the  number  and 
sorts  of  such  cattle  in  the  possession  of  any  person,  distinguishing  the  infected  from  such 
as  are  not  so,  and  to  repeat  those  accounts  weekly;  and  to  see  that  the  infected  be  shot. 


THE  MALIGNANT  EPIDEMIC— MURRAIN.  39t 

They  were  composed  of  some  of  the  magistrates  of  the  district,  and 
of  physicians  who  very  handsomely  proffered  their  gratuitous  services; 
and  they  laboured  twelve  years,  and  with  so  little  avail,  that  at  length,  as 
it  were,  by  a  simultaneous  act  they  dissolved  themselves.  They  could 
discover  no  preventive — no  cure  for  the  disease — and  the  restrictions  with 
regard  to  the  sale  or  removal  of  cattle,  and  the  communication  between 
different  districts  were  so  frequendy  evaded,  that  it  was  either  impossible 
or  impolitic  to  levy  the  penalties. 

There  was  so  much  caprice  about  the  disease,  and  beasts  so  often 
recovered  after  all  hope  had  seemed  to  have  passed  away,  that  the  farmers 
resisted  the  slaughtering  of  their  cattle,  or  concealed  them  when  they 
were  sick;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  in  ridicule  of  the  competence  of  these 
judges,  they  brought  all  their  old  and  worn-out  animals,  or  those  that  were 
ill  of  totally  different  complaints,  and  had  them  destroyed,  and  claimed  the 
remuneration  which  the  government  allowed  for  those  that  were  infected 
with  murrain. 

Of  the  propriety,  however,  of  this  bonus  for  -the  destruction  of  infected 
cattle,  there  cannot  be  a  doubt;  for  there  were  numerous  instances  in 
which  those  who  began  to  kill  the  sick  as  soon  as  the  distemper  appeared 
among  their  catde,  lost  very  few;  but  others,  who  would  kill  none  until 
their  own  folly  had  made  them  wiser,  did  not  save  more  than  one  out 
of  ten. 

As  to  the  more  strictly  medical  part  of  the  affair,  there  were  such  con- 
tradictory opinions  among  these  scientific  men — some  maintaining  that  it 
was  an  inflammatory  fever,  and  others  that  it  was  a  bilious  fever,  and 
each  defending  his  theory  with  so  much  warmth  and  obstinacy,  that  the 
simple  farmer  was  first  puzzled  and  then  disgusted;  and  there  were  also 
such  different  modes  of  treatment  recommended — drugs  both  for  pre- 
vention and  cure,  which  either  had  never  been  used  for  the  diseases  of 
cattle,  or  had  been  proved,  even  by  the  beast-leeches  of  the  day,  to  be 
perfectly  inert  in  the  ruminant;  and  all  evidently  founded  on  conjecture 
and  hypothesis,  and  borrowing  nothing  from  experience,  that,  in  the 
language  of  Dr.  Davies,  "  the  graziers  found  more  recover  when  left  to 
themselves,  than  when  tampered  with,  and  that  nature  was  a  better  direc- 
tor than  an  ofiicious  pretender."  Dr.  Layard  gives  a  very  curious  account 
of  the  matter.  "  Disappointed  in  their  hopes  from  regular  practitioners 
of  physic,  they  (the  farmers)  despised  all  regular  methods,  and  ran  head- 
long after  such  remedies  as  were  at  once  to  remove  every  complaint,  and 
were  honoured  by  the  authors  with  the  ever-recommending  title  of 
infallibles.     Nor  were  these  remedies  more  efficacious:  tar  water,  Bate- 

or  otherwise  killed,  as  aforesaid,  removed,  and  buried,  according  to  the  before  mention- 
ed rule;  and  that  all  that  the  other  before  mentioned  rules,  orders,  and  regulations,  and 
such  directions  as  shall  be  given  by  the  said  justices,  be  punctually  performed  and 
obeyed. 

And  for  the  encouragement  of  the  owners  of  such  infected  cattle,  his  Majesty  doth 
kereby  promise,  that  they  shall  be  paid  by  the  commissioners  of  the  treasury,  for  every 
such  infected  beast  as  shall  be  killed  according  to  these  rules,  immediately  after  the 
affection  shall  appear  upon  them,  one  moiety,  or  half  the  value  of  his  such  cattle,  not 
exceeding  the  sum  of  forty  shillings  for  each  of  the  said  sorts,  excepting  calves,  and  not 
exceeding  ten  shillings  for  each  calf,  the  numbers,  and  values,  and  conformities  to  the 
said  rules  to  be  ascertained  by  the  oaths  of  the  owner,  and  two  of  the  s<ftd  constables, 
churchwardens,  overseers,  or  inspectors,  to  be  taken  before  one  or  two  of  the  said  jus- 
tices, who  shall  certify  under  their  hands,  or  the  hand  of  one  of  them,  the  sums  of  mo- 
ney which  such  owners  shall  appear  to  their  or  his  satisfaction  to  be  entitled  to,  by  vir- 
tue of  this  order  for  infected  beasts  shot  or  killed,  slashed  and  buried,  according  to  the 
above  regulations. 

And  it  is  hereby  further  decreed,  that  for  the  better  notifying  of  this  order,  the  same 
be  forthwith  printed  and  published,  and  also  inserted  in  the  next  London  Gazette. 


393  CATTLE. 

man's  drops,  Godfrey's  cordial,  worm  powders,  and  many  other  things, 
were  all  given,  and  all  to  no  purpose,  until  bewildered  in  a  labyrinth  of 
opinions,  and  distracted  through  their  absurd  credulity,  they  became  as 
superstitious  in  this  case  for  their  beasts,  as  fatalists  are  with  regard  to 
themselves.*  They  would  only  bleed  and  give  milk-psttage,  because  they 
believed  these  things  innocent;  and  wlien  by  loss  of  blood  or  scouring  the 
cattle  died,  they  said  that  they  left  the  whole  to  Providence.  If  they 
were  cured,  they  said  it  was  well;  if  they  died,  they  said  no  one  knew 
any  thing  of  the  matter,  nor  could  any  thing  have  done  them  good." 

It  is  the  character  of  these  epidemics  gradually  to  wear  themselves  out. 
They  are  frequent  and  malignant,  and  fatal  enough  at  first;  but  in  process 
of  time  they  become  more  rare,  and  more  tractable,  and  at  length  they 
disappear;  or  they  select  some  other  country,  near  or  remote,  as  the  scene 
of  devastation.  About  the  year  1758,  this  epidemic  was  evidently  declin- 
ing throughout  the  whole  of  the  kingdom;  but  it  could  not  be  said  to  have 
quite  left  us  for  several  years  afterwards. 

In  1757,  it  again  appeared  in  France,  assuming  a  somewhat  new 
character.  It  was  compounded  of  inflammation  of  the  tissue  beneath  the 
skin,  shown  by  the  appearance  of  tumours  on  every  part,  associated 
with  acute  inflammation  of  the  lungs.  It  spread  from  cattle  to  horses. 
The  poor  ass  is  said,  for  the  first  time,  to  have  fallen  a  victim  to  it, 
and  these  animals  perished  in  great  numbers.  The  stags  in  the  neigh- 
bouring forests  did  not  escape;  and  many  flocks  of  sheep,  over  which 
these  epidemics  usually  pass  harmlessly,  were  swept  away.  The  malady 
yielded  to  bleeding   and  purging  in  the  earliest  stage;  but,  being  once 

*  For  the  amusement  of  our  readers,  and  as  a  proof  of  the  ignorance  of  the  times, 
we  place  Ufon  record  some  curious  preventions  and  modes  of  cure. 

The  infected  beast  was  buried  alive  in  a.  hole  full  of  mud,  with  nothing  out  but  its 
head,  for  nine  hours,  when  it  was  taken  out  quite  well. 

For  every  beast  seized  with  murrain,  a  small  round  pic  was  made  up,  with  stiff  paste 
made  of  flour  and  butter,  as  is  usually  made  for  mince-pies,  and  as  large  as  would  hold 
about  six  ounces  of  tar.  When  the  tar  was  put  into  the  pic,  it  was  covered  with  a  lid 
of  the  same  paste,  (it  is  not  said  whether  or  not  it  was  to  be  baked,  nor  how  it  was  to 
be  given,)  and  one  given  to  each  beast. 

Take  a  gallon  of  human  urine,  if  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks  old  the  better,  put  into 
it  ten  handfuls  of  hen's  dung.  After  ten  hours'  steeping  strain  it  off,  and  give  to  each 
beast  a  pint  and  a  half  of  it,  throwing  into  each  drink  a  good  handful  of  rue,  bruised  or 
ground. 

Take  two  ounces  of  assafsetida,  the  like  quantities  of  garlic,  and  a  handful  of  rue, 
beat  them  together  into  a  kind  of  paste.  A  ball  thereof,  about  the  size  of  a  walnut, 
must  be  put  into  tiie  ear  of  the  beast,  and  stitched  up.  This  is  strongly  recommended 
by  a  peer  of  the  realm. 

We  will  add  but  two  remedies  more;  the  one  a  very  pleasant,  and  the  other  a  very 
marvellous  one. 

As  soon  as  the  distemper  appears  in  any  one  or  more  of  the  cattle,  on  any  farm,  make 
some  good,  strong,  genuine  rum-punch,  in  proportion  to  tlie  number  of  cattle  on  such 
farm.  Then  give  every  beast  one,  two,  or  three  half-pints,  in  proportion  to  the  size  of 
the  beast,  and  that  will  put  an  immediate  stop  to  the  contagion,  or  if  not,  it  may  be  re- 
peated. 

A  very  prevalent  practice  was  to  smoke  the  cattle  almost  to  suffocation,  by  kindling 
straw,  litter,  and  other  combustible  matter  about  them  ;  and  this  arose  from  the  following 
circumstance,  which  "  rests  on  indisputable  authority."  An  angel  was  seen  to  descend  in 
Yorkshire,  and  to  set  a  large  tree  on  fire.  The  strange  appearance  of  the  thing,  or  the 
smell  of  the  emoke,  collected  the  neiglibouring  cattle  around  it,  whether  sound  or  infect- 
ed, and  those  which  were  infected  were  immediately  cured,  and  on  tlie  others  was  be- 
stowed an  immunity  against  the  disease.  The  angel  did  not  communicate  verbally  with 
any  of  the  people  of  the  district,  but  he  left  a  written  direction,  that  they  should  catch 
this  supernatural  fire,  and  communicate  it  from  one  to  another  with  all  possible  speed ; 
and  that  in  case,  by  any  unhappy  means,  it  should  be  extinguished,  a  new  fire  of  equal 
virtue  might  be  obtained,  by  rubbing  two  pieces  of  wood  together  until  they  caught  fire. 

For  some  weeks  the  whole  country  was  in  an  uproar,  and  the  sacred  fire  was  com- 
municated from  one  farmer  to  another  over  a  very  great  extent  of  country. 


THE  MALIGNANT  EPIDEMIC— MURRAIN.  393 

established,  it  ran  its  course  in  spite  of  all  medical  treatment;  and  the 
measures  adopted  usually  hastened  the  catastrophe. 

In  1758,  it  had  spread  to  Finland.  There  it  assumed  another  form, 
modified  by  the  climate,  and  many  local  causes.  Some  cattle  were  taken 
all  at  once.  There  was  violent  trembling,  amounting  almost  to  convulsion 
of  every  limb,  and  blood  ran  from  the  nose,  and  bloody  slime  from  the 
mouth,  and  the  animal  died  in  a  few  hours.  In  other  cases  the  attack  was 
not  so  violent;  but  after  the  shivering  fit,  tumours  began  to  form  between 
the  thighs,  or  on  the  front  of  the  breast,  or  beneath  the  jaws;  when  the 
jaws  were  affected,  the  patient  was  supposed  to  be  most  in  danger.  Di- 
arrhoea usually  followed.  If  it  appeared  early,  it  seemed  to  be  an  effort  of 
nature  to  throw  off  the  evil,  and  frequendy  a  successful  one;  if  it  came  on 
after  the  second  or  third  day,  the  beast  had  not  long  to  live.  General 
bleeding  was  supposed  to  be  dangerous,  except  in  the  very  earliest  stage 
of  the  first  species  of  the  disease.  Stimulants  were  thought  to  be  more 
useful,  and  particularly  free  and  deep  scarifications  of  the  tumours,  and 
the  surface  of  the  ulcers. 

From  Finland  the  murrain  passed  into  Russia,  and  was  said  to  be  very- 
fatal  there;  but  we  have  not  any  satisfactory  account  of  its  progress  in  that 
country. 

Half  a  century  had  now  elapsed,  and,  with  occasional  remissions,  and 
often  very  short  ones,  this  malignant  epidemic  had  prevailed,  and  now  it 
had  reached  the  very  extremity  of  FiUrope.  The  attention  of  every  go- 
vernment had  been  anxiously  directed  to  it.  Prompted  by  benevolence, 
or  urged  by  the  hope  of  honour  or  reward,  the  most  eminent  physicians  of 
the  day  had  devoted  their  time  and  medical  skill  to  the  elucidation  of  its 
nature,  cause,  and  mode  of  treatment;  and  all,  not  only  without  success, 
but,  it  would  almost  seem,  with  an  unfortunate  result;  for  the  malady, 
continued  to  spread,  although  it  was  not  so  untractable  or  murderous. 

At  length  it  became  evident  to  the  medical  men  who  had  fruitlessly  la- 
boured to  remedy  the  evil,  and  to  the  agriculturist  who  had  suffered  so 
severely  by  it,  that  they  were  contending  with  the  foe  at  much  disadvan- 
tage; for  they  knew  not  his  mode  of  warfare,  nor  the  source  whence  he 
derived  his  power. 

They  had  not  studied — no  person  had  then  studied — the  anatomy  of 
domesticated  animals,  or  the  influence  of  the  conformation  of  the  parts  on 
the  discharge  of  the  various  functions,  or  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  dis- 
eases of  domesticated  animals,  and  the  effects  of  medicines  on  catde  in 
health  or  disease.  At  length  common  sense  suggested  the  propriety  of 
the  establishment  of  veterinary  schools;  and  in  1761  the  first  European 
veterinary  school  was  established  at  Lyons,  under  the  superintendence  of 
the  justly  celebrated  Boargelat. 

Partly,  perhaps,  from  natural  causes,  the  disease  beginning,  as  we  have 
hinted,  to  wear  itgelf  out  in  France,  but,  to  a  considerable  degree,  from  the 
diligence  and  skill  of  the  professors,  the  ravages  of  the  epidemic  were 
evidently  and  quickly  restrained;  and,  although  it  could  never  be  said  to 
have  quite  disappeared,  either  in  France,  or  elsewhere,  and  is  yet  occa- 
sionally far  too  fatal,  yet  its  victims  are,  comparatively  speaking,  few,  and 
it  is  deprived  of  most  of  its  terrors.  This  altered  character  and  decreased 
devastation  of  every  subsequent  epidemic  must  be  traced  mainly  to  one 
cause — the  preventive  or  curative  measures  suggested  by  veterinarians, 
and  the  former,  perhaps,  much  more  than  the  latter. 

The  beneficial  consequences  of  this  new  study  and  profession  were  so 
manifest,  that  young  men  flocked  to  the  school  at  Lyons,  not  only  from 


394  CATTLE. 

every  province  in  France,  but  from  Switzerland,  Sardinia,  Austria,  Prussia, 
and  even  Denmark  and  Sweden.  A  second  school  was  established  four 
years  afterwards  at  Alfort,  and  in  process  of  time  a  third  at  Toulouse,  and 
the  last  was  appropriated  exclusively  to  the  study  of  the  diseases  of  cattle 
and  sheep. 

Other  governments  followed  the  laudable  example  of  that  of  France; 
and  with  the  establishment  of  these  schools  was  not  only  connected  a 
mitigation  of  these  fatal  maladies,  but  of  every  disease  to  which  cattle  and 
horses  were  subject.  Last  of  all  (strange  that  it  should  have  been  so,) 
awakened  to  a  sense  of  her  interest,  England  established  her  veterinary 
school,  and  devoted  it  to  the  same  object  as  the  continental  ones — the 
study  of  the  art  of  preserving  the  health  of  all  domesticated  animals,  and 
cattle  principally.  Unfortunately,  the  English  Veterinary  College  was 
established  at  St.  Pancras,  too  near  to  the  metropolis;  and,  like  the  one  at 
Alfort,  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Paris,  the  influence  of  situa- 
tion prevailed  over  the  most  excellent  regulations  that  could  be  adopted, 
and  the  patients  became  principally,  or  almost  exclusively,  horses.  In  the 
French  school,  indeed,  the  instruction  continued  to  extend  to  the  treat- 
ment of  all  domesticated  animals,  although  the  value  and  effect  of  that  in- 
struction were  much  diminished  by  the  want  of  cases  illustrative  of  it,  but 
in  the  English  school;  not  only  were  there  no  horned  patients,  but  not  a 
lecture  was  given  on  the  anatomy  or  diseases  of  cattle;  and  the  pupils 
were  sent  where  they  would  of  necessity  have  the  ox  and  the  sheep  as 
their  patients,  without  the  slightest  knowledge  of  the  maladies  of  either. 

A  veterinary  school  has  lately,  however,  been  established  in  Edinburgh, 
under  the  patronage  of  the  Highland  Society  of  Scotland,  where  every 
thing  that  it  behoves  the  practitioner  to  know  is  taught  to  the  pupil;  and, 
more  recently,  that  excellent  and  truly  liberal  institution,  the  University  of 
London,  has  admitted  a  veterinary  school  under  its  roof,  and,  on  the  same 
extended  plan,  embracing  every  object  of  the  veterinarian's  care.  The 
necessary  and  the  beneficial  result  of  this  will  be,  that  the  diseases  of  cat- 
tle and  sheep,  hitherto  so  disgracefully  neglected  among  us,  will  be  better 
understood,  and  at  no  distant  period  the  dreadful  annual  loss  which  the 
country  sustains  in  the  death  of  cattle  and  sheep,  and  which  has  been  un- 
derrated rather  than  exaggerated  at  the  commencement  of  this  treatise,  will 
be  materially  diminished.  Why  has  the  Board  of  Agriculture  in  England, 
and  the  Agricultural  Societies  of  England,  so  long  neglected  their  duty, 
while  in  every  continental  state  the  improvement  of  veterinary  science  has 
been  an  object  undeviatingly  and  successfully  pursued?  The  Highland 
Society  of  Scotland  is  reaping  the  benefit  of  its  judicious  patronage  of 
veterinary  science  in  the  increased  value  of  Scottish  cattle;  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  agriculturists  of  England  will  not  be  much  longer  inattentive 
to  the  dictates  of  interest,  reason,  and  common  sense. 

Inflammation  of  the  respiratory  passages  is  often  confined  to  particular 
and  to  very  small  portions  of  them.  The  posterior  part  of  the  mouth,  the 
pharynx,  through  the  funnel-shaped  cavity  of  which  the  food  passes  in 
order  to  arrive  at  the  gullet,  is  peculiarly  subject  to  inflammation:  it  is  re- 
cognised under  the  term  sore  throat,  and  is  usually  accompanied  with 
cough,  and  other  symptoms  of  catarrh. 

PHARYNGITES SORE  THROAT. 

The  characteristic  symptoms  are  disinclination  to  food,  suspension  of 
rumination,  and  difficulty  in  swallowing.  Solid  food  is  either  dropped 
from  the  mouth  when  partly  masticated,  or  it  is  forced  down  by  an  evidently 


SORE  THROAT  &c.  395 

painful  effort;  liquids  are  generally  obstinately  refused,  or  are  swalloAved  by 
a  convulsive  kind  of  gulp.  There  is  tenderness  extending  from  ear  to  ear, 
and  usually  some  degree  of  enlargement  in  proportion  to  the  inflammation 
of  the  neighbouring  parts,  and  especially  the  parotid  glands  are  involved. 
Occasionally  the  irritation  of  the  pharynx  produces  constriction  of  its  mus- 
cles, and  a  portion  of  the  food,  both  solid  and  fluid,  is  returned  through  the 
nostrils.  The  cough  of  sore  throat  is  a  painful  one,  and  is  evidently  con- 
fined to  the  throat.  It  is  seldom  that  this  disease  is  a  simple  aflTection  in 
the  horse;  it  is  usually  combined  with  catarrh  or  influenza:  it  speedily  ter- 
minates in  them;  or  it  is  the  sympathy  of  the  pharynx  with  other  inflamed 
parts,  and  its  treatment  merges  in  the  treatment  of  them;  except  that  re- 
course should  be  had  to  local  warmth  and  the  application  of  local  stimuli. 
In  cattle  it  is  often  a  decidedly  local  affection;  there  is  not  the  same  ten- 
dency to  take  on  inflammation  in  the  neighbouring  parts  produced  by  ill- 
usage  or  mismanagement;  the  treatment,  however,  will  be  the  same,  viz., 
bleeding  and  physic,  to  abate  the  general  fever,  and  stimulating  embroca- 
tions, or  even  blisters,  to  subdue  the  local  inflammation. 

The  great,  development  of  the  ethmoid  and  turbinated  bones  in  the  nose 
of  the  ox,  in  order  to  increase  the  acuteness  of  smell  in  that  animal,  has 
already  been  described  (vide  p.  310:)  the  consequence  of  this  is,  that  there 
is  but  a  small  passage  left  for  the  air,  and  when  the  membrane  of  the  nose 
occasionally  sympathises  with  that  of  the  pharynx,  and  becomes  inflamed 
and  thickened,  there  ensues  a  difficulty  of  breathing  from  sore  throat  which 
is  rarely  seen  in  the  horse.  It  is  true  that  the  ox  breathes  partly  through 
the  mouth,  but  the  pharynx  itself  is  constricted  and  thickened,  and  the 
breathing  becomes  laborious  almost  to  suffocation:  therefore  sore  throat 
should  be  considered  in  a  rather  more  serious  light  in  the  ox  than  in  the 
horse,  and  be  treated  with  corresponding  promptitude. 

LARYNGITES INFLAMMATION  OF  THE  LARYNX. 

This  is  a  dreadful  disease,  and,  fortunately,  one  of  rare  occurrence.  It 
is  inflammation  of  the  lining  membrane  of  the  larynx,  and  is  attended  by 
a  quickened  and  loud  and  laborious  breathing  that  would  scarcely  be 
thought  credible.  In  some  few  exceedingly  acute  cases  the  number  of 
respirations  equals,  or  even  exceeds,  that  of  the  pulse.  The  least  pressure 
on  the  neck  over  the  larynx  seems  to  give  intense  pain.  The  treatment  is 
here  plainly  indicated — bleeding,  physic,  blisters,  and,  when  suffocation 
actually  threatens,  trachaeotomy. 

EPIDEMIC    AFFECTION    OF    THE    UPPER   AIR   PASSAGES. 

In  low  and  marshy  districts,  and  a  wet,  cold,  ungenial  spring  or  autumn, 
there  is  occasionally  an  epidemic  inflammation  of  the  pharynx,  larynx,  and 
windpipe,  which  differs  in  some  respects  from  any  of  the  diseases  that  have 
yet  been  described,  and  is  very  fatal.  The  malady  commences  like  most 
febrile  ones,  with  loss  of  appetite  and  suspension  of  rumination;  to 
these  speedily  succeed  dulness,  some  prostration  of  strength,  and  a  slight 
difficulty  of  breathing.  On  the  following  day,  or  in  the  course  of  a  few 
hours,  the  throat  becomes  tender,  and  it  is  evidently  a  little  gorged  between 
the  channel,  and  extending  some  way  down  the  neck.  The  animal  finds 
diflSculty  and  pain  in  moving  his  head  or  his  neck,  and  also  in  swallowing 
the  medicines  or  drinks  which  are  given  to  him.  The  engorgement  slowly 
proceeds,  or  seems  to  be  stationary  for  a  while;  the  fever  acquires  no  high 
degree  of  intensity,  but  the  languor  and  prostration  of  strength  increase; 
sometimes  there  is  discharge  from  the  mouth  or  nose  of  a  purulent  cha- 


396  CATTLE. 

racter,  yellowish-white  in  colour,  foetid,  tinged  with  blood,  and  seeming  to 
contain  particles  of  some  mucous  membrane  which  has  been  corroded,  and 
is  coming  away  piecemeal.  The  disease  frequently  terminates  in  suffoca- 
tion about  the  fourth  or  fifth  d^y. 

On  examination  after  death,  the  pharynx  is  generally  filled  with  this 
purulent  matter,  and  the  membrane  beneath  is  in  a  state  of  ulceration,  or 
gangrene.  The  inflammatory  appearance,  and  the  gangrenous  one  too, 
extend  to  a  greater  or  less  distance  down  the  gullet;  they  usually  occupy 
the  whole  of  the  larynx,  and  often  a  considerable  portion  of  the  windpipe, 
and  occasionally  may  be  traced  into  the  bronchial  tubes.  It  is  evidently 
a  local  affection;  it  is  acute  inflammation  of  the  pharynx  or  the  larynx; 
oftenest  of  the  former,  and  sometimes  of  both.  The  contents  of  the  thorax 
and  the  abdomen  have  usually  been  free  from  disease. 

Bleeding  has  been  found  of  little  service  in  this  complaint;  the  manifest 
object  of  the  practitioner  is,  either  to  hasten  the  suppuration  while  the 
surrounding  membrane  and  other  parts  retain  some  vital  power,  or  to 
evacuate  the  fluid  as  quickly  as  possible.  For  the  first  purpose  blisters  of 
various  kinds,  and  even  the  heated  iron,  have  been  applied  to  the  throat; 
for  the  second,  the  tumour  has  been  lanced,  however  deeply  it  may  be 
seated.  It  requires,  however,  an  experienced  veterinary  surgeon  to  con- 
duct any  operation  here,  for  the  part  is  crowded  with  important  blood- 
vessels, the  wounding  of  one  of  which  may  be  fatal. 

When  there  is  no  great  external  enlargement,  and  yet  much  diflUculty  of 
breathing  exists,  and  suffocation  is  threatened,  there  is  reason  to  apprehend 
that  the  pharynx,  or  some  factitious  pouch  which  nature  has  suddenly 
formed  for  the  fluid,  or  (yet  very  rarely,  for  they  are  small  in  the  ox)  the 
guttural  pouches,  or  the  commencement  of  the  communication  between  the 
mouth  and  the  ear,  are  filled  with  pus.  None  but  a  veterinary  surgeon, 
and  a  skilful  one  too,  should  attempt  an  opening  in  such  a  case.  The  fol- 
lowing hints  may  be  some  guide  to  the  young  veterinarian. 

PUNCTURING    THE    PHARYNX. 

The  beast  must  be  cast,  and  properly  secured.  This  must  be  effected 
with  as  little  violence  as  possible,  for  in  the  struggles  of  the  animal,  and 
the  sudden  quickening  of  the  breathing,  suffocation  may  ensue  in  a  mo- 
ment. If  there  is  a  little  greater  enlargement  on  one  side  than  on  the 
other,  the  animal  should  be  cast  with  that  side  upwards.  The  operator 
should  now  have  the  head  of  the  patient  moderately  extended,  and  then  he 
will  ascertain  the  situation  of  the  middle  of  the  anterior  edge  of  the  atlas, 
or  first  bone  of  the  neck  (vide  ??.,  p.  272.)  Close  upon  this,  or  connected 
with  it,  he  will  find  the  posterior  edge  of  the  parotid  gland.  He  should 
elevate  the  skin,  and,  taking  the  edge  of  the  atlas  as  a  guide,  and  following 
its  direction,  he  should  make  his  incision  about  two,  or  not  exceeding 
three  inches  in  length,  but  no  deeper  than  the  skin  and  the  cellular  sub- 
stance, and  the  centre  of  his  incision  should  answer  to  the  centre  of  the 
rounded  edge  of  the  atlas.  A  thin  layer,  partly  muscular  and  partly  fibrous, 
will  now  present  itself.  It  belongs  to  the  subcutaneous  muscle  of  the 
neck,  and  it  lies  upon  the  parotid  gland.  He  should  dissect  through  it 
carefully,  and  if  his  first  incision  has  been  a  correct  one,  he  will  come  upon 
the  posterior  edge  of  the  parotid  gland.  This  he  must  separate  cautiously 
from  the  atlas,  and  from  the  cellular  tissue  by  which  it  is  tied  down,  and 
elevate,  or  turn  it  aside,  as  far  as  the  middle  of  the  space  which  separates 
the  adas  from  the  mastoid  process. 

The  forefinger  must  now  be  introduced  into  the  opening.  There  is  first 
felt  a  layer  of  soft  parts,  and  then  the  superior  lateral  branch  of  the  hyoid 


BRONCHITIS.  397 

bone,  from  the  extremity  of  which  a  flat  muscle — the  stylo-hyoideus  (fig. 
13,  p.  332) — goes  to  the  styloid  process  of  the  occipital  bone.  Immediately 
under  this  muscle  lies  that  portion  of  the  pharynx  which  is  connected  with 
the  Eustachian  tube ;  and  now,  the  bacli.  of  the  instrument  being  turned 
towards,  or  touching  the  parotid  gland,  and  the  edge  of  it  towards  the 
ear,  and  the  head  being  somewhat  more  extended  in  order  to  change  a  little 
the  situation  of  the  carotids  and  nerves,  the  bistoury  is  plunged  through 
the  muscle  into  the  pharynx  beneath. 

Sometimes  the  whole  of  the  fluid  cannot  be  evacuated  through  this  first 
incision,  and  a  new  one  must  be  sought  in  a  more  dependent  direction.  A 
curved  sound  must  be  introduced  into  the  first  orifice,  and  the  end  of  it 
made  to  press  against  different  parts  of  the  cavity,  until  it  can  be  plainly 
felt  externally  between  the  bifurcation  of  the  jugular :  every  important 
vessel  and  nerve  will  be  in  this  way  pushed  aside,  and  the  point  of  the 
sound  may  be  cut  down  upon  without  danger. 

BRONCHITIS. 

When  catarrh  begins  to  spread,  and  to  involve  the  lower  and  more 
important  air-passages,  it  attacks  the  bronchial  tubes  oftener  than  any 
other  portion  of  the  respiratory  apparatus.  That  which  would  become 
inflammation  of  the  substance  of  the  lungs  in  the  horse,  is  a  similar  aflec- 
tion  of  the  lower  and  minuter  air-passages  in  cattle.  We  are  unable  to 
assign  any  satisfactory  reason  for  this,  but  it  is  an  important  pathological 
fact.  It  used  to  be  called,  inflammation  of  the  lungs  in  cattle,  and  is  so 
considered  by  the  majority  of  farmers  and  cowleeches ;  but  since  the  im- 
provement of  veterinary  science,  this  distinction,  and  one  of  some  moment, 
has  been  established.  Bronchitis,  however,  is  seldom  pure,  it  is  the  pre- 
vailing disease,  but  it  i-s  complicated  with  sUghter  inflammation  of  the 
neighbouring  substance  of  the  lungs.  Bronchitis  is  rarely  sudden  in  its 
attack.  It  is  preceded,  and  generally  for  a  long  time,  by  cough — cough 
becoming  more  and  more  frequent  and  painful,  and  husky  and  wlieezing. 

Here,  then,  is  another  motive  for  attention  to  the  hoose  of  cattle.  Catarrh, 
simply  as  catarrh,  may  do  little  harm ;  but  the  inflammatory  affection 
will  gradually  involve  other  and  more  important  membranes,  inflammation 
of  which  is  generally  fatal.  Bronchitis  is  the  intermediate  step  between 
catarrh  and  consumption,  and  it  unfortunately  is  that  step  which,  if  once 
taken,  the  other  must  follow.  We  may,  therefore,  except  when  the 
disease  assumes  an  epidemic  character,  (which  it  not  unfrequendy  does, 
and  particularly  in  young  catde,)  attribute  it  to  the  neglect  or  mismanage- 
ment of  the  herdsman  or  the  owner. 

The  existence  of  bronchitis  may  usually  be  detected  by  a  gradual  change 
of  the  countenance  ;  a  sunken,  anxious,  haggard  look ;  a  rapid  and  labori- 
ous breathing,  attributable,  at  first  glance,  to  something  more  than  mere 
catarrh,  however  severe  that  may  occasionally  be ;  a  cough,  painful  to  a 
very  great  degree,  and  against  the  full  action  of  which  the  animal  strives 
as  much  as  he  is  able,  so  that  it  is  not  full  and  perfect,  but  husky  and 
wheezing.  There  is  a  very  considerable  disinclination  to  move,  which 
is  easily  accounted  for ;  for  inflammation  of  the  bronchial  membrane  is 
accompanied  by  thickening  of  it,  and  by  the  secretion  of  a  quantity  of 
viscid  mucus,  so  that  the  passages  are,  to  a  considerable  degree,  obstructed. 
This  gives  a  consciousness  of  the  danger  of  suflfocation,  and  occasionally 
the  disease  terminates  in  suflbcation.  The  slightest  motion  aggravates  the 
cough ;  and  motion  of  a  sudden  kind  sadly  oppresses  and  terrifies  the 
animal.  The  breath,  passing  over  so  great  an  extent  of  inflamed  surface, 
is  evidently  hot.  The  seat  of  inflammation  being  deep,  no  pain  is  indi- 
35 


398  CATTLE. 

cated  when  the  side  of  the  animal  is  pressed  upon,  or  lightly  struck ;  and  for 
the  same  reason  the  animal  does  not  gaze  anxiously  at  its  sides.  In  addition 
to  this,  and  most  important  of  all,  and  marking  the  fatal  progress  of  the 
disease,  the  animal  loses  flesh  rapidly,  and  to  a  very  great  extent ;  the 
patient  becomes  a  mere  skeleton,  and  has  not  been  unaptly  described  as 
crawling  about  with  merely  a  dry  skin  covering  a  set  of  creaking  bones. 

To  young  cattle  bronchitis  is  particularly  destructive,  and  the  symptoms 
and  accompanying  circumstances  are  very  singular.  A  yearling  is  often 
observed  to  have  a  cough  peculiarly  distressing.  If  he  is  bled,  and  setoned, 
and  physicked,  the  symptoms  will  sometimes  rapidly  abate,  particularly, 
some  think,  if  the  worm-drink  of  the  village  doctress  is  administered ;  but 
in  most  cases  remedial  measures  are  applied  in  vain.  The  cough  continues 
as  distressing  as  ever.  The  intermissions  are  short,  and  the  paroxysms 
exceedingly  violent.  The  beast  is  off  his  feed,  hidebound,  his  belly  tucked 
up,  his  coat  staring,  his  flank  heaving,  and  it  is  painful  to  hear  him  cough. 
This  occurs  principally  on  low,  marshy  woody  lands. 

The  animal  at  length  dies,  and  the  whole  of  tlie  bronchial  passages  are 
found  to  be  completely  choked  up  with  worms.  They  are  of  the  strongylus 
species,  and  mostly  the  Jilaria.  Many  of  them  are  also  found  in  the 
Avindpipe  ;  and  the  mucous  membrane  both  of  the  windpipe  and  the  bron- 
chial passage  presents  an  appearance  of  the  inlensest  inflammation. 

The  generation  of  these  parasitical  insects  will  be  best  discussed  when 
the  worms  that  infest  other  passages  are  described :  it  will  be  suflUcient 
to  observe,  at  present,  that  worms  are  oftenest  found  in  an  injurious 
quantity  in  a  moist  state  of  the  atmosphere,  or  in  moist  situations,  and 
especially  in  those  which  abundantly  produce  the  vegetables  and  grasses 
peculiar  to  such  a  locality  ;  and  also  in  young  subjects,  and  in  those  whose 
constitution  is  somewhat  enfeebled.  All  these  predisposing  causes  are 
present  here  ;  but  the  origin  of  the  worm — whether  the  eggs  possibly  float- 
ing in  the  atmosphere,  or  contained  in  the  food  or  drink  of  the  animal, 
find  their  proper  and  destined  nidus  in  the  vitiated  secretion  of  the  inflamed 
mucous  membrane  of  the  trachea  or  bronchi,  and  are  there  hatched  into 
life ;  or  the  membrane  is  irritated  and  inflamed  by  the  presence  of  these 
parasites,  deposited  ere  the  part  was  diseased; — these  are  questional  which 
will  be  better  solved  by-and-by.* 

*The  ravages  of  bronchitis  in  cattle  are  not  confined  to  our  country.  The  author  has 
lately  been  favoured  with  an  account  of  the  same  disease,  but  with  a  somewhat  different 
character,  as  it  prevails  among  and  destroys  thousands  of  the  cattle  of  Jamaica  every 
year.  It  is  essentially  the  bronchitis  of  great  Britain,  modified  by  difference  of  climate; 
and  miliary  tubercles  also  usurping  the  place  of  the  strongyli.  It  is  most  prevalent  in  low 
marshy  situations,  but  it  is  frequent  and  latul  in  all  the  West  India  islands.  Young  cattle 
are  peculiarly  subject  to  it ;  but  it  attacks  beasts  of  every  age.  It  is  so  fatal  that  no 
means  of  cure  are  attempted  ;  but  as  soon  as  a  beast  begins  to  cough  he  is  slaughtered,  if 
in  tolerable  condition;  or  he  is  got  into  condition  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  destroyed. 
Cattle  so  attacked  are  called  cough  cattle,  and  there  are  droves  of  them  upon  every  plan- 
tation of  considerable  size,  with  negroes,  whose  proper  business  it  is  to  attend  to  them, 
and  who  change  tliem  about  among  the  best  pasturage  that  the  plantation  will  afford. 

Upon  dissection,  the  fine  delicate  membrane  lining  the  windpipe,  especially  about  the 
end  next  the  fauces,  is  studded  and  tliickly  covered  with  a  semi-organized  deposition,  to 
the  eye  like  hydatids,  but  fixed  to  the  membrane  itself,  and  not  hanging  down  like  the 
grape  bunch  ;  these  are  of  various  sizes,  resembling  herring-roe,  or  fish-spawn.  On  being 
cut  into,  a  substance  may  be  turned  out  of  a  gritty  calculous  description,  so  firmly  con- 
nected with  the  cyst  that  contains  it,  as  scarcely  to  be  separated.  This  substance  may 
be  traced  partially  along  the  canal  of  the  whole  tub'j,  ami  extending  to  the  bronchi,  and 
imbedding  itself  eventually  in  the  substance  of  \\\c  lungs,  where  alone  it  appears  to  be 
accompanied  by  purulent  matter,  or  pus  of  a  yellow  thick  consistence.  It  is  found  in 
various  parts  of  the  lungs ;  sometimes  in  their  substance,  and  also  adhering  to  the  pleura 
externally,  and  to  the  pleura  costalis,  where  some  degree  of  vascularity  is  evident.    In 


BRONCHITIS.  399 

Bronchitis,  when  not  attended  with  all  the  violent  symptoms  that  charac- 
terise the  existence  of  worms  in  young  cattle,  should  he  treated  like  other 
inflammatory  complaints.  Bleeding  will,  as  usual,  be  the  first  remedy, 
and  it  should  be  carried  to  the  extent  which  the  pulse  will  allow;  in  gene- 
ral, however,  the  ox  will  not,  in  this  complaint,  bear  the  loss  of  so  much 
blood  as  in  other  chest  affections.  To  this  should  follow  physic,  and  the 
sedative  medicines  already  recommended,  with  mashes,  &c. 

In  some  cases  a  favourable  termination  of  the  case  has  been  produced; 
but  in  the  bronchitis  with  worms  there  are  exceedingly  few  cases  of 
succe.?sful  treatment.  The  farmer  is  so  convinced  of  the  almost  uniform 
fatality  of  the  malady,  that  he  either  slaughters  the  animal  at  once  or 
suffers  him  to  take  his  chance.  He  may,  perhaps,  apply  to  some  old 
woman  in  his  own  or  the  neighbouring  parish,  who  has  an  infallible  drink 
for  all  the  diseases  of  cattle,  but  he  rarely  has  recourse  to  the  veterinary 
surgeon. 

Can  nothing  then  be  done?  Is  there  no  drug  that  can  be  brought  to 
bear  upon  these  worms?  None  directly;  for  not  only  no  fluid  destructive 
to  the  worms,  no  fluid  of  a  poisonous  nature,  can  be  introduced  into  the 
trachea  and  bronchi,  but  no  fluid  at  all  can  pass  into  these  tubes.  Can  any 
gas,  then,  of  a  deleterious  character  be  breathed,  not  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  injure  the  beast,  and  yet  with  a  chance  of  destroying  the  vermin?  Di- 
luted chlorine  gas  might  be  inhaled.  It  might  be  breathed  more  readily, 
and  would  not  be  arrested  by  the  watchful  sentinels  in  the  nasal  cavities 
and  the  larynx,  if  an  artificial  opening  were  made  into  the  larynx.  Other 
symptoms  of  bronchitis,  and  particularly  the  feeling  of  suffocation,  might 
also  be  relieved  or  removed  by  this. 

The  animal  would,  probably,  be  much  annoyed  by  such  inhalation;  he 
might  cough  for  a  while  with  even  greater  violence;  but  the  worms  dying, 
or  their  hold  being  loosened,  they  might  be  expelled  through  the  natural 
or  artificial  opening  by  the  very  urgency  of  the  cough.  That  veterinary 
surgeon  or  agriculturist  would  deserve  well  of  his  country  who  puts  this 
fairly  to  the  test. 

There  is  another  mode  of  going  to  work,  and  one  that  promises  occa- 
sional success.  There  are  certain  drugs  that  are  taken  up  by  the  lacteals, 
or  by  some  of  the  absorbent  vessels,  and  carried  into  the  circulation  and 
produce  their  effect  by  immediate  contact  with  the  part  on  which  they 
operate.  Thus  mercury  acts  in  various  local  diseases;  iodine  lessens  the 
growth  of  many  tumours;  and  turpentine  is  a  diuretic.  Turpentine  is 
peculiarly  destructive  to  worms.  It  most  effectually  expels  the  tape-worm 
from  tlie  human  being;  and  it  often  produces  the  expulsion  of  vast  quanti- 
ties of  the  round  worm  from  the  horse.  It  also  enters  into  every  part  of 
the  circulation:  it  is  recognisable  in  the  urine  and  in  the  breath.  Can  it, 
through  the  medium  of  the  circulation,  be  brought  into  contact  with  these 
worms?     It  is  worth  the  trial. 

Are  there  no  medicines  that  promote  expectoration  in  cattle,  i.  c.  which 
loosen  the  morbidly  viscid  mucus  secreted  in  these  tubes,  and  cause  it  to 
be  more  easily  discharged  in  the   act  of  coughing?     There  is  no  doubt 

traversing  the  windpipe  small  worms  are  frequently  discovered,  like  the  end  of  a  thread, 
and  of  the  sliape  of  ascaridos;  but  whether  they  are  the  eifect  of  accident,  or  connected 
with  the  disease,  does  not  clearly  appear,  for  very  few  are  found,  and  they  are  not  al- 
ways present.  Tubercles  containing  the  same  gritty  substance  are  found  in  various 
parts  of  the  liver. 

In  some  cases  this  morbid  appearance  is  not  found  in  the  upper  part  of  the  windpipe, 
nor  are  there  any  signs  of  its  having  existed  there;  but  about  the  bifurcation  of  that 
tube,  and  the  commencement  of  the  bronchi.  Many  flukes  are  often  found  in  the  liver, 
-—Private  Letter, 


400  CATTLE. 

that  certain  drugs  effect  this  purpose  in  the  human  being;  the  exhalents 
of  the  bronchi,  under  their  influence,  pour  out  an  increased  quantity  of 
mucus,  far  less  adhesive  in  its  nature,  and  expelled  with  little  difficulty. 
Some  practitioners  are  so  much  in  the  habit  of  mingling  numerous  drugs 
in  the  same  ball,  or  drink,  that  they  cannot  be  assured  of  the  precise  effect 
of  each;  and  others,  from  an  equally  erroneous  habit  of  contracting  their 
pharmacopoeia,  and  shunning  almost  every  drug  in  which  the  human  prac- 
titioner places  confidence,  have  made  few  well-conducted  experiments  on 
the  power  of  different  medicines  even  on  the  horse,  and  none  on  those 
which  are  administered  to  cattle.  The  turpentine  should  take  the  pre- 
cedence in  any  trial  that  may  be  made  to  expel  the  strongyli  from  the 
bronchi;  and,  that  failing,  it  might  be  worth  while  to  expermient  on  the 
effect  of  squills,  or  the  gum  benzoin,  or  the  balsams  of  Peru  and  Tolu. 

INFLAMMATION    OF    THE    LUNGS. 

The  beautiful  appearance  of  the  lights  or  lungs,  in  cattle,  compared 
with  those  of  the  horse,  will  sufficiently  prove  that  these  animals  are,  com- 
paratively, seldom  subject  to  pure  inflammation  of  the  lungs.  It  has  been 
acknowledged,  however,  that,  to  a  certain  extent,  it  accompanies  bron- 
chitis; for,  when  the  membrane  of  the  air-passages  is  inflamed,  it  is  to  be 
expected  that  the  air-cells  in  which  these  passages  terminate  will  not 
quite  escape. 

The  substance  of  the  lungs  is  made  up  of  thousands  of  these  little  cells 
or  pouches,  into  which,  as  has  been  already  stated,  the  air  is  at  length 
conducted;  and  over  the  delicate  membranes  constituting  the  divisions  of 
which,  myriads  of  minute  vessels  are  ramifying,  and  where  the  blood 
undergoes  its  important  change.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  that  this  membrane, 
so  delicate,  and  so  loaded  with  blood-vessels,  must  be  subject  to  inflamma- 
tion, and  that  of  an  exceedingly  dangerous  character. 

Still,  however,  these  air-cells  are  not  so  often  the  seat  of  inflammation 
in  cattle  as  might  on  first  consideration  be  imagined.  There  are  exciting 
causes  enough  of  inflammation  in  the  air-passages  from  exposure  to  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather,  and  from  the  general  bad  management  to  which 
cattle  are  subject;  and  this  may  run  on  to  the  formation  of  tubercles  and 
ulcers,  and  death;  but  there  is  not  the  irregularity  of  exercise — the  sud- 
den and  exorbitant  demand  for  arterialized  blood — the  rushing  of  the 
blood  through  these  minute  vessels — the  distension,  the  labour,  the  rupture 
of  them,  and  their  consequent  disposition  to  inflammation.  They  are 
different  parts  of  the  lungs  which  are  exposed  to  danger  in  the  two  species 
of  animals;  and  this  sufficiently  accounts  for  the  different  character  of 
disease. 

Until  lately  all  chest  affections  were  confounded  under  the  term  pneu- 
monia, or  inflammation  of  the  lungs;  and  there  is  no  reason  for  pushing 
our  distinctions  too  far,  except  that  it  is  satisfactory  to  know  the  precise 
nature  of  the  disease  which  destroys  our  catfle,  for  that  will  probably  lead 
us  to  the  discovery  of  the  actual  cause  of  the  malady,  different  a«  we  see 
here  in  bronchitis  and  pneumonia.  It  may  also  lead  to  minute,  yet  im- 
portant differences  in  the  treatment  of  disease,  as  we  shall  have  to  point 
out  in  the  present  case. 

Pneumonia  occasionally  attacks  all  cattle,  but  more  particularly  working 
beasts,  and  those  that  have  been  driven  a  long  way,  or  that  have  been 
unnecessarily  hurried  on  a  journey  of  a  considerable  length.  The  dis- 
ease usually  appears  at  the  distance  of  some  hours,  or  a  day  or  two,  from 
the  exciting  cause  of  it,  and  can  generally  be  clearly  traced  to  that  cause. 
In  the  catching  weather  of  harvest,  in  the  haste  to  get  the  manure  on  the 


BRONCHITIS.  401 

ground  when  a  sharp  hoar-frost  suddenly  appears  and  that  does  not 
seem  likely  to  last  long,  and  in  the  hurrying  from  fair  to  fair  when  the 
markets  follow  each  other  closely  in  distant  parts  of  the  district — we  trace 
evident  causes  of  pneumonia.  The  beast  is  dull — the  head  is  extended 
or  drooping — grazing  and  rumination  have  ceased.  The  flanks  heave, 
but  not  so  laboriously  as  in  bronchitis.  There  is  cough  frequent — sore, 
but  not  so  frequent,  nor  so  urgent,  nor  so  painful  as  that  of  bronchitis. 
The  mouth  is  hot,  but  the  horns  and  ears  and  feet  are  cold — deathy  cold. 
The  animal  w^ill  not  lie  down — he  will  scarcely  move,  but  more  from 
inability  to  move  because  he  wants  the  use  of  the  muscles  for  other  pur- 
poses, than  from  fear  of  suffocation — and  he  plainly  and  anxiously  points 
out  the  seat  of  disease  by  looking  at  one  or  both  flanks.  Pneumonia, 
then,  would  be  easily  distinguished  from  the  disease  Avhich  has  been  just 
treated  of,  and  from  pleurisy,  which  will  next  come  under  consideration, 
if  the  symptoms  of  the  maladies  of  cattle  were  but  a  little  more  attended 
to  than  they  generally  are. 

The  treatment  will  vary  in  some  minute  particulars.  Bleeding  will 
be  indicated,  and  as  early  as  possible,  and,  pursuing  the  old  rule,  the 
blood  should  flow  until  the  pulse  is  affected.  A  much  greater  quantity  will 
be  abstracted  in  this  disease  than  in  bronchitis,  because  the  animal  will 
bear  up,  or  struggle  with  the  loss  of  blood.  In  a  membrane  so  vascular 
as  that  which  lines  the  air-cells,  the  inflammation  will  often  be  so  intense 
that  it  will  not  yield  to  one  bleeding,  and  the  progress  of  the  disease  must 
therefore  be  watched  with  this  view. 

Physic  will  be  as  plainly  indicated  as  in  bronchitis  ;  and  in  despite  of 
a  very  proper  fear  about  its  being  carried  too  far  in  the  horse,  and  pro- 
ducing a  more  untractable  disease  in  the  abdominal  cavity,  physic  may 
be  given  to  cattle  in  pneumonia,  generally  with  advantage,  and  always 
without  apprehension.  It  should,  however,  be  of  an  unirritating  kind. 
The  purgative  effect  should  be  first  produced  by  the  Epsom  salts,  and 
kept  up  by  sulphur.  In  an  acute  inflamation,  like  that  of  the  lungs,  it 
is  necessary  that  the  physic  should  act  speedily,  and  yet  it  may  amazingly 
accumulate  in  the  rumen.  The  practitioner  hardly  dare  to  unite  with  it 
much  aromatic  or  stimulating  matter  in  order  to  rouse  this  comparatively 
insensible  viscus  to  action,  but  he  must  have  speedy  recourse  to  the  sto- 
mach-pump in  the  way  already  pointed  out. 

Blisters  will  here  be  especially  indicated.  The  inflammation  is  no 
longer  that  of  the  air-passages  deep  in  the  substance  of  the  lungs,  but  of 
their  terminations,  upon  the  surface  of  the  lungs,  as  well  as  every  where 
else.  It  is  difficult  to  cause  a  blister  to  rise  on  the  thick  skin  cf  the  ox ; 
yet  the  common  blister-ointment,  thoroughly  rubbed  in,  will  occasionally 
have  effect.  The  turpentine  tincture  of  cantharides,  repeatedly  applied, 
will  cause  considerable  swelling ;  or,  both  of  these  failing,  there  remain,  in 
bad  cases,  boiling  water  and  the  hot  iron  at  the  command  of  the  surgeon. 
Setons  in  the  dewlaps  should  never  be  omitted. 

The  same  attention  to  diet  is  requisite  as  in  other  acute  inflammations 
of  the  chest. 

ACUTE  AND  EPIDEMIC  PNEUMONIA. 

An  acute  species  of  pneumonia  in  cattle  is  sometimes  met  with,  and  it 
occasionally  appears  as  an  epidemic.  The  beast  hangs  his  head — there 
is  dryness  of  the  muzzle — the  mouth  and  breath  are  hot — the  flanks  more 
or  less  agitated — there  is  a  hard,  dry,  and  frequent  cough — the  appetite  is 
gone,  but  the  thirst  is  excessive — the  excrement  is  solid  and  black,  or 
liquid,  black,  and  fetid — the  coat  rough — the  horns  and  ears  hot,  or  alter- 

35* 


403  CATTLE. 

nately  hot  and  cold — there  is  languor  and  apparent  weakness,  and  some-' 
times  direct  lameness,  and  most  frequently  of  one  of  the  hind  legs. 

To  these  rapidly  succeed  other  symptoms — that  tenderness  along  the 
spine  and  the  whole  of  the  lumbar  region  which  has  been  again  and  again 
described  as  so  characteristic  of  almost  every  inflammatory  disease  of  cattle  ; 
the  head  is  now  stretched  out — the  eyes  are  unnaturally  bright,  yet  weep- 
ing — there  is  grinding  of  the  teeth — the  mouth  and  breath  become  hotter— 
a  mucous,  or  sometimes  purulent  discharge  runs  from  the  mouth  and  nostrils, 
at  first  clear,  but  soon  becoming  brown,  red,  or  bloody — the  flanks  heave 
more  violently — the  cough  is  more  urgent — it  has  become  convulsive — 
the  nostrils  dilate  and  contract  with  spasmodic  violence — the  animal  no 
longer  hes  down,  or  if  he  does,  rises  again  immediately — sweats  break 
out  on  different  parts  of  the  body — the  temperature  of  different  parts 
varies,  and  very  curiously  changes — the  secretion  of  milk  is  suspended, 
but  the  teats  become  hard  and  swelled — tumours  appear  on  various  parts — 
a  shivering,  partial  or  total,  succeeds,  and  the  tumours  disappear,  but  they 
speedily  rise  again  and  are  more  permanent.  Possibly  some  of  the  most 
urgent  of  the  symptoms  remit  when  the  tumours  begin  to  appear,  but 
towards  night  an  exacerbation  succeeds,  which  does  not  subside  until  the 
morning. 

The  prostration  of  strength  increases — the  belly  is  tucked  up  and 
corded — the  flanks  heave  with  greater  violence — the  back  and  loins  be- 
come bowed — the  limbs  are  drawn  together  towards  the  centre  of  gra- 
vity— the  stools  are  liquid  and  fetid,  and  accompanied  by  much  straining 
and  tenesmus — the  sensibility  of  the  loins  is  now  subsided — the  sensibility 
generally  is  almost  gone — the  flies  collect  about  the  beast,  and  he  makes 
no  eflbrt  to  drive  them  away — every  irritant  ceases  to  act  upon  the  skin — 
the  respiration  is  quickened,  and  more  and  more  laborious — it  is  accom- 
panied by  a  gurgling  noise  in  the  chest,  distinctly  heard  even  without  the 
application  of  the  ear  to  the  side — the  nostrils  become  yet  more  dilated, 
and  the  mucus  flowing  from  them  varies  in  colour,  but  exhales  a  cadaverous, 
infectious  odour — the  breath  is  now  become  cold,  and  is  as  offensive  as 
the  discharge — the  pupil  of  the  eye  becomes  dilated — an  offensive  secre- 
tion proceeds  from  the  lids,  and  the  animal  is  evidently  becoming  blind — 
the  prostration  of  strength  still  goes  on — the  beast  falls — he  perhaps  rises 
again  for  a  litte  while — and  then  falls  and  dies. 

The  disease  is  sometimes  rapid  in  its  progress,  and  the  animal  is  de- 
stroyed in  twenty-four  or  eight-and-forty  hours  after  the  first  attack.  This 
is  particularly  the  case  with  young  cattle,  and  those  that  are  in  good  con- 
dition.    At  other  times,  the  beast  lingers  on  six  or  seven  days. 

On  examination  after  death,  the  lungs  are  gorged  and  black  with  blood, 
they  are  softened,  and  easily  torn ;  they,  however,  contain  some  spots  of 
hepatization,  or  condensed  substances,  and  often  abscesses  filled  with  pus. 
In  many  parts  gangrene  has  begun,  and  chiefly  about  the  anterior  portion 
of  the  lung.  The  pleura,  the  pericardium,  and  the  diaphragm  are  black, 
thickened,  and  disposed  to  gangrene.  Traces  of  inflammation  are  found 
in  the  abdomen,  but  not  of  so  intense  a  character.  The  rumen  is  filled 
with  dry  food ;  the  contents  of  the  manyplus  are  so  hardened  that  they 
may  be  broken  and  reduced  to  powder  ;  the  fourth  stomach  is  more  or 
less  inflamed ;  the  liver  is  enlarged,  and  of  a  yellow  colour,  and  the  bile 
is  thickened. 

It  is  evidently  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  associated,  more  or  less,  with 
that  typhoid  form  of  disease  to  which  cattle  are  so  subject.  Solitary  cases 
of  it  are  seen  ;  but  it  often  appears  as  a  kind  of  epidemic.  It  used  to  be 
called  gangrenous  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  from  the  supposed   gan- 


ACUTE  AND  EPIDEMIC  PNEUMONIA.  403 

grenous  state  in  which  the  lungs  were  found;  but  veterinary  surgeons 
are  now  aware  that  these  appearances  are  produced  more  by  congestion, 
and  indicate  the  violence  with  which  the  blood  has  been  driven  through 
the  vessels  of  the  air-cells,  and  by  which  those  vessels  have  been  ruptured, 
and  the  cells  filled  with  blood.  The  blood,  once  effused,  soon  coagulates 
in  the  cells,  and  gives  that  black,  softened,  pulpy  kind  of  appearance 
which  the  cowleech  and  the  herdsman  used  to  think  was  proof  positive  of 
rottenness.  It  is  true  that  this  effused  blood  soon  begins  to  be  decom- 
posed, and  the  foetid  smell  of  corruption  ensues;  but  this  is  very  different 
from  gangrene  of  a  living  part.  These  congested  lungs  show  that  the  in- 
flammation was  of  the  intensest  character,  and  had  not  been  long  in  de- 
stroying the  animal. 

Foreign  writers  give  several  accounts  of  this  disease  raging  as  an 
epizootic,  and  destroying  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  cattle.  The 
history  given  by  the  poet  Silius  Italicus  of  an  epidemic  which  raged  in 
Sicily  two  hundred  and  twelve  years  before  the  Christian  era  paints  the 
disease  of  modern  times  with  almost  perfect  accuracy.  It  followed  a  long 
continued  and  excessive  drought,  which  corrupted  the  water  every  where. 
In  1693  the  principality  of  Hesse  lost  the  greater  part  of  its  cattle  by  a 
malignant  inflammation  of  the  lungs.  Here  the  winter  had  been  wet  and 
cold,  and  the  spring  which  succeeded  was  as  hot  as  summer.  It  was  also 
said  that  an  acrid  and  corrosive  dew  fell  which  tinged  the  linen  with  a  yel- 
low hue. 

These  writers  imagined  that  the  disease  was  not  only  epidemic,  but 
contagious.  They  affirm  that  an  epizootic  pneumonia,  which  ravaged  the 
department  of  lioiret,  was  brought  into  the  environs  of  Montargis  by  some 
cattle  that  had  been  sold  by  the  drovers;  that  it  rapidly  spread  in  all  the 
villages  in  which  the  infected  cattle  had  been  purchased,  and  that  its  com- 
munication from  place  to  place  could  easily  be  traced. 

Professor  Abildgaard,  of  Copenhagen,  speaks  of  a  species  of  pneumonia 
which  he  considers  to  be  contagious,  and  which  spread  through  the  esta- 
blishment of  the  King  of  Denmark.  The  contagious  character  of  the 
disease,  however,  is  far  from  being  established.  No  other  variety  of 
pneumonia  with  which  we  are  acquainted  is  contagious,  at  least  under  or- 
dinary circumstances;  yet  the  accounts  that  have  been  given  of  it  are  so 
contradictory,  and  veterinary  science,  as  it  regards  cattle,  is  so  truly  in  its 
infancy,  that  the  farmer  should  take  the  most  prudent  course,  and  avoid,  as 
much  as  he  can,  the  possibility  of  contagion. 

Few  years  pass  in  which  this  acute  pneumonia  does  not  visit  some  dis- 
tricts of  tlie  United  Kingdom.  The  symptoms  vary,  but  it  is  decidedly 
a  disease  of  the  respiratory  system  primarily,  and  the  danger  depends  on 
the  intensity  of  the  inflammatory  action  in  the  early  stage,  and  the  degree 
in  which  the  vital  power  being  exhausted,  disease  of  a  typhoid  and  malig- 
nant character  succeeds. 

Of  the  nature  of  the  treatment  there  can  be  no  rational  doubt.  Although 
the  state  of  acute  fever  is  quickly  succeeded  by  one  of  a  perfectly  contrary 
character,  it  is  not  until  it  has  committed  the  most  fearful  ravages.  The 
congested  state  of  the  lungs — the  breaking  down  of  the  substance  of  that 
important  part — must  be  sufficient  to  convince  any  rational  person  of 
the  mischief  that  is  going  forward  in  the  early  stage,  and  the  necessity 
of  disarming  the  enemy  before  that  mischief  is  irreparably  inflicted. 
Therefore  this  acute  pneumonia  should  be  attacked  in  time,  and  by  the 
most  energetic  treatment.  Bleeding  is  the  sheet-anchor,  and  should  be 
pushed  to  its  full  extent.  The  important  fact  that  the  pulse,  duly 
attended  to,  will  prevent  the  possibility  of  injurious  consequences  from 


404  CAITLE. 

bleeding  in  every  case  cannot  be  too  often  alluded  to.  While  the  pulse 
keeps  up,  the  power  of  the  constitution,  or  rather  the  power  of  the  disease, 
is  unimpaired;  and  the  faltering  of  pulse  gives  timely  warning  that  one  or 
the  other  is  preparing  to  give  way.  It  is  folly  to  object  that  the  after 
weakness  will  be  increased,  or  that  the  bleeding  will  undermine  the  power 
of  the  constitution;  it  is  the  disease  which  is  doing  this,  and  w  hich  will 
perfectly  and  fatally  accomplish  its  work  if  unchecked.  By  weakening 
the  power  of  the  disease,  and  especially  if  it  could  be  beaten  out  of  the 
field,  the  vigour  of  the  system  Avould  be  preserved,  and  the  animal  would 
be  saved.  In  proportion  to  the  intensity  and  rapid  progress  of  the  inflam- 
mation should  be  the  vigour  of  the  attack. 

The  state  of  the  cough,  and  heat  of  the  breath,  and  heaving  of  the  flanks, 
will  indicate,  in  the  space  of  a  few  hours,  whether  the  fever  is  permanently 
diminished,  or  has  again  rallied  its  forces;  and  by  this  the  practitioner  will 
be  guided  as  to  the  propriety  of  a  second  bleeding,  and  the  quantity  of 
blood  to  be  taken  away. 

Physic  will  of  course  succeed.  Two  scruples  of  the  farina  of  the  croton 
nut  should  first  be  given,  as  most  likely  to  operate  speedily;  and  the 
Epsom  salts  and  the  injection-pump  should  be  in  requisition  until  the 
bowels  are  well  opened. 

This  being  accomplished,  the  nature  of  the  medicines  next  to  be  ad- 
ministered may  well  give  the  practitioner  pause.  If  the  inflammation 
evidently  continues,  the  digitalis,  emetic  tartar,  and  nitre  will  be  given. 
If  the  fever  is,  to  a  very  considerable  degree,  subdued,  but  it  is  far  from 
certain  whether  there  may  not  be  lurking  danger  of  its  return,  the  sedative 
medicines  must  still  be  given,  but  half  an  ounce  of  the  spirit  of  nitrous 
ether  should  be  added.  This  is  an  excellent  medicine  in  such  cases.  It 
is  both  a  sedative  and  a  tonic.  It  allays  irritation,  and  it  stimulates  to 
healthy  action.  Its  good  effect,  however,  is  often  destroyed  by  its  being 
given  in  outrageous  doses.  In  these  doubtful  cases  it  will  rarely  be  pru- 
dent to  give  more  than  half  an  ounce;  and  when  designed  as  a  stimulant, 
the  dose  should  rarely  or  never  exceed  double  that  quantity. 

If  the  stage  of  debility  is  evidently  and  rapidly  approaching,  the  chance 
of  doing  good  is  almost  gone.  What  power  will  restore  the  former 
healthy  state  of  the  lung  ?  Yet  there  is  no  cause  for  absolute  despair.  The 
mouth  and  nostrils  and  any  suppurating  tumours  must  be  washed  with 
the  chloride  of  lime.  A  small  quantity — half  a  drachm  of  the  powder  in 
solution — should  be  given  internally,  morning  and  night.  The  spirit  of 
nitrous  ether  and  laudanum,  in  doses  not  exceeding  an  ounce  of  the 
former  with  half  an  ounce  of  the  latter,  should  be  administered;  and  to 
them  may  be  added  ginger,  gentian,  and  Colombo,  the  whole  being  given 
in  thick  gruel,  with  half  a  pint  of  good  ale. 

Malt  mashes,  vetches,  carrots,  clover,  hay — according  to  the  season — 
may  be  offered  as  food,  and,  should  the  situation  and  time  of  the  year  per- 
mit it,  the  animal  should  be  turned  into  a  salt-marsh  as  soon  as  it  has 
strength  to  travel  there. 

The  epidemic  nature  of  the  malady  not  admitting  of  any  doubt,  and  its 
contagious  character  being  yet  a  question  of  dispute,  while  the  healthy 
beasts  are  separated  from  the  diseased,  the  owner  cannot  too  often  visit,  nor 
too  closely  examine  his  catde,  in  order  to  detect  the  earliest  symptom  of 
the  disease,  and  to  attack  it  while  there  is  fair  hope  of  success. 

The  sound  animals,  every  one  of  them,  should  be  bled  and  physicked. 
This  inflammation  is  most  intense  in  its  character,  and  strong  and  healthy 
beasts  in  good  condition  fare  the  worst;  then  care  should  be  taken  to 
remove  a  plethoric  state  of  the  system,  and  thus  to  remove  the  predis- 


PLEURISY.  405 

position  to  disease.  They  should  likewise  be  turned,  if  possible,  into  a 
pasture  good  and  containing  sufficient  nourishment,  but  not  quite  so  luxu- 
riant as  that  on  which  they  had  probably  been  placed. 


While  disease  of  the  substance  of  the  lungs  usually  takes  on  the  form 
of  bronchitis  in  cattle,  these  animals  are  nevertheless,  and  much  oflener 
than  the  horse,  subject  to  inflammation  of  the  pleurae,  or  covering  mem- 
brane of  the  lung,  and  the  lining  one  of  the  chest.  Some — although  per- 
haps, not  quite  satisfactory — reason  may  be  assigned  for  this.  The  ex- 
emption of  the  ox  from  many  of  the  exciting  causes  of  pneumonia  in  the 
horse  has  already  been  hinted  at,  and  to  this  may  be  added  many  of  the 
exciting  causes  of  pleurisy  also.  Among  these,  and  the  most  frequent  and 
active  of  them,  is  the  exposure  to  partial  cold.  A  horse  may  be  hardly 
worked  and  ill  used,  but  he  generally  has  something  which  bears  the  sem- 
blance of  a  stable  or  a  hovel  to  shelter  him  at  night;  but  the  ox,  after  hard 
Avork,  and  the  cow,  too  soon  after  parturition,  have  nothing  but  the  cold 
damp  ground  to  lie  upon.  If  the  horse  is  thoughtlessly  and  cruelly  aban- 
doned in  the  same  manner,  yet  the  food  passes  out  of  his  little  stomach 
almost  as  fast  as  he  gathers  it,  and  he  wanders  about  grazing  during  the 
greater  part  or  the  whole  of  the  night;  but  the  paunch  of  the  ox  is  filled 
before  a  third  part  of  the  night  has  passed,  and  then  comes  the  slower 
process  of  rumination,  during  which  he  usually  lays  himself  down.  What 
can  afford  so  prolific  a  cause  of  pleurisy?  If  the  horse  can  scarcely  be 
ridden  against  a  keen  wind,  or  immersed,  although  but  for  a  little  while, 
as  high  as  his  chest  in  cold  water,  without  exhibiting  symptoms,  more  or 
less  intense,  of  pleurisy,  what  will  become  of  the  ox,  whose  side,  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  night,  is  in  contact  with  the  frozen  ground? 

Even  in  his  stable  the  ox  is  too  much  neglected.  In  m.any  ill-managed 
farms  his  shed  is  little  more  than  a  repository  for  dung,  which  there  un- 
dergoes its  first  fermentation.  A  little  fresh  litter  is  occasionally  strewed 
over  it;  but  underneath  is  a  damp  and  poisonous  mass,  where  the  process 
of  evaporation  and  the  diffusion  of  pestilential  gas  are  in  great  and  almost 
equal  activity.  Supposing  a  beast  to  be  couching  on  this  fomes  of  disease 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  night — what  can  be  more  likely  to  cause  in- 
flammation of  the  lining  membrane  of  the  chest,  separated  from  the  muck- 
heap  by  so  small  a  distance? 

Pleurisy  may  be  produced  by  contusions  on  the  side,  and  by  v/ounds 
penetrating  the  thoracic  cavity:  to  these  evils  the  ox,  among  his  horned 
brethren,  is  far  more  exposed  than  the  horse. 

Whatever  be  the  cause,  post-mortem  examination  proves  that,  next  to 
bronchitis,  the  most  frequent  disease  of  the  chest  is  pleurisy. 

Among  the  symptoms  by  which  we  may  distinguish  pleurisy  from  every 
other  inflammatory  affection  of  the  chest,  is  the  greater  frequency  of  uni- 
versal shivering,  and  parti-cularly  of  shivering  or  trembling  of  the  shoul- 
ders. This  is  a  very  peculiar  symptom,  and  should  be  carefully  studied. 
Even  while  the  animal  is  otherwise  quiet,  the  shoulders  and  upper  part  of 
the  chest  are  trembling  violently. 

The  cough  of  pleurisy  is  lower,  shorter,  and  more  painful  than  that  of 
most  other  chest  affections.  The  breathing,  seldom  so  laborious  as  in 
some  other  cases,  is  shorter  and  broken  off  in  the  act  of  inspiration,  and 
lengthened  in  that  of  expiration.  The  sides  are  tender;  the  animal  shrinks 
if  they  are  but  lightly  touched;  and  there  are  twitchings  of  the  skin,  and 


406  CATTLE. 

a  very  curious  succession  of  wavy  lines  running  over  the  affected  side  or 
sides. 

The  author  recollects  one  case  in  which  these  symptoms  of  pleurisy 
were  said  to  be  absent — they  certainly  were  absent  when  he  saw  the  pa- 
tient. It  was  a  cow  that,  during  nearly  two  months,  had  been  wasting. 
The  emaciation  had  proceeded  to  a  most  unusual  degree;  the  skin  clung 
to  the  very  bones,  the  flanks  were  tucked  up,  and  the  hair  was  coming  off. 
She  ate  and  ruminated  as  usual,  and  the  only  disease  that  could  be  con- 
nected with  this  loss  of  flesh  was  obstinate  constipation. 

Plenty  of  purgative  medicine  was  given,  but  she  continued  to  waste 
away,  and  died.  There  was  no  disease  of  any  of  the  viscera  of  the  ab- 
domen, and  the  only  unusual  appearance  was  the  almost  total  absence  of 
internal  fat,  the  diminution,  or  almost  disappearance,  of  the  mesenteric 
glands,  and  a  constricted  state  of  the  small  intestines;  but  the  chest  was 
full  of  stinking  puriform  fluid,  and  there  were  adhesions  in  various  direc- 
tions. The  real  disease  was  pleurisy.  The  proprietor  and  the  herdsman 
were  very  closely  questioned  with  regard  to  previous  cough  and  other 
symptoms  of  this  disease;  but  they  had  not  heard  her  hoose  at  all — they 
were  sure  that  she  had  not. 

She  must  have  had  cough  and  other  characteristic  symptoms  of  pleurisy, 
but  to  so  slight  a  degree  as  not  to  attract  the  attention  of  those  who  look 
over  their  cattle  so  carelessly  as  both  farmers  and  their  servants  generally 
do.  It  is,  however,  an  instructive  case,  showing  how  much  mischief  may 
be  going  forward  when  it  is  least  suspected,  and  of  what  imperative  ne- 
cessity an  attention  to  the  hoose  of  catUe  is. 

In  bronchitis  the  animal  dies  of  suffocation,  or  he  is  worn  out  by  a  con- 
tinuance of  inflammation  on  so  extensive  a  membrane: — in  pneumonia 
there  is  usually  congestion  of  the  lungs,  so  that  the  blood  can  no  longer 
circulate,  or  there  are  tubercles  or  vomicae,  or  the  animal  sinks  here  like- 
wise under  the  continuance  of  the  inflammation;  but  the  termination  of 
pleurisy  is  by  the  effusion  of  fluid  into  the  chest,  compressing  the  lungs 
on  every  side,  gradually  rendering  respiration  diflicult,  and  at  length  im- 
possible, and  destroying  the  beast  here  likewise  by  suffocation. 

There  is  litde  difference  in  the  treatment  of  pneumonia  and  pleurisy. 
In  both  the  inflammation  must  be  subdued  by  bleeding,  physic,  sedatives, 
blisters,  setons,  and  restricted  diet.  Half  an  ounce  of  the  common  liquid 
turpentine  may  be  used  with  advantage,  instead  of  the  nitre,  when  the 
presence  of  pleurisy  is  clearly  ascertained. 

No  advantage  has  been  taken  of  an  operation  on  the  pleuritic  ox  by 
which  the  fluid  might  be  withdrawn  from  the  chest,  as  in  the  horse.  It 
may  be  worth  the  attempt;  yet,  when  the  few  cases  in  which  the  punc- 
turing of  the  chest  has  succeeded  in  the  horse  are  considered,  there  would 
not  be  room  for  any  sanguine  hope  of  success  if  it  were  practised  on  the 
ox. 

Besides  this,  there  are  generally  adhesions  between  the  covering  of  the 
lung  and  the  lining  of  the  sides;  and  between  the  lung  and  the  diaphragm, 
which  would  always  interfere  materially  with  the  act  of  respiration  and  the 
health  of  the  animal. 

In  all  these  cases  of  chest  affection  there  is  so  little  prospect  of  saving 
the  beast,  that  it  would  be  the  interest  of  the  owner  to  have  him  slaugh- 
tered at  the  beginning,  if  he  is  at  all  in  condition,  or  rather  if  he  is  not 
deplorably  thin. 


CHRONIC  PLEURISY.  407 

CHRONIC    PLEURISY. 

There  is  so  instructive  an  account  of  a  chronic  species  of  pleurisy,  or  of 
mingled  pneumonia  and  pleurisy,  in  '  The  Recueil  de  Medecine  Veteri- 
naire,'  for  May,  in  the  present  year,  (1833,)  that  the  author  is  tempted  to 
give  it  at  considerable  length.  It  is  written  by  M.  Lecoq,  one  of  the 
teachers  of  the  veterinary  school  of  Lyons.  There  is  considersble  resem- 
blance between  it  and  the  account  which  has  been  given  of  common  pleu- 
risy, but  the  reader  will  readily  mark  the  difference,  whicli  is  between  an 
acute  and  a  chronic  disease. 

He  is  speaking  of  Soire-le-Chateau,  in  the  arrondissement  of  Avesnes, 
in  which  the  farmers  fatten  more  cattle  than  they  breed,  and  therefore 
are  obliged  to  purchase  out  of  the  neighbouring  districts,  and  principally 
from  Tranche  Comte.  He  says  that  '  the  cattle  of  that  country  are  very 
handsome,  of  a  compact  form,  and  fatten  rapidly;  and  that  they  are  the 
kind  of  cattle  from  which  the  grazier  would  derive  most  advantage,  were 
it  not  for  some  diseases  to  which  they  are  subject.  The  malady  by  which 
they  are  most  frequently  attacked,  and  which  is  particularly  prevalent  in 
some  years,  is  one  that  is  generally  incurable,  and  the  slaughter  of  the 
animal  before  he  has  perceptibly  wasted,  is  the  only  means  by  which  the 
farmer  can  avoid  losing  the  whole  value  of  the  beast:  this  is  chronic  pleura- 
pneumonia — chronic  pleurisy  combined  with  pneumonia. 

'  The  symptoms  are  scarcely  recognisable  at  first,  and  often  the  beast  is 
ill  a  long  time  without  its  being  perceived.  He  fattens  well,  and  when  he 
is  slaughtered  the  owner  is  astonished  to  find  scarcely  half  of  the  lung  ca- 
pable of  discharging  the  function  of  respiration.  When,  however,  the  ox 
has  not  sufficient  strength  of  constitution  to  resist  the  ravages  of  disease, 
the  first  symptom  that  is  observed  is  diminution,  or  irregularity  of  appe- 
tite. Soon  afterwards  a  frequent  and  dry  cough  is  heardt  which  becomes 
feeble  and  painful  as  the  disease  proceeds.  The  dorso-lumbar  portion  of 
the  spine  grows  tender,  the^animal  flinches  when  the  part  is  pressed  upon, 
and  utters  a  peculiar  groan  or  grunt  which  the  graziers  regard  as  a  decisive' 
symptom  of  the  malady. 

'  Quickly  after  this  the  movements  of  the  flanks  become  irregular  and 
accelerated,  and  the  act  of  respiration  is  accompanied  by  a  kind  of  balanc- 
ing motion  of  the  whole  body.  The  sides  of  the  chest  become  as  tender 
as  the  loins,  or  more  so,  for  the  animal  immediately  throws  himself  down, 
if  pressed  upon  with  any  force.  The  elbows  in  many  subjects  become 
more  and  more  separated  from  the  sides  of  the  chest.  The  .pulse  is  smaller 
than  natural,  and  not  considerably  increased.  The  muzzle  is  hot  and  dry 
alternately;  the  animal  lies  down  as  in  a  healthy  state,  but  rumination  is 
partially  or  entirely  suspended.  The  faeces  are  harder  than  they  should 
be;  the  urine  is  of  its  natural  colour  and  quantity;  the  mouth  is  often  dry, 
and  the  horns  and  the  ears  retain  their  natural  temperature. 

'  This  first  stage  of  the  disease  sometimes  continues  during  a  month  or 
more,  and  then,  if  the  animal  is  to  recover,  or  at  least  apparently  so,  the 
symptoms  gradually  disappear.  First  of  all,  the  appetite  returns,  and  the 
beast  begins  to  acquire  a  little  flesh.  The  proprietor  should  then  make 
haste  and  get  rid  of  him,  for  it  is  very  rare  that  the  malady,  however  it 
may  be  palliated  for  a  while,  does  not  re-appear  with  greater  intensity  than 
before.  -^ 

*  In  most  cases  the  disease  continues  to  pursue  its  course  towards  its 
fatal  termination  without  any  remission — every  symptom  gradually  in- 
creasing in  intensity.  The  respiration  becomes  more  painful;  the  head  is 
more  extended;  the  eyes  are  brilliant;  every  expiration  is  accompanied  by 


408  CATTLE. 

a  grunt,  and  by  a  kind  of  puckering  of  the  angles  of  tlie  lips;  the  cough 
becomes  smaller,  more  suppressed,  and  yet  more  paini'ul;  tlie  tongue  pro- 
trudes from  the  mouth,  and  a  frothy  mucus  is  abundantly  discharged;  the 
breath  becomes  oflensive;  a  purulent  fluid  of  a  bloody  colour  escapes  from 
the  nostrils;  diarrhoea,  profuse  and  foetid,  succeeds  to  tlie  constipation;  the 
animal  becomes  rapidly  weaker;  he  is  a  complete  skeleton,  and  at  length 
he  dies. 

'  Examination  after  death  discovers  slight  traces  of  inflammation  in  the 
intestines,  discoloration  of  the  liver,  and  a  hard  and  dry  substance  contain- 
ed in  the  manyphis.  The  lungs  adhere  to  the  sides  and  to  the  diaphragm 
by  numerous  bands,  evidently  old  and  very  firm.  The  substance  of  the  lungs 
often  presents  a  reddish-gray  hepatisation  throughout  almost  its  whole  ex- 
tent. At  other  times,  there  are  tubercles  in  every  state  of  hardness,  and 
in  that  of  suppuration.  The  portion  of  the  lung  that  is  not  hepatised  is 
red,  and  gorged  with  blood.  Beside  the  old  adhesions,  there  are  nume- 
rous ones  of  recent  date.  The  pleura  is  not  much  reddened,  but  by  its 
thickness  in  some  points,  its  adhesions  in  others,  and  the  eflusion  of  a 
serous  fluid,  it  proves  how  much  and  how  long  it  has  participated  in  the 
inflammatory  action.  The  trachea  and  the  bronchi  are  slightly  red,  and  the 
right  side  of  the  heart  is  gorged  with  blood.' 

M.  Lecoq  hazards  some  conjectures  respecting  the  cause  of  this  disease, 
which  are  very  ingenious,  and  from  which  our  breeders  and  graziers  may 
derive  some  useful  hints.  He  says  that '  the  graziers  imagine  ihat  the  ani- 
mals bring  the  disease  with  them  from  their  native  country;  and  tlie  traces 
of  clironic  disease  which  are  found  in  them,  even  when  they  are  slaugh- 
tered soon  after  their  arrival,  singularly  confirm  this  opinion.  Catde  that 
have  been  worked  hard,  and  driven  far,  and  somewhat  too  rapidly,  are 
often  attacked  by  diseases  of  the  chest,  whicli  generally  leave  some  dan- 
gerous traces  behind  them;  and  besides  this,  the  breeders  know  their  inte- 
rest sufficiently  well  to  get  rid  of  those  animals  as  soon  as  they  can  that 
have  been  affected  with  chest  complaints. 

'  The  manner  in  which  tlie  journey  is  performed  contributes  much  to 
revive  the  old  disorder.  The  catde  purchased  in  Tranche  Comte  are 
brought  into  Avesnes  at  two  periods  of  the  year — in  the  autumn  and  in  the 
spring.  Those  which  are  brought  in  the  autumn  are  more  subject  to  the 
disease  than  those  which  arrive  in  the  spring;  and  almost  always,  the 
years  in  which  the  malady  is  most  prevalent  are  those  in  whicli  "the  wea- 
ther was  bad  during  the  journey  of  the  beasts;  and  the  disease  is  usually 
fatal  in  propordon  to  the  badness  of  the  weather. 

'  The  journey,  also,  is  performed  by  two  different  routes — through  Lor- 
raine and  Champagne,  and  often  the  disease  appears  only  in  the  catde  that 
have  arrived  by  one  of  these  routes. 

'  The  manner  in  which  the  cattle  are  treated  on  their  arrival,  may  con- 
tribute not  a  little  to  the  development  of  the  disease.  They  have,  perhaps, 
been  driven  a  hundred  leagues  during  bad  weather;  they  have  been  half- 
starved  on  their  journey,  and  they  arrive  famished  and  worn  out,  and,  in 
fact,  the  greater  part  of  them  are  lame.  Calculating  on  their  ravenous  ap- 
petite, the  graziers,  instead  of  giving  them  wholesome  food,  make  them 
consume  the  worst  that  the  farm  contains — all  that  is  musty  and  mouldy; 
and  it  is  often  by  the  cough  which  the  act  of  eating  of  such  food  neces- 
sanly  produces,  that  the  malady  is  first  discovered.' 

The  treatment  of  chronic  pleurisy  is  the  most  unsatisfactory  part  of  this 
excellent  memoir.  He  orders  mild  and  nourishing  food;  for  he  argues 
that  by  increasing  the  debility  of  the  animal,  his  death  will  be  hastened. 
He  recommends  green  meat,  in  order  to  soften  the  strangely-hardened 


CHRONIC  PLEURISY.  409 

contents  of  the  manyplus,  and  mucilaginous  drinks  (made  of  oatmeal  or 
linseed)  for  the  same  purpose.  Whey  is  often  given  Avith  the  same  view, 
and  on  account  of  the  nutriment  which  it  contains.  Bleeding  is  rarely 
employed;  or  if  the  pulse  should  indicate  venesection,  very  little  blood  is 
abstracted  at  a  time,  but  the  small  bleedings  are  occasionally  repeated. 
The  principal  dependence  is  placed  on  setons,  and  rowels,  which,  if  used 
at  all,  are  carried  to  a  great  extent:  but  before  these  are  resorted  to,  the 
proprietor  is  requested  to  determine  whether  he  is  disposed  to  persist  in 
the  medical  treatment  of  the  animal;  for  this  mode  of  treatment  having 
been  once  commenced,  the  swellings  and  discolourations  produced  by  the 
setons  and  rowels  will  prevent  the  butcher  from  afterwards  purchasing 
these  animals.  Injections,  friction,  and  warmth  are  the  auxiliary  means 
employed. 

However  skilful  may  be  the  treatment,  or  however  steadily  pursued,  it 
is  rarely  that  a  beast  is  saved;  and  that  is  not  surprising,  considering  the 
numerous  adhesions  which  were  formed  between  the  lungs  and  the  sides 
of  the  chest  before  the  animal  began  to  exhibit  any  symptoms  of  illness. 
M.  Lecoq  adds,  that  it  is  good,  although  unpleasant,  advice  to  give — it  is 
what  has  been  many  a  time  inculcated  in  this  treatise — that  it  is  always 
preferable  to  send  the  diseased  or  suspected  animal  to  the  butcher  before 
the  process  of  emaciation  is  established  in  good  earnest:  a  part  of  the  ori- 
ginal price  of  the  beast  is  then  recovered,  and  the  expense  of  medical  treat- 
ment, always  long,  and  generally  unsuccessful,  is  saved.  M.  Lecoq  can- 
didly confesses,  that  of  thirty  beasts  of  which  he  had  the  care,  two  only 
were  apparently  cured,  and  got  into  condition;  and  one  of  them  died  sud- 
denly a  few  days  after  he  was  sold. 

M.  Lecoq  finally  enters  into  the  question  of  the  contagiousness  of  this 
disease.  'J'he  farmers  believe  it  to  be  contagious,  and  he  is  partly  of  their .. 
opinion.  When  a  bei..!t  falls  sick  in  the  pasture,  the  others,  after  his  re- 
moval, go  and  smell  at  the  grass  where  he  has  lain,  and  which  he  has 
covered  with  his  saliva;  and  after  that,  M.  Lecoq  has  always  seen  new 
cases  succeed  to  the  first.  He  has  also  seen  three  cases  in  which  the 
cattle  of  the  country,  perfectly  well  before,  have  fallen  ill,  and  died  with 
the  same  symptoms,  except  that  they  were  more  acute  after  they  have  been 
kept  with  pleuritic  cattle.  He,  therefore,  regards  this  afiection  as  conta- 
gious; or  at  least,  he  imagines  that,  in  the  progress  of  the  disease,  the 
breath  infects  the  air  of  a  cowhouse  in  which  there  were  other  animals 
already  predisposed  to  this,  or  similar,  maladies.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
acknowledges  that  many  cases  usually  appear  at  the  same  time,  and  in 
catde  that  have  been  widely  separated  from  each  other. 

M.  Lecoq  has  very  clearly  stated  the  chief  causes  of  this  disease,  in' 
addition  to  which  it  has  clearly  an  epidemic  character.  There  are  certam 
states  of  the  atmosphere  which  call  into  action  these  lurking  predispositioiis 
to  disease,  found  most  in  the  stranger  catde,  but  sometimes  in  the  natives 
(for  bad  management,  and  hoose,  and  pleurisy  exist  too  much  every  where,) 
but  there  is  not  yet  sufficient  evidence  of  the  contagious  nature  of  all  these 
affections  of  the  respiratory  organs.  He,  however,  can  never  err  who  has 
recourse  to  the  careful  use  of  every  precautionary  measure. 

PHTHISIS,  OR  CONSUMPTION. 

This  is  only  a  continuation  of  the  same  subject,  or,  rather,  it  is  a  de- 
scription of  another  termination  of  chronic  disease  of  the  lungs.  One  of 
the  consequences  of  continued  inflammation  of  the  lungs  is  the  formation 
of  tubercles.  There  is  a  greater  or  smaller  number  of  htde  distinct  cysts, 
or  cells  into  which  some  fluid  is  poured  in  the  progress  of  inflammation. 
36 


410  CATTLE. 

These  enlarge,  and  occupy  a  space  varying  from  the  size  of  a  pin's  head 
to  that  of  a  large  egg.  By  degrees  the  fluid  changes  to  a  solid,  and  the 
tumonr  hecomes  harder  than  the  surrounding  substance,  and  so  continues 
for  awhile — the  consequence  of  inflammation,  and  the  source  of  new  irri- 
tation and  disease. 

At  length  it  once  more  changes.  The  tubercle  begins  to  soften  at  its 
centre,  something  like  suppuration  goes  on  there,  and  the  contents  of  the 
swellings  become  perfectly  fluid,  but  of  a  different  nature  from  that  which 
tirst  filled  the  cyst.  It  is  now  pus.  The  cyst  increases  with  greater  or 
less  rapidity;  it  comes  in  contact  with  neighbouring  ones,  and  the  walls  ot 
each  are  absorbed  by  their  mutual  pressure.  They  run  together  and  form 
one  cyst,  which  is  called  an  abscess,  or  vomica. 

An  animal  possessing  this  tuberculated  state  of  the  lungs,  and  the  tuber- 
cles running  into  abscesses,  is  said  to  be  consumptive.  So  much  of  the 
lung  is  destroyed,  that  there  is  not  enough  left  for  the  purposes  of  life,  and 
the  patient  wastes  away,  and  dies. 

The  lungs  of  the  cow  after  chronic  or  neglected  catarrh,  or  bronchitis, 
or  pneumonia,  or  pleurisy,  are  much  disposed  to  assume  this  tuberculated 
and  ulcerated  state.  The  symptoms  of  consumption  are  not  always  to  be 
distinguished  from  those  of  pleurisy,  or  even  pneumonia  or  bronchitis; 
and  sometimes  there  maybe  extensive  ulceration  of  the  lungs  without  any 
indication  of  disease  sufficient  to  attract  notice.  When  a  bullock  is  fat- 
tened for  the  butcher,  and  killed,  we  occasionally  wonder  to  observe  how 
little  of  the  lung  is  left  for  the  purpose  of  breathing. 

A  cough  is  the  earliest  symptom,  but  a  cough  of  a  peculiar  character. 
It  is  too  common  to  say  carelessly,  and  sometimes  cruelly,  of  a  human 
being,  '  that  person  has  a  churchyard  rough.'  The  prediction  is  too  often 
verified:  for  although  it  would  be  difficult  to  describe  that  cough,  there  is 
a  character  of  its  own  about  it  which  cannot  be  mistaken.  It  is  so  with 
regard  to  cattle.  Tliat  veterinary  surgeon  is  ignorant  of  his  profession, 
who  does  not  at  once,  and  at  a  distance,  recognise  the  cough  which,  al- 
though it  may  not  precisely  indicate  phthisis,  betrays  a  state  of  the  lungs 
pregnant  with  danger.  How  many  a  beast  might  the  farmer  save  if  he 
Avould  be  attentive  to  this! 

A  bullock  booses:— if  the  cough  is  sonorous  and  clear,  the  lung  is  not 
vet  fatally  injured.     That  cough,  however,  must  not  be  neglected  long. 


It  tells  of  inflammation— it  is  the  product  of  inflammation— and  of  inflam- 
mation that  may  be  silently,  but  rapidly,  disorganizing  the  lungs.  The 
prudent  man  will  not  suffer  such  a  cough  to  continue  many  days,  without 


giving  a  mash,  or  a  dose  of  physic;  or,  perchance,  bleeding,  and  inserting 
a  seton.  This  is  one  of  the  points  to  which  we  cannot  too  often  recur. 
It  is  new  practice — it  is  new  doctrine;  but  the  interests  of  the  agriculturist 
are  peculiarly  connected  with  it. 

But,  by  and  by,  this  cough  becomes  altered.  It  is  no  longer  loud,  and 
clear,  and  careless;  it  is  lower  in  its  tone— feeble— hoarse.  Mischief  has 
now  been  done,  and  perhaps  of  an  irreparable  kind.  It  must  not,  perhaps, 
be  said  that  the  farmer  will  always  be  able  to  point  out  the  precise  nature 
of  the  affection  of  the  chest  from  the  sound  of  the  cough;  but  he  will  soon 
learn  to  do  it  much  oftener,  and  much  more  certainly,  than  he  has  hitherto 
thought  it  possible.  In  simple  catarrh  there  is  an  honest  and  unchecked 
effort  of  the  lungs  to  force  on  the  cougb;  yet  some  hoarseness  may  attend 
that  cough,  plainly  referal)le  to  the  superior  air-passages.  In  bronchitis 
there  will  also  be  a  forcible  effiirt;  the  mucus  is  viscid;  and  the  membrane 
of  the  tubes  is  thickened;  and  the  passage  is  diminished;  and  considerable 
force  must  be  used  to  urge  on  a  volume  of  air,  and  to  carry  the  mucus 


PHTHISIS  OR  CONSUMPTION.  411 

before  it;  but  it  is  a  force  which  acts  slowly,  and  by  pressure,  for  the 
membrane  being  inflamed  is  tender.  The  cough  bespeaks  pain;  it  is  no 
longer  full  and  perfect,  it  is  slowly  performed,  and  at  the  same  time  husky 
and  wheezing,  and  the  mucus  rattles  in  the  passage  as  it  is  forced  along. 
In  pneumonia  the  cough  is  frequent — sore;  but  it  is  not  so  sore  as  in 
bronchitis,  for  it  has  not  the  same  inflamed  membrane  to  pass  over;  it  is, 
however,  painful,  for  the  substance  of  the  lung  is  inflamed,  and  therefore 
it  is  low,  and,  to  a  certain  degree,  suppressed.  In  pleurisy  the  cough  is 
sharper,  spasmodic,  yet  not  loud.  Hitherto  the  pain  has  been  confined  to 
the  lungs;  here  the  lining  membrane  of  the  chest  is  aflfected,  and  intense 
pain  is  felt  at  every  rising  and  falling  of  the  chest;  therefore  the  cough  is 
short — it  is  cut  short — it  is  somewhat  spasmodic,  and  yet  no  louder  than 
can  be  helped. 

All  this,  it  is  confessed,  is  new  doctrine,  and  may  be  considered  as  bor- 
dering too  nearly  on  the  regions  of  fancy  by  him  who,  never  having  attended 
to  these  things,  knows  nothing  about  them;  but  let  him  begin  to  attend  to 
them,  and  the  writer  will  venture  to  promise  him  that,  although  puzzled  at 
first  his  progress  in  the  art  of  distinguishing  sounds  will  be  most  rapid;  and 
he  will  at  length  begin  to  wonder  that  he  could  have  lived  so  long  among 
his  cattle,  and  have  been  so  deaf  to  that  which  is  become  too  plain  to  be 
for  a  moment  misunderstood. 

The  cough  of  incipient  phthisis  is  an  inward,  feeble,  painful,  hoarse, 
ratding,  gurgling  one.  The  farmer  will  have  reason  to  tremble  when 
he  recognises  it,  because  it  reveals  fearful  disorganization,  which  can 
seldom  be  repaired.  He  needs  not,  however,  quite  despair.  The  lungs 
of  the  cow  have  not  been  so  sadly  used  as  those  of  the  horse.  She  is  not 
hurried  beyond  her  will  or  her  strength  at  the  caprice  or  cruelty  of  her 
owner.  The  progress  of  mischief  is  not  unnecessarily  accelerated,  nor 
is  the  process  of  disorganization  rapid.  Weeks  and  months,  or,  under 
favourable  circumstances,  years,  may  pass  on,  and  few  other  symptoms 
be  added  to  this  peculiar  cough. 

There  is  one  duty,  however,  which  the  farmer  owes  to  himself,  and  the 
practitioner  to  him  by  whom  he  is  employed,  and  that  is,  to  take  a  fair 
view  of  the  whole  of  the  case.  Here  is  disorganization  of  the  lungs — that, 
cough  which,  once  understood,  can  never  deceive,  has  plainly  revealed  it. 
It  is  disorganization  which  may  in  a  few  cases,  be  repaired;  but  in  the 
great,  the  decided  majority  of  them,  will  proceed  to  its  fatal  termination. 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  a  disorganization  which  does  not  immediately  inter- 
fere with  the  discharge  of  the  functions  of  life.  The  beast  will  fatten,  and, 
perhaps,  almost  as  rapidly  as  before.  In  some  cases  it  has  been  imagined 
that  by  careful  feeding,  a  very  considerable  degree  of  condition  has  been 
acquired  with  unusual  quickness;  but  this  will  not,  cannot  last  long. 
The  eflect  of  diseased  structure,  and  diminished  substance  of  the  lungs, 
will  soon  tell  in  the  unthriftiness  and  loss  of  condition  of  the  beast. 
Except,  therefore,  peculiar  value  is  attached  to  the  animal,  will  it  be  pru-- 
dent  to  attempt  any  medical  treatment  at  all,  or  at  least  beyond  that  of  a 
mere  palliative  natnre? 

If  any  thing  is  to  be  done,  bleeding  will  be  here,  as  in  other  inflammatory 
cases,  the  first  step,  but  pursued  in  a  more  cautious  manner  than  in  any 
of  the  others — never  pushed  beyond  the  very  first  indication  of  its  proper 
eflect,  nor  repealed  until  after  due  consideration,  and  a  full  conviction 
that  renewed  irritation  is  beginning  to  be  set  up.  To  this  must  be  added 
mild  doses  of  physic,  and  the  use  of  the  sedative  medicines;  with  proper 
care  that  the  animal  is  not  unnecessarily  exposed  to  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
weather,  and  yet  avoiding  too  much  nursing. 


412  CATTLE. 

Another  view  may  be  taken  of  the  case.  Induced  ijy  some  peculiar 
value  which  is  placed  on  the  breed,  or  by  some  circumstances  which  have, 
in  the  owner's  estimation,  a  favourable  appearance,  or,  somewhat  too 
often,  by  the  unjustifiable  representations  and  promises  of  the  practitioner, 
ihe  medical  treatment  of  a  phtliisicky  beast  is  attempted  in  good  earnest. 

The  attempt  appears  to  be  suc(;essful;  the  animal  rallies,  the  cough 
diminishes,  the  flanks  become  quiet,  the  appetite  returns,  the  milk  is 
yielded. more  abundantly,  the  general  condition  of  the  beast  seems  to 
improve,  and  both  owner  and  practitioner  begin  to  fancy  that  danger  has 
ceased.     There  is  too  much  reason,  however,  for  caution  and  fear. 

There  is  one  circumstance  and  one  only,  which  will  enable  them  to 
understand  the  real  ground  on  which  they  stand,  and  that  is,  the  character 
of  the  cough,  which  will  still  remain  although  much  less  frequent.  Is  it, 
again,  the  clear  sonorous  cough  whicli  indicates  the  comparative  healthi- 
ness of  the  air-passages,  or  does  it  continue  to  be,  to  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  the  painful,  inward,  feeble,  giirgling  cough?  If  it  is  the  latter, 
the  amendment  is  delusive.  It  is  one  of  those  strange,  but  temporary 
rallyings  of  nature,  or  transient  effects  of  medicine,  which  are  sometimes 
witnessed;  or,  perhaps  there  has  been  some  salutary  change  of  atmo 
spheric  influence:  but  there  is  mischief  still — irretrievable  mischief — and 
the  most  salutary  advice  that  could  be  given  to  the  owner  would  be,  to 
dispose  of  the  animal  while  something  like  its  value  can  be  obtained. 
Weeks,  months  may  pass  on;  but  by  and  by,  from  some  slight  cause — or 
from  no  cause  that  can  be  detected — the  symptoms  of  confirmed  phthisis 
appear,  and  the  animal  is  lost. 

This  secondary,  and  more  violent  attack,  has  many  symptoms  similar 
to  those  that  have  been  described  as  attending  the  later  stages  of  bron- 
chitis or  pleurisy;  but  there  are  a  few  which  would  point  out  the  nature 
and  seat  of  the  disease  when  there  is  no  previous  history  of  the  case  to 
guide  the  practitioner.  The  milk  gradually  diminishes,  and,  had  it  been 
examined  before  its  diminution  in  quantity,  an  evident  deterioration  m 
quality  would  have  been  observed;  it  has  acquired  an  unpleasant  flavour 
— it  quickly  becomes  sour — it  spoils,  or  gives  a  peculiar  taste  to  that  with 
which  it  is  mixed.  The  butter  that  is  made  from  it  is  ill-flavoured,  and 
the  cheese  will  not  acquire  a  proper  consistence.  Some  have  said  that  the 
milk  is  of  a  blue  colour,  and  that  it  has  more  serum  in  its  composilioa 
than  ordinary  and  heaUby  milk. 

There  are  few  dairies  in  wiiich  there  are  not  occasional  differences  in 
the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  produce.  The  disappointment  and  the  loss 
of  the  dairyman  have  sometimes  been  considerable;  and  he  has  puzzlec5 
himself  to  no  purpose  to  discover  the  cause;  and  has  blamed  the  pasture  or 
the  servants,  when  his  want  of  common  observation  has  been  the  principal 
source  of  evil.  Some  of  our  readers  may  recollect  these  occurrences 
in  their  establishments;  they  may  also  recollect  that  a  little  while  after- 
wards one,  or  two,  or  more,  of  their  cows  had  bad  hoose,  and  were  losing 
condition,  and  they  got  rid  of  them  as  quickly  as  they  could. 

When  consumption  begins  to  be  confirmed  the  animal  loses  flesh  with 
greater  or  less  rapidity,  and  becomes  evidently  weak.  She  eats  with 
almost  undiminished  appetite;  but  the  process  of  rumination  requiring 
long,  and  now  fatiguing  action  of  the  jaws,  is  slowly  and  lazily  per- 
formed. There  is  frequently  a  discharge  from  the  mouth  or  nostrils;  or 
both;  at  first  colourless  and  without  smell,  but  soon  becoming  purulent, 
bloody,  and  foetid.  Diarrhosa  is  present,  and  that  to  a  degree  on  whicli 
the  most  powerful  astringents  can  make  no  impression.  Then,  also, 
appears  the  inflamraation  of  the  tissue  beneath  the  skiu.     Whatever  part 


PHTHISIS,  OR  CONSUMPTION.  413 

of  the  animal  is  pressed  upon,  she  shrinks ;  and  if  upon  the  loins,  she 
moans  with  pain.  The  skin  becomes  dry.  and  scaly;  and  it  strangely 
creaks  as  the  animal  crawls  staggering  along. 

One  circumstance  is  very  remarkable  and  characteristic.  The  mind  and 
animal  desires  even  of  this  comparatively  dull  and  insensible  being  are 
roused  to  an  extreme  degree  of  intensity.  The  cow  is,  in  many  cases, 
almost  continually  at  heat.  When  she  is  impregnated,  the  cestrum  does 
not  go  off;  and  the  consequence  of  this  continuance  of  excitement  is  that 
she  is  very  subject  to  abortion. 

One  of  the  causes  of  consumption,  almost  unsuspected  by  many 
breeders,  and  sufficiently  guarded  against  only  by  a  few — hereditary  pre- 
disposition— cannot  be  spoken  of  in  too  peremptory  terms.  It  is  rare, 
indeed,  that  the  offspring  of  a  consumptive  cow  is  not  also  consumptive. 
If  it  is  a  heifer-calf,  she  may  possibly  live  a  little  after  her  first  calving, 
and  then  she  usually  sickens,  and  the  disease  proceeds  with  a  rapidity 
unknown  in  the  mother.  The  author  recollects  two  dairies  that  were 
almost  destroyed  by  this  hereditary  taint. 

Change  of  climate  is  a  more  frequent  cause  than  many  imagine.  Some 
dairymen  are  aware  how  much  depends  on  the  cow  being  suited  to  the 
climate,  or,  rather,  being  in  her  native  climate.  This  explains  the  strange 
difference  of  opinion  with  regard  to  breeds.  Almost  every  farmer  is  par- 
tial to  his  own  breed,  and  undervalues  those  of  other  districts,  and  even 
those  of  his  neighbours ;  and  to  a  very  great  degree  he  is  right.  His 
cattle  breathe  their  native  air ;  they  are  in  a  climate  to  which,  by  a  slow 
and  most  beneficial  process,  and  extending  through  many  a  generation 
back,  their  constitution  has  been  in  a  manner  moulded ;  and  it  is  only 
after  a  long  seasoning,  and  sometimes  one  attended  by  no  little  peril,  that 
the  stranger  becomes  at  home  in  a  foreign  district;  and  so  adapted  and 
reconciled  to  the  temperature,  and  degree  of  dryness  or  moisture,  and  to 
the  difference  of  soil  and  herbage,  as  to  do  quite  as  well,  and  yield  as 
much  and  as  good  milk,  as  in  the  vale  in  which  she  was  reared.  There 
is  more  in  this  than  is  often  dreamed  of  in  die  farmer's  philosophy. 

Experience  teaches  that  a  change  of  climate  involving  a  material  differ- 
ence in  temperature  or  soil,  or  herbage,  is  frequendy  prejudicial ;  and 
that  while  there  is  derangement  in  every  system,  the  respiratory  one  seems 
to  suffer  most,  and  a  slow,  insidious,  yet  fatal  change  is  there  oftenest 
effected.  If  a  dairy  of  cows  is  removed  from  a  moist  situation  to  a  dry 
and  colder  one,  consumption  will  often  appear  among  them,  although  a 
dry  air  is  otherwise  esteemed  a  specific  against  the  complaint ;  but  if  they 
are  taken  from  a  dry  situation,  and  put  on  a  woody  and  damp  one,  phthisis 
is  sure  to  appear  before  the  first  season  is  past. 

Hurtrel  D'Arboval  states  a  curious  fact  relating  to  the  Swiss  catde,  and 
connected  with  this  part  of  our  subject.  He  says  that  the  cows  in  Swit- 
zerland are  not  subject  to  consumption,  although  they  pass  the  spring  and 
summer  on  the  mountains,  imsheltered,  breathing  the  coolest  and  purest 
air,  and  in  the  autumn  and  winter  are  shut  up  in  close  and  hot  stables, 
where  not  a  breath  of  pure  air  can  reach  them,  except  when  they  are 
driven,  as  they  daily  are,  far  through  the  snow  to  water.  They,  however, 
who  have  no  upland  pasture  to  which  their  catUe  can  be  removed,  and 
whose  beasts  rarely  go  out  of  the  miserable  huts  in  which  they  are  confined 
and  fed,  lose  many  an  animal  from  phthisis.  Habit,  and  a  constitution 
gradually  formed  by  the  influence  of  these  changes  on  many  a  generation, 
had  prepared  the  first  for  them,  or  had  rendered  them  in  a  manner 
necessary ;  but  habit  could  not  secure  the  others  from  the  deleterious  effect 
of  empoisoned  air  and  unwholesome  or  insufficient  food. 
36* 


414  CATTLE. 

There  is  one  striking  fact,  showing  the  injurious  effect  of  heated  and 
empoisoned  air  on  the  puhiionary  system.  There  are  some  cowhouses  in 
whicli  the  heat  is  intense,  and  the  inmates  are  often  in  a  state  of  profuse 
perspiration.  The  doors  and  the  windows  must  sometimes  be  opened,  and 
then  the  wind  blows  in  cold  enough  upon  those  that  are  close  to  them, 
and,  one  would  naturally  think,  could  notf\iil  of  being  injurious.  No  such 
thing.  These  arc  the  animals  who  escape  ;  but  the  others  at  the  farther 
end,  on  whom  no  wind  blows,  and  where  no  perspiration  is  checked,  are 
the  first  to  have  hoose,  intlammation,  and  consumption.  This  fact  speaks 
volumes  with  regard  to  the  management  in  many  a  fiirm. 

This  is  an  unsatisfactory  account  of  the  nature  and  treatment  of  con- 
sumption; and,  in  now  dismissing  the  diseases  of  the  respiratory  system, 
the  author  is  far  more  disposed  to  direct  the  attention  of  his  readers  to  the 
preventive  than  the  meilical  treatment.  By  the  former  they  may  do  much. 
Let  the  over-filled  cow-houses  be  enlarged,  and  the  close  and  hot  ones 
better  ventilated;  let  cruel  neglect,  and  exposure,  and  starvation  yield  to 
more  judicious  and  humane  treatment;  when  cattle  are  fed  on  dry  meat, 
let  them  have  sufficient  to  drink  two  or  three  times  every  day;  let  those 
that  exhibit  decided  symptoms  of  consumption  be  removed  from  the  dairy, 
not  because  the  disease  is  contagious,  but  because  it  is  undeniably  here- 
ditary; and,  in  fine,  where  so  little  can  be  done  in  the  way  of  cure,  let 
notliing  be  omitted  in  the  way  of  prevention. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  STRUCTURE   AND  DISEASES  OF  THE  GULLET  AND  STOMACHS. 

THE  (ESOPHAGUS,  OR  GULLET. 

The  food  having  been  forced  along  the  posterior  part  of  the  mouth  by  the 
consecutive  action  of  the  tongue  and  the  muscles  of  the  pharynx,  reaches 
the  oesophagus,  or  gi'ilet.  This  tube  extends  from  the  moutli  to  the  sto- 
machs, and  conveys  the  food  from  the  one  to  the  other.  In  catde  this  is 
true  in  a  double  sense  ;  for  not  only  does  the  food  descend  from  the  mouth 
to  one  of  the  stomachs,  when  it  is  first  gathered,  but  is  returned  for  a 
second  mastication,  and  afterwards,  a  third  time,  traces  the  same  path  to 
its  destination  in  the  true  digestive  stomach.  We  may  expect,  and  we 
shall  find,  some  peculiarity  of  structure  in  the  oesophagus,  in  order  to 
prepare  it  for  this  increased  duty. 

We  first  observe  the  great  thickness  and  strength  of  the  gullet  in  the 
ox,  compared  with  that  of  the  horse.  It  is  really  worth  while  to  compare 
the  two  together,  and  see  how  that  of  the  ox  is  fitted  for  its  treble  work. 
The  outer  coat  of  loose  cellular  substance  is  the  same  in  both — yielding 
and  elastic.  The  second  coat  is  a  muscular  one,  and  of  great  substance 
and  power.  Its  increased  substance  enables  it  to  dilate,  when  the  large 
pellets  of  rapidly  plucked  grass,  or  pieces  of  parsnip  or  potato,  or  other 
hard  roots,  enter  it;  and  the  same  increase  of  muscular  substance  enables 
it  to  contract  more  powerfully  on  such  food,  and  pass  it  on  to  the  stomach. 
There  are  two  layers  of  muscles  in  the  gullet  of  all  our  domesticated 
animals,  and  the  fibres  of  the  outer  and  inner  layer  run  in  diflcreni 
directions,  and  with  plain  and  manifest  reference  to  the  natural  food  and 
habits  of  the  animal. 


THE  CESOPHAGUS  OR  GULLET.  415 

The  horse  lives  on  grass  or  cont;  or  if,  when  he  is  stabled,  roots  arc 
sometimes  given  to  him,  especial  care  is  taken  that  they  are  so  cut  and 
sliced  as  to  pass  along  the  gullet  without  danger  of  forming  any  obstruction 
there.  The  form  and  symmetry  of  the  animal  require  that  the  tube  shall 
not  be  large  or  prominent,  and  yet,  in  his  state  of  servitude,  and  his  labours 
too  often  capriciously  exerted,  litde  time  is  allowed  either  for  rest  or  food. 
The  two  layers  in  him  are  thus  arranged: — the  fibres  of  the  outer  layer 
are  longitudinal,  which,  in  their  relaxed  state,  admit  of  the  lengthening  of 
the  tube  when  the  neck  is  extended  and  the  head  brought  close  to  the 
ground  in  the  act  of  grazing;  and  by  their  contraction  they  shorten  the 
gullet  in  the  act  of  swallowing.  The  fibres  of  the  inner  layer  are  circular, 
which  although  not  adapted  to  extend  much,  in  order  to  admit  of  the  pas- 
sage of  large  and  hard  bodies,  are  best  calculated  to  contract  on  the  kind 
of  food  which  the  horse  swallows,  and  to  force  it  down  to  the  stomach 
with  all  the  rapidity  that  is  sometimes  needed. 

The  fibres  of  both  layers  of  the  muscular  coat  in  the  ox  are  spiral,  but 
they  wind  their  Avay  round  the  gullet  in  contrary  directions,  admitting 
thus  of  the  lengthening  and  shortening  of  the  tube  in  grazing  and  swal- 
lowing; offering,  perhaps,  not  so  much  pressure  on  the  food,  and  which 
the  lazy  mastication  and  rumination  of  the  animal  does  not  require;  and 
'  permitting  a  great  deal  more  dilatation  when  some  large  and  hard  sub- 
stance finds  its  way  into  the  gullet. 

The  inner  coat,  although  a  continuation  of  the  membrane  of  the  pha- 
rynx, is  of  a  different  character.  It  is  more  cuticular,  smooth,  and  glisten- 
ing. It  lies  in  longitudinal  plaits,  so  wide  and  numerous  as  sufficiently 
to  dilate  when  the  food  passes,  and  to  add  very  litde  to  the  obstacle  when 
a  portion  of  food  unusually  large  is  arrested  in  its  passage. 

The  gullet  pursues  its  course  down  the  neck  on  the  left  of  the  windpipe, 
until  it  reaches  the  chest.  It  enters  with  the  windpipe  and  blood-vessels 
through  the  opening  between  the  two  first  ribs,  and  then  winds  its  way 
along  tlie  upper  part,  until  it  reaches  the  diaphragm,  which  it  pierces,  and 
then  soon  terminates  in  a  singular  canal,  which  will  presently  be  described. 

OESTRUCTION  IN  THE  GULLET. 

This  is  commonly  called  choking,  whether  it  occurs  in  horses  or  cattle, 
and  is  far  more  fatal  in  the  former  than  the  latter,  although  not  so  fre- 
quent.*    AVhen  a  beast  is  first  put  on  carrots,  or  parsnips,  or  potatoes,  or 

*  Although  this  treatise  is  devoted  to  Cattle,  yet  we  cannot  forbear  quoting  a  paragraph 
or  two  relating  to  choking  in  the  horse.  The  history  of  these  curious  cases,  communi- 
cated to  '  the  Veterinarian'  by  Mr.  King,  of  Stanniore,  may  put  the  owners  of  horses  a 
little  on  their  guard. 

'  I  was  some  years  ago,  as  I  was  accidentally  passing,  called  in  to  the  horse  of  a  coach 
proprietor.  Tlie  owner  said  that  iiis  horse  had  a  bad  sore  throat,  and  could  not  swallow. 
He  could  not  swallow;  in  fact,  he  did  not  even  make  an  attempt,  on  severe  compression. 
The  history  being,  that  he  had  worked  and  fed  well  the  preceding  day,  and  the  oesopha- 
gus, as  far  as  it  could  be  examined,  appearing  without  any  obstruction,  I  did  not  susjiect 
the  real  cause.  He  was  blistered  and  drenched,  but  without  any  good  effect,  all  the 
liquids  returning  without  any  etForts  to  swallow.  On  the  third  day  after  I  first  saw  him 
he  died.  I  much  wished  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  obstruction,  and  which  proved  to 
be  a  large  ball  of  tobacco  no'ies,  wrapped  up  in  a  double  paper,  and  which  rested  in  the 
oesophagus  about  half  way  between  its  entrance  into  the  chest  and  the  stomach.  Ail 
knowledge  of  its  having  been  given  was  stoutly  denied,  but  it  was  afterwards  confessed 
tliat  the  nostium  was  exhibited  as  a  supposed  cure  for  worms. 

'  A  cause  of  clicking  and  which  has  killed  many  horses,  likewise  exists  in  a  notion  that 
new-laid  eggs  will  improve  condition.  I  believe  the  practice  is,  previously  to  giving  tlie 
egg,  to  star  the  shell  in  a  few  places;  and  when  the  shell  has  not  been  sufficiently  weak- 
ened to  yield  to  the  pressure  of  the  parts,  the  mischief  ensues.  I  was  once  called  to  a 
very  violent  horse  with  supposed  sore  thrpat.  He  had  taken  nothing  for  two  days.  The 


416  '   CATTLE, 

turnips  he  is  very  apt  to  be  choked.  The  first  mastication  is  always  a 
very  careless  afTair,  and  every  thing  that  is  put  before  the  animal  is  swal- 
lowed with  very  little  chewing.  If  the  herdsman  has  not  been  atten- 
tive in  slicing  or  bruising  the  roots,  mischief  this  of  kind  is  likely  to 
happen.  It  happens  oftener  than  the  cow-herd  or  the  owner  is  willing  to 
confess,  when  eggs,  either  to  promote  condition  in  cattle,  are  given  whole, 
or  loaded  with  tar,  or  some  nauseous  drug,  in  cases  of  blain,  hoosc,  maw- 
sick,  or  other  supposed  stomach  complaints. 

When  the  root  sticks  in  tlie  gullet,  and  can  be  evidenly  seen  and  felt 
there,  the  farmer  or  the  cowherd  first  gets  his  cartwhip — in  good  hands,  not 
a  dangerous  instrument,  on  account  of  its  being  pliable  and  yielding ; 
others  take  a  cart-rope,  which  is  somewhat  more  objectionable,  because  the 
ends  may  do  mischief.  They  who  have  neither  good  sense,  nor  regard  for 
the  sufferings  they  may  inflict,  take  even  a  common  rack-stave.  Whatever 
it  be,  they  tlirust  it  down  the  gullet  and  work  away  might  and  main,  to 
drive  the  offending  body  down. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  some  instrument  should  be  introduced  into  the 
gullet  in  order  to  push  the  root  into  the  stomach,  but  it  is  the  force  that 
is  used  to  which  we  object,  and  that  does  all  the  mischief.  A  case  or  two 
will  illustrate'  this.  The  first  occurred  in  the  practice  of  Mr.  King.  A 
cow  was  choked  with  a  turnip;  the  rack-stave  was  had  recourse  too,  and 
the  owner  was  sure  that  '  he  had  passed  the  turnip,  for  the  cow  had  swal- 
lowed a  drink  that  had  been  given.'  Still  she  was  not  doing  well;  there 
was  no  rumination,  and  she  would  neither  eat  nor  drink.  Mr.  King  was 
sent  for.  He  found  his  patient  low  and  feverish,  and  she  heaved  con- 
siderably; she  swallowed  every  thing  that  was  poured  down  the  throat; 
there  was  no  swelling  of  the  neck;  no  tumour  could  be  felt  externally,  and 
the  probang  went  its  full  length  into  the  stomach.  The  practitioner  gave 
the  proper  medicines  in  such  a  case,  but  on  the  third  day  the  beast  died. 
On  examining  her  it  was  found  that  the  rack-stave  had  been  used  with  so 
much  force  as  to  make  a  considerable  rent  in  the  ossophagus,  through 
which  the  turnip  escaped,  and  lay  in  the  surrounding  cellular  membrane. 

The  second  case  occurred  to  the  writer  of  this  treatise.  A  market  gar- 
dener, on  rooting  up  his  parsnips,  ordered  them  to  be  cut  into  small  pieces 
and  given  to  his  cattle.  The  hind  gave  them  whole,  and  the  beasts  greedily 
devoured  them.  A  large  piece  stuck  in  the  gullet  of  a  valuable  cow,  and 
was  evidently  seen  and  felt  about  half  way  down  the  neck,  and  the  poor 
animal  began  to  swell  enormously,  and  panted  sadly.  The  cow-leech  was 
sent  for,  who  using  first,  the  butt-end  of  a  cart-whip,  and  afterwards  a  long 
and  stout  osier-rod,  forced  it  into  the  chest,  and  then  had  no  more  power 
over  it  with  either  of  his  rude  instruments.  The  author  was  now  sent  for. 
On  applying  a  probang,  he  found  the  obstruction  about  three  inches  within 
the  thorax,  and  he  soon  ascertained  that  it  was  firmly  impacted  there. 
The  application  of  force  in  the  common  way  was  out  of  all  question;  he, 
therefore  withdrew  the  slider  which  guarded  the  protrusion  of  the  stilett, 
and  endeavoured  to  move  the  obstruction  forward  by  slight  but  repeated 
percussions,  and  was  convinced  that  he  was  gaining  ground,  although 
very  slowly.  He  persisted,  and  after  the  expiration  of  about  twenty 
minutes  the  parsnip  gave  way,  and  the  probang   entered    the  stomach. 

attendant  swore  he  could  not  account  for  it;  but  as  the  animal  Iiad  every  general  indi- 
cation of  health,  I  gave  little  credit  to  his  statement.  Having  properly  secured  the 
horse;  I  passed  the  probang  down  the  throat,  in  doing  which  I  experienced  some  resist- 
ance. On  its  return  to  the  mouth  the  bulb  was  literally  covered  with  fragments  of  egg- 
shell. The  horse  was  soon  well;  but  I  doubt,  if  this  egg  had  not  been  weakened,  whe- 
ther the  quiet  introduction  of  the  instrument  would  have  broken  it  down  in  that  situation.' 
— Veterinarian,  January,  1833. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  (ESOPHAGUS  PROBANG. 


417 


A  vast  quantity  of  gas,  mixed  with  fluid  of  a  very  foetid  character  and 
small  portions  of  food,  was  violently  discharged.  The  enlargement  of  the 
belly  subsided,  and  the  animal  experienced  sudden,  and,  as  it  was  thought, 
perfect  relief.  By  way  of  making  every  thing  sure,  she  was  bled,  and  a 
dose  of  physic  was  given  to  her;  but  in  eight-and-lbrty  hours  she  was 
de  id.  The  whole  of  the  gullet,  from  about  eight  inches  below  its  com- 
mencement to  within  the  same  distance  from  the  stomach,  presented  a 
mass  of  laceration  and  inflammation  which  had  destroyed  her. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  (ESOPHAGUS  PROBAXG. 

Every  farmer  should  have  a  flexible  probang  ready  for  use,  either  of  the 
improved  kind,  as  contrived  by  jMr.  Read,  or  on  the  plan  of  that  which 
was  first  introduced  by  Dr.  Monro. 

This  cut  will  give  a  sufficient  idea  of  the  construction  of  the  most  use- 
ful probang,  or  cesophagus-tube: — 


Fig.  1.  a.  The  tube,  made  either  of  simple  leather,  or  of  leather  cover- 
ing a  canal  formed  of  spiral  wire.  It  is  about  four  feet  and  a  half  in 
length,  so  as  to  reach  from  the  mouth  to  the  rumen,  and  leaving  a  suffi- 
cient portion  outside  the  mouth  for  it  to  be  firmly  grasped. 

b.  The  stilett,  represented  as  introduced  into  the  tube,  and  running  the 
whole  length  of  it.  It  gives  greater  firmness  and  strength  to  the  tube, 
when  it  is  either  passed  into  the  stomach  in  cases  of  hoove,  or  used  to 
force  any  thing  down  the  gullet. 

c.  The  handle  of  the  stilett. 

d.  A  hollow  piece  of  wood  running  freely  upon  the  stilett,  and  placed 
between  the  handle  of  the  stilett  and  the  round  extremity  of  the  lube. 
The  stilett  is  longer  than  the  tube  by  the  extent  of  this  piece  of  wood, 
but  is  prevented  from  protruding  beyond  the  bulb  of  the  tube  at  the  other 
end  by  the  interposition  of  ihis  slider  at  the  handle.  The  stilett  may 
be  introduced  at  either  end  of  the  tube.  It  is  usually  inserted  at  e  when 
the  instrument  is  used  to  force  any  obstructing  body  down  the  throat,  be- 
cause the  enlarged  and  bulbous  termination  of  the  tube  at  tiie  other  end 
has  a  flat  or  rather  concave  surface,  and  can  therefore  act  with  more  effect 
and  power  on  the  substance  which  sticks  in  the  throat. 

e.  The  end  of  the  tube  which  is  introduced  into  the  paunch  in  cases  of 
hoove.  Its  rounded  extremity  will  permit  it  to  be  more  easily  forced 
through  the  roof  of  the  paunch,  and  it  is  perforated  with  holes  for  the 
escape  of  the  gas  with  which  the  paunch  may  be  distended. 


418  CATTLE. 

Fig.  2  represents  the  whalebone  stilett,  witli  the  hollow  piece  of  wood 
running  upon  it,  and  shows  how  easily  it  may  be  withdrawn  from  the 
stilett  when  that  is  taken  out  of  the  tube.  The  running  piece  of  wood 
being  withdrawn,  if  the  handle  of  the  stilett  is  then  pushed  down  on  the 
bulb  of  the  tube,  a  portion  of  it  will  project  at  the  other  end:  and  by  mov- 
ing the  stilett  up  and  down  in  the  lube,  this  may  be  made  to  act  on  the 
obstructing  body  in  the  maimer  and  with  somewhat  of  the  force  of  a 
hammer. 

Fig.  3  will  be  prcsenUy  described. 

Fig.  4  is  a  piece  of  thick  strong  wood,  widest  at  the  centre,  and  there 
perforated.  It  is  introduced  into  the  mouth  in  order  to  keep  it  open 
during  the  use  of  the  probang,  which  is  inserted  through  the  hole  in 
the  centre.  Leathern  straps  are  nailed  to  the  extremities:  these  are 
buckled  round  the  horns,  and  by  means  of  them  this  mouth-piece  is 
securely  fastened;  while  one  of  the  extremities,  being  grasped  by  the 
operator,  forms  a  very  useful  point  of  support  during  the  use  of  the  tube. 
The  farmer  should  also  have  another  mouth-piece,  with  a  central  hole  that 
will  admit  of  the  passage  of  a  small  hand.  He  will  thus  be  enabled  to 
get  at  and  to  remove  substances  that  have  not  descended  beyond  the  com- 
mencement of  the  gullet,  or  that  have  been  returned  so  far  by  means  to 
be  hereafter  described.  This  mouth-piece  will  be  very  useful  in  cases  of 
polypus  in  the  nose  and  many  diseases  of  the  pharynx;  but  it  would  be 
too  large  to  be  long  continued  in  tlie  mouth  without  great  pain  to  the 
animal,  nor  could  the  probang  be  so  securely  or  effectually  worked  through 
so  extensive  an  aperture.  It  is  high  time  that  those  rude,  and  dangerous, 
and  ineffectual  instruments — the  cart-whip,  and  the  cart-rope,  and  the 
rack-stave — should  be  banished  from  the  practice  of  the  veterinary  surgeon, 
and  discarded  by  the  farmer  too. 

MODE  OF  OPERATING  FOR  THE  REMOVAL  OF  SUBSTANCES  OBSTRUCTING 
THE  GULLET. 

Let  it  be  supposed  that  a  cow  has  swallowed  a  potato,  or  turnip,  too 
large  to  descend  the  gullet,  and  which  is  arrested  in  its  progress,  and 
evidently  seen  at  a  certain  distance  down  the  throat.  The  farmer  should 
have  immediate  recourse  to  the  oesophagus-tube,  introducing  the  flatter  end 
into  the  throat,  and  using  moderate  force.  If  the  obstructing  body  yields 
to  this,  he  will  be  justified  in  pushing  it  on  Avilhin  the  chest;  but  if,  with 
the  application  of  a  fair  degree  of  force,  it  is  very  slowly,  and  with  diffi- 
culty pushed  on,  the  operator  should  instantly  relinquish  the  determination 
to  drive  it  down,  for  the  fibres  of  the  muscular  coat  of  the  gullet  soon  be- 
come irritated  by  the  continued  distention,  and  contract  powerfully,  and, 
as  it  were,  spasmodically,  upon  the  foreign  body,  and  imprison  it  there. 
It  should  also  be  remembered  that  the  gullet  itself  becomes  smaller  as 
soon  as  it  has  entered  the  Uiorax;  and,  consequently,  that  which  could  not 
be  moved  without  difficulty  in  the  upper  part  of  tlie  neck,  v;ill  not  be 
moved  at  all  in  the  lower  portion  of  it. 

The  next  consideration  then  is,  whether,  although  the  obstructing  body 
cannot  be  driven  on,  it  may  not  be  solicited,  or  forced  backwards.  The 
fibres  of  the  upper  part  of  the  gullet  have  already  yielded,  and  suffered 
this  substance  to  pass  them — they  are  somewhat  weakened  by  the  unna- 
tural distention — they  have  not  yet  had  time  to  recover  their  tone,  and 
they  may  yield  again.     It  is  at  least  worth  the  trial. 

The  internal  coat  of  the  cesophagus  is  naturally  smooth  and  glistening; 
it  may,  however,  be  made  more  so,  and  the  surface  of  the  obstructing 
body  may  be  polished  too.  A  half-pint  of  olive  oil  should  be  poured  down 


OPERATION  FOR  OBSTRUCTION  IN  THE  GULLET.      419 

the  throat,  and  an  attempt  then  made  with  the  fingers,  applied  externally, 
to  give  the  body  a  retrograde  motion.  By  patient  manipulation  this  will 
be  eifected  much  oflener  than  is  imagined.  The  intruding  substance  will 
be  dislodged  from  the  situation  in  which  it  was  impacted,  and  will  be 
brought  to  the  upper  part  of  the  o?sophagus,  or  even  into  the  pharynx,  and 
Avill  then  be  sometimes  got  rid  of  by  the  efforts  of  the  beast  itself,  or  may 
be  easily  drawn  out  by  means  of  a  hand  introduced  through  the  large 
moutla-piece  to  which  reference  Avas  made  in  the  explanation  of  the 
cesophagus-tube. 

If  the  obstructiug  body  cannot  be  moved  in  this  way,  we  are  not  yet 
widiout  resource.  Mr.  Read  has  made  an  important  improvement  on,  or 
addition  to,  the  cesophagus-tube,  in  the  form  of  a  corkscrew.  Vide  fig.  .3, 
in  the  preceding  cut. 

a.  The  leather  tube,  as  before,  but  somewhat  larger,  and  longer,  and 
stronger;  and  the  upper  part  of  it,  for  the  purpose  of  additional  strength, 
composed  of  brass. 

b.  The  handle  of  the  stilett  which  runs  through  it,  as  through  the  other 
tube. 

c.  One  of  two  pieces  of  wood  placed  between  the  handle  and  the  tube; 
hollowed  so  as  to  fit  the  stilett;  removable  in  a  moment,  and,  like  ihe 
hollow  piece  of  wood  in  the  other  tube,  permitting  the  stilett  to  be  two  or 
three  inches  longer  than  the  tube.  They  are  here  removed,  and  one  of 
them  hangs  down,  suspended  by  a  string. 

d.  Tlie  bulb  which  is  introduced  through  the  mouth-piece,  and  forced 
down  the  gullet.  It  is  considerably  larger  than  those  at  the  ends  of  the 
other  tube,  but  not  so  large  as  the  distended  gullet. 

e.  A  corkscrew  fixed  to  the  end  of  the  stilett,  and  wliich,  coming  out  in 
the  centre  of  the  knob,  cannot  possibly  wound  the  gullet. 

When  this  instrument  is  used,  the  stilett  is  pulled  up  so  that  the  screw 
is  perfectly  retracted  and  concealed  within  the  knob.  The  pieces  of 
wood,  c,  are  placed  upon  the  stilett,  between  the  handle  and  the  top  of 
the  tube,  and  tied  there,  so  that  the  screw  is  now  fixed  within  the  knob; 
and  the  instrument  is  introduced  through  the  mouth-piece,  and  forced 
down  the  throat  until  it  reaches  the  obstruction.  The  pieces  of  wood 
are  then  untied,  and,  by  turning  the  handle,  the  screw  is  worked  into 
the  obstructing  body,  as  the  common  corkscrew  is  into  a  cork  in  the  neck 
of  a  bottle.  If  the  potato  or  turnip  is  fresh  and  sound,  it  would  hardly 
be  credited  what  purchase  is  obtained,  and  in  how  many  instances  the 
nuisance  may  be  drawn  up  the  throat  and  got  rid  of.  If  the  centre  of  the 
root  should  give  way,  and  a  portion  of  it  only  be  brought  out,  there  is  still 
some  good  done,  and  the  screw  should  be  returned  again  and  again,  until 
it  will  no  longer  take  hold.  By  this  time,  probably,  the  root  will  have 
been  so  weakened  and  broken  down  that  it  will  yield  to  the  pressure  of 
the  first  probang,  and  be  forced  along  into  the  rumen;  or  at  least  it  will 
be  so  weakened,  that  the  stilett  of  the  first  tube  may  be  used  with  advan- 
tage. 

The  stilett  must  be  withdrawn  from  the  tube,  and  the  nmning  piece  of 
wood  taken  away;  the  stilett  is  then  returned  to  its  sheath,  and  may  be 
made  to  project  a  couple  of  inches  beyond  the  knob.  It  is  retracted,  and 
the  tube  is  passed  into  the  throat;  when  it  will  be  evident  that  the  ope- 
rator may  use  either  the  comparatively  broad  part  of  the  knob,  or  the  small 
and  sharp  stilett,  as  the  case  may  seem  to  require.  To  the  first  he  can 
only  apply  simple  pressure — to  the  stilett  he  can  give  a  percussive  action. 
By  sharply  pushing  down  the  handle  of  the  stilett,  he  will  make  the  other 
end  act  with  the  power  of  a  little  hammer,  and  thus  more  break  down,  and 


420  CATTLE. 

probably  work  through,  the  centre  of  the  root,  as  in  the  case  which  lias 
been  just  related.  A  perforation  having  been  made  through  the  centre, 
and  the  obstruction  having  been  previously  torn  and  weakened  by  the 
screw,  the  whole  may  gradually  be  broken  down,  or  will  more  readily 
yield  to  pressure. 

These  directions  have  been  founded  on  tlie  supposition  that  the  foreign 
body  is  lodged  in  the  gullet  above  the  entrance*  into  the  thorax;  and  if 
the  operator  fails  in  all  these  contrivances,  perhaps  he  will  now  admit, 
although  reluctantly,  the  application  of  external  force.  It  has  been  recom- 
mended to  place  a  small  piece  of  wood  against  the  gullet,  and  in  contact 
with  that  portion  of  the  skin  which  covers  the  obstructing  body,  and  then, 
with  a  wooden  mallet,  to  hammer  away  against  the  opposite  side.  The 
root  has  been  thus  occasionally  broken  down,  and  then  forced  on  with 
the  cart-whip;  but  more  frequently  the  beast  has  been  sadly  punished 
williout  any  good  effect  having  been  produced;  and,  in  some  instances, 
although  the  nuisance  was  for  a  while  got  rid  of,  so  much  tenderness  of  the 
gullet  remained,  and  inflammation  arose,  and  ran  to  such  an  extent,  that 
the  animal  did  not  regain  its  appetite  for  many  weeks  afterwards,  or 
pined  away,  and  became  comparatively  worthless.  The  practitioner  will, 
therefore,  unwillingly  have  recourse  to  this,  and  will  be  justitied  in  first 
seeing  what  bleeding  will  do.  There  is  not  a  more  powerful  relaxant  than 
bleeding — and  especially  when  it  is  carried  on,  if  necessary,  to  absolute 
fainting.  For  awhile  every  spasmodic  action  ceases,  and  every  muscular 
fibre  loses  its  power  to  contract.  The  operator  will,  probably,  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  momentary  relaxation,  in  order  to  force  the  body  either 
upwards  or  downwards — upwards  first,  and  by  far  in  preference;  or  if 
downwards,  yet  still  cautiously  balancing  in  his  mind  the  degree  of  resist- 
ance with  the  chance  of  ultimate  success;  for,  if  the  resistance  continues 
to  be  considerable,  he  may  depend  upon  it  that  when  he  has  arrived  at  the 
thorax,  all  further  efforts  will  be  fruitless,  and  the  patient  will  be  lost. 

He  has  one  last  resource,  and  he  needs  not  to  be  so  afraid  of  venturing 
upon  it  as  some  practitioners  have  been.  There  is  the  operation  oi cesopha- 
gotomy,  or  the  cutting  down  upon  the  obstruction,  and  thus  removing  it. 
The  veterinary  surgeon  wiU  never  find,  or  ought  never  to  find,  difiiculty 
here,  although  the  human  surgeon  is  deemed  bold  who  ventures  upon 
the  operation. 

After  having  passed  a  little  way  down  the  neck,  the  oesophagus  is  found 
on  the  left  of  the  trachea,  and  between  the  carotid  and  the  jugular.  The 
artery  will  be  detected  by  its  pulsation,  and  the  vein  by  its  turgescence. 
The  only  muscle  that  can  be  in  danger  is  the  sterno-maxillaris,  and  that 
may,  in  a  very  great  majority  of  cases,  be  avoided,  or,  if  it  is  wounded, 
no  great  mischief  will  ensue. 

The  animal  should  be  cast,  (at  least  this  is  the  safest  way,  as  it  regards 
both  the  operator  and  the  patient.)  It  should  be  thrown  on  the  right 
side,  and  the  head  should  be  a  little  stretched  out,  but  lying  as  flat  as  the 
horns  will  permit.  The  place  of  obstruction  will  be  seen  at  once.  An 
incision  is  by  some  persons  made  immediately  into  the  gullet,  sufficiently 
long  for  the  extraction  of  the  root.  The  safer  way,  however,  is  lor  the 
cellular  substance  to  be  a  little  dissected  away  before  the  gullet  is  opened, 
when,  if  the  incision  is  long  enough,  the  incarcerated  body  will  readily 
escape.  The  edges  of  the  oesophagus  should  then  be  brought  together, 
and  confined  by  two  or  three  stitches;  the  skin  should  also  have  the 
same  number  passed  through  it,  the  ends  of  the  stitches  of  the  gullet 
having  been  brought  through  the  external  wound.  The  beast  should  have 
nothing  but  gruel  for  two  or  three  days;  and,  after  that,  gruel  and  mashes 


RUPTURE  OF  THE  (ESOPHAGUS.  421 

for  a  little  while  longer.  In  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks  the  wound  will 
generally  be  healed,  and  scarcely  a  trace  of  the  incision  will  be   visible. 

If  the  obstruction  is  not  observed,  or  the  practitioner  not  called  in  until 
the  potato  or  parsnip  has  passed  into  that  portion  of  the  gullet  which  is 
within  the  thorax,  the  chances  of  saving  the  animal  are  materially  dimi- 
nished. The  common  probang  should  first  be  tried,  and,  that  failing,  the 
corkscrew  should  be  resorted  to,  either  to  draw  the  body  out,  or  so  to 
pierce  it  and  break  it  down,  that  it  may  be  forced  onward  either  by  the 
stdetl  or  the  knob.  The  practitioner  must  stand  at  a  little  ceremony  here, 
and  he  should,  if  necessary,  use  all  the  force  he  can;  for,  if  the  obstruction 
is  not  overcome  the  animal  will  assuredly  perish. 

It  has  often  been  observed,  and  with  much  truth,  that  cows,  in  whose 
gullet  this  obstruction  has  once  taken  place,  are  subject  to  it  afterwards. 
Either  they  had  a  habit  of  voracious  feeding,  or  the  muscles  are  weakened 
by  this  spasmodic  action,  and  not  able  to  contract  upon  the  food  with  suffi- 
cient force  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  deglutition.  It  will  therefore 
generally  be  prudent  to  part  with  the  cow  that  has  once  suffered  from  an 
accident  of  this  kind, 

STRICTURE  OF  THE  (ESOPHAGUS, 

This  rarely  occurs  either  in  horses  or  catde.  It  is,  however,  a  little 
more  frequent  in  the  latter  than  in  the  former.  The  writer  of  this  treatise 
has  met  with  only  one  marked  case  of  it.  The  cow  had  been  observed  to  be 
a  slow  feeder:  she  was  grazing  when  the  others  were  ruminating;  and  she 
w^as  ruminating  long  after  they  had  been  busily  employed  in  grazing.  At 
length  the  owner,  being  more  attentive  than  the  proprietors  of  catde  gene- 
rally are,  observed  that  the  food  occasionally  accumulated  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  gullet  until  there  was  a  swelling  eight  or  ten  inches  in  length,  termi- 
nating in  an  evident  contraction  of  the  oesophagus.  She  was  then  in 
rather  low  condition,  and  was  gradually  losing  flesh.  Sometimes,  with  an 
effort,  she  could  force  the  contents  of  the  gullet  along  their  proper  course; 
then,  two  or  three  days  or  a  week  Avould  elapse  before  any  thing  would 
again  accumulate  there;  and,  at  all  Umes,  the  proprietor  could  easily  press 
down  the  food  which  was  thus  interrupted  in  its  passage.  It  was  an  evi- 
dent stricture  of  the  oesophagus;  and  so  far  as  could  be  learned,  the  dia- 
meter of  the  gullet  had  been  gradually  lessening  at  this  point. 

The  practitioner  recommended  that  she  should  be  destroyed:  alleging 
that  a  cure  was  improbable,  and  must,  at  the  best,  occupy  a  long  period 
of  time,  and  be  expensive,  Slie  was  young  in  calf,  and  that  by  a  valuable 
bull,  and  he  was  desired  to  do  what  he  could.  He  passed  a  probang 
through  the  stricture,  as  large  as,  without  too  great  violence,  he  could 
manage,  and  confined  it  there  for  an  hour  by  means  of  tapes.  The 
cow  was  violent,  but  still  this  was  accomplished  for  a  few  days,  when  a 
larger  probang  was  used,  but  at  length  she  became  perfecdy  unmanage- 
able. She  was  then  cast,  and  the  introduction  of  the  probang  attempted; 
but  there  was  an  awkwardness  about  it,  and  her  violence  threatened 
injury  to  herself  and  those  about  her.  Some  ground,  however,  had  been 
gained,  and  with  that  the  owner,  tired  of  the  trouble,  and  afraid  of  the 
expense,  expressed  himself  contented.  The  food  accumulated  less  fre- 
quendy,  and,  soon  after  her  calving  ceased  to  accumulate  at  all. 

RUPTURE  OF  THE  (ESOPHAGUS. 

In  cases  of  laceration,  or  rupture  of  the  gullet,  which  too  frequendy 
follow  the  violent  attempts  of  unskilful  persons  to  force  down  the  obstructing 
body,  something  might  be  done  if  die  mischief  was   immediately  ascer- 
37 


422 


CATTLE. 


tained.     Prudence,  however,  would  dictate  the  sacrifice  of  the   animal, 
while  it  could  be  fairly  sold  to  the  butcher. 

If  the  cure  is  under'taken,  the  part  must  be  opened — the  foreign  body 
liberated  from  the  cellular  texture  into  which  it  had  probably  been  driven — 
all  the  dirt  and  indigested  matter  cleared  carefully  away — the  ragged  and 
lacerated  edges  cut  off— the  divided  portions  brought  as  neatly  and  as 
closely  together  as  possible — and  the  whole  secured  by  bandages  passed 
several  times  round  the  neck;  while  the  animal  is  allowed  gruel  only  for 
many  a  day,  and  then  mashes.  The  dressing  should  be  the  healing 
ointment,  daily  applied.  Tbe  power  of  nature  is  great;  and,  the  foreign 
body  having  been  removed  before  it  could  cause  inflammation  and  mor- 
tification by  its  presence,  the  parts  may  be  reinstated  to  every  useful  pur- 
pose. 

THE  (ESOPHAGXJS  WITHIN  THE  THORAX. 

As  the  oesophagus  approaches  the  chest  it  lakes  a  direction  more  and 
more  towards  the  left,  and  enters  it  on  that  side  of  the  windpipe.  It  is 
there  found  between  the  laminae  of  the  mediastinum,  following  the  direction 
of  the  dorsal  vertebra;.  It  passes,  as  in  the  horse,  by  the  base  of  the  heart, 
leavinff  the  vena?  cavec  on  the  right,  and  the  aorta  on  the  left.  It  by  de- 
grees separates  itself  from  the  spine,  but  not  so  much  as  in  the  horse, 
penetrating  between  the  lungs,  and,  pursuing  its  course  towards  the 
diaphragm,  passes    through  the    great   opening    between    the    crura    of 


THE  (ESOPHAGEAN  CANAL. 


423 


that  muscle.  As  it  travels  through  the  raediastinuni  and  between  the 
lungs,  it  diminishes  in  size,  and  acquires  considerable  firmness  of  texture; 
but  it  has  no  sooner  entered  the  abdomen,  and  begun  to  dip  downwards, 
than  it  becomes  more  muscular,  and  less  firm  in  its  structure.  It  also 
rapidly  increases  in  size  until  it  assumes  almost  the  shape  of  a  funnel ; 
and  terminates  direcUy  in  no  particular  stomach,  but  in  a  canal  which 
opens  into  all  the  stomachs,  of  which,  as  will  be  seen,  the  ruminant  pos- 
sesses four. 

Recourse  must  be  had  to  a  few  cuts  in  order  to  render  this  intelligible 
to  the  reader. 

The  cut  in  the  preceding  page  will  exhibit  the  form  of  the  stomachs 
when  filled,  their  relative  situations,  and  their  connexion  with  each  other. 

a.  The  oesophagus  gradually  enlarging  as  it  descends,  and  apparently 
running  into  the  rumen  or  paunch,  but,  in  fact,  terminating  in  a  canal. 

b.  A  continuation  of  the  spiral  muscles  of  the  oesophagus,  thicker  and 
more  powerful  as  they  approach  the  termination  of  that  tube. 

Before  tlie  reader  proceeds  to  the  consideration  of  the  other  parts  deli- 
neated in  that  cut,  it  may  be  advantageous  to  take  a  different  view  of  the 
structure  and  termination  of  the  gullet. 


a.  The  oesophagus  enlarging  as  it  descends,  and  becoming  more  muscular, 
and  particularly  the  upper  and  posterior  part  of  it.  The  continuation  of 
it  along  the  stomachs  is  slit  up,  in  order  to  show  that  it  would  form  the  con- 
tinuous roof  of  the  canal  wliich  is  here  laid  open,  and  which  leads  to 
the  third  and  fourth  stomachs. 

b.  The  cesophagean  canal  exposed  by  slitting  the  roof  from  the  termina- 
tion of  the  gullet  to  the  third  stomach.  A  considerable  part  of  the  floor 
is  composed  of  two  muscular  pillars,  lying  close  to  each  other.  It  would 
therefore  appear,  at  first  inspection,  to  be  a  perfect  canal,  and  that  what 
descended  into  it  from  the  gullet  would  run  on  to  the  third  and  fourth 
stomachs.  These  pillars  are  duplicatures  of  the  roof  of  the  first  and 
second  stomachs,  which  lie  immediately  underneath  them. 

c  is  the  continuation  of  the  same  canal  into  and  through  the  many- 
plus,  or  third  stomach,  which  is  known  by  its  leaves  and  thin  hooked 
edges. 

(/  is  a  prolongation  of  the  same  canal  into  the  fourth,  or  true  digestive 
stomach.  It  is  easy  therefore  to  perceive  that  the  food,  whether  solid  or 
fluid,  may,  at  the  will  of  the  animal,  or  under  particular  circumstances  of 
tlie  constitution,  pass  into  the  third  and  fourth  stomachs,  without  a  particle 
of  it  entering  into  the  first  or  second;  and  we  know  that  this  is  the  case 
with  the  food  after  it  has  undergone  the  process  of  rumination,  or  a  second 
mastication. 


424  CATTLE. 

The  following  cut  Avill  give  another  view  of  the  same  parts. 


a  is  again  the  cssophagus,  terminating  in  the  oesophagean  canal. 

b  is,  as  before,  the  (rsophagean  canal;  but  now,  at  the  will  of  the  ani- 
mal, or  under  certain  states  of  the  constitution,  these  pillars  are  no  longer 
in  contact  with  each  other,  but  there  is  a  large  opening  at  the  bottom  of 
the  oesophagus  displaying  the  two  tirst  stomachs  lying  under  them. 

c  is  the  rumen,  ov  paunch,  or  lirst  stomach,  placed  immediately  under 
the  termination  of  the  gullet,  and  substances  descending  that  tube  fall 
through  this  opening,  and  are  received  into  it.  All  the  food  when  first 
swallowed,  goes  there  to  be  preserved  for  the  act  of  rumination;  and  a 
portion,  and  occasionally  the  greatest  portion,  of  the  fluids  that  pass 
down  the  gullet,  enter  the  rumen.   Farther  on,  at 

d,  is  the  reticulum,  or  second  stomach.  From  the  state  of  that 
stomach,  or  at  the  will  of  the  animal,  the  muscular  pillars  here  also  relax, 
seldom  or  never  to  permit  that  which  is  passing  along  the  resophagean 
canal  to  enter  the  reticulum,  but  that  the  contents  of  the  reticulum  may 
be  thrown  into  the  oesophagean  canal.  This  is  the  case  when  the  pellet 
of  food  is  returned  for  remastication — it  is  thrown  into  the  canal  from 
the  reticulum — it  is  seized  by  the  powerful  muscles  at  the  base  of  the 
gullet,  and  carried  up  by  the  spiral  muscles  of  that  tube  in  order  to  be 
remasticated.  It  will  be  seen  the  upper  pillar  (situated  towards  the  right 
in  the  living  subject,)  and  the  lower  part  of  the  opening  made  by  the  re- 
laxation of  the  pillars,  belong  to  the  reticulum;  the  lower  pillar  and  the 
anterior  portion  of  the  opening  (situated  towards  the  left)  belong  to  the 
roof  of  the  rumen.  'I'his  is  very  satisfactorily  seen  in  the  dried  stomach 
of  a  young  calf. 

e  is  the  mur.yplus,  or  third  stomach,  and  through  which  the  canal  is 
still  to  be  traced  to 

b,  the  abomasum,  or  fourth,  or  true  digesting  stomach.  So  that,  as 
was  asserted,  this  canal  leads  to  no  particular  stomach  exclusively,  but  to 
all  of  them,  according  to  circumstances. 

We  are  now,  perhaps,  prepared  to  return  to  the  consideration  of  the 
first  cut  (p.  422.) 

c  c  represent  the  form  of  this  stomach  in  the  greater  part  of  rumi- 
nants, and  particularly  in  oxen  and  sheep.  It  is  situated  somewhat  ob- 
liquely in  the  abdommal  cavity,  and  occupies  nearly  three-fourths  of  it.     It 


THE  EXTERIOR  OF  THE  STOMACHS.  425 

is  divided  into  two  unequal  compartments,  or  sacs,  and  reaches  from  the 
diaphragm  to  the  pelvic  cavity.  By  its  superior  surface  it  is  attached  to 
the  sublumbar  region  by  its  vessels,  nerves,  and  a  portion  of  mesentery. 
On  the  right  side  it  is  covered  by  a  portion  of  the  intestines;  on  the  left 
side  it  is  more  elevated,  and  is  in  contact  with  the  left  flank.  It  is  on  this 
account  that  we  are  sometimes  induced  to  adopt  the  unsurgical  mode  of 
giving  relief  in  cases  of  hoove;  for  when  we  plunge  our  lancet  or  knife 
into  the  left  flank,  we  puncture  the  distended  stomach.  Its  inferior  surface 
rests  upon  the  floor  of  the  belly.  The  left  side  reaches  to  the  diaphragm, 
and  thence,  under  the  left  flank,  to  the  pelvis.  The  right  side  rests  on 
the  floor  of  the  abdomen,  and  is  covered  by  the  fourth  stomach.  The 
anterior  extremity  is  attached  to  the  diaphragm  by  the  oesophagus,  and  by 
the  cardiac  ligament;  and  the  right  extremity  floats  free,  generally  occupy- 
ing the  pelvis,  but  pushed  thence  in  the  latter  period  of  gestation. 

Deep  scissuresnot  only  divide  it  into  two  lobes,  as  has  been  mentioned, 
but  another  scissure  posteriorly,  which  will  be  shown  in  the  next  cut, 
forms  it  into  two  others;  so  that  its  interior  presents  four  compartments, 
separated  from  each  by  deeply  projecting  duplicatures  of  the  walls  of  the 
stomach. 

This  cut  represents  two  of  the  three  coats  of  the  rumen. 

The  external,  or  peritoneal,  coat  is  here  represented  as  turned  back  at 
different  places  in  order  to  show  the  muscular  coat,  which,  as  in  the  horse, 
consists  of  two  layers,  the  one  running  longitudinally  and  the  other  trans- 
versely; yet  not  accurately  so,  for  they  appear  to  run  obliquely,  and  in 
many  different  directions,  according  to  the  varying  curvatures  of  the  sto- 
mach, A  very  erroneous  opinion  of  this  great  macerating  stomach  would 
be  formed  by  considering  it  as  a  mere  passive  reservoir  in  which  the  food 
is  contained  until  it  is  wanted  for  rnmiivition:  it  is  in  constant  motion;  the 
food  is  perpetually  revolving  through  its  different  compartments,  and  un- 
dergoing important  preparation  for  future  digestion.  These  muscles  are 
the  mechanical  agents  by  wliich  this  is  effected,  and  by  running  in  these 
different  directions  they  are  enabled  to  act  upon  all  the  differendy-forraed 
cells  of  this  enormous  viscus. 

d.  The  rclindum,  or  honey-conih,  or  second  stomach,  viewed  externally, 
and  supposed  to  be  filled.  It  is  a  little  curved  upon  itself  from  below  up- 
wards, and  is  the  smallest  of  all  the  stomachs.  It  rests  against  the  dia- 
phragm in  front  of  the  left  sac  of  tiie  rumen,  and  is  placed  under  the  oeso- 
phagus, and  upon  the  abdominal  prolongation  of  the  sternum.  There  are 
two  layers  of  muscles  belonging  to  tiiis  stomach,  one  of  them  running 
longitudinally  and  the  other  transversely,  as  in  the  rumen. 

e  gives  the  external  appearance  of  the  manyplus,  or  third  stomach. 
It  is  less  rounded,  and  longer  than  tlie  reticulum.  It  is  curved  upon  it- 
self from  above  downwards.  Its  little  curvature  is  applied  on  the  left, 
pardy  over  the  reticulum,  and  more  on  the  paunch;  and  on  the  right,  it 
is  placed  over  the  base  of  the  fourth  stomach.  It  is  situated  obliquely 
from  the  right  side  of  the  abdomen,  between  the  liver  and  the  right  sac  of 
the  rumen.  Girard  thus  describes  it: — "  Its  anterior  face  rests  against  the 
liver  and  the  diaphragm — its  posterior  is  placed  over  the  right  sac  of  the  ru- 
men. Its  great,  rounded,  convex  curvature  is  attached  to  the  fourth  sto- 
mach, and  also  to  the  rumen,  by  a  prolongation  of  mesentery;  and  its  litde 
curvature  is  continuous  with  that  of  the  reticulum." 

Fig.  1  and  2  represent  the  two  layers  of  muscles  as  before. 

/.  The  abomasum,  or  fourth  stomach,  is  described  by  Girard  as  "elon- 
gated, and  of  a  cone-like  form,  yet  somewhat  bent  into  an  arch,  situated 
obliquely  to  the  right  of  and  behind  the  manvplus,  and  between  the  dia- 
37* 


426 


CATTLE. 


phragm  and  the  right  sac  of  the  rumen."  It  has  two  free  or  unattached 
faces,  one  against  the  diaphragm  and  the  other  against  the  right  sac  of  the 
rumen — two  curvatures,  the  inferior  and  larger  convex,  and  giving  attach- 
ment along  its  inner  border  to  a  portion  of  mesentery,  which  extends  to 
the  inferior  scissures  of  the  rumen;  and  the  superior  or  smaller  receiving 
the  portions  of  mesentery  which  go  from  the  reticulum  to  the  superior 
scissures  of  the  rumen.  It  is  also  said  to  have  two  extremities,  the  one 
anterior,  which  is  the  largest  and  placed  inferiorly,  adhering  to  the  smaller 
curvature  of  the  manyplus,  and  constituting  the  base,  or  great  extremity 
of  the  abomasum — and  the  posterior  and  superior,  which  is  narrow,  elon- 
gated, curved  above  and  backwards  on  the  superior  face  of  the  right  sac  of 
the  rumen,  and  called  the  smaller  or  pyloric  extremity. 

A  dissection  of  the  muscular  coat  is  given  here  as  in  the  other  stomachs. 

g  represents  the  commencement  of  the  duodenum,  or  first  intestine. 

'Die  reader  is  now  prepared  for  the  consideration  of  the  interior  of  these 
stomachs. 


fl.  The  (esophagus,  as  before,  enlarging,  and  assuming  a  funnel-like 
shape  as  it  approaches  the  stomachs. 

b.  The  oesophagus  cut  open  at  the  commencement  of  the  cesophagean 
canal,  in  order  to  show  its  communication  with  the  first  and  second 
stomachs. 

c.  The  rumen  laid  open  and  divided  into  its  different  compartments  by 
scissures,  more  or  less  deep,  and  which  on  the  internal  surface  appear  as 
indentations,  or  dnplicalures  of  the  coats  of  the  stomach.     They  are  re- 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  STOMACHS.  427 

cognized  under  the  name  of  the  double-tripe  when  prepared  for  the  table. 
The  rumen  is  divided  into  two  large  sacs,  seen  in  the  cut  of  the  external 
form  of  the  stomachs  (p.  422,)  and  the  walls  that  separate  them  are  thick, 
and  perpendicular  to  the  surface  of  the  stomach,  so  as  to  form  a  very  con- 
siderable separation  between  the  compartments  of  the  stomach.  These 
again  are  subdivided  by  transversal  bands,  which  form  smaller  compart- 
ments. Two,  belonging  to  the  posterior  portion  of  the  stomach,  are  given 
in  this  cut.  There  are  similar  divisions  in  the  anterior  sac,  but  which 
are  here  concealed  by  one  of  the  folds  of  the  stomach. 

The  whole  of  the  rumen  is  covered  by  a  cuticular  membrane,  consti- 
tuting the  third  or  inner  coat.  Immediately  under  this,  and  arising  from 
the  interposed  tissue  between  the  muscular  and  cuticular  coats,  there  are 
innumerable  small  prominences  or  papillae.  They  are  of  different  sizes 
and  forms  in  different  parts  of  the  rumen.  Towards  the  longitudinal 
bands  or  duplicatures  they  are  small,  and  thinly  set;  they  are  more  nume- 
rous and  larger  towards  the  centre  of  the  compartments;  and  largest  of  all 
in  the  bottom  of  the  posterior  and  most  capacious  sac.  In  every  part  of  the 
rumen  they  are  more  thickly  set,  and  broad  and  strong  towards  the  centre 
or  bottom  of  each  compartment.  They  are  also  harder  and  blacker  in 
these  places.  ^\  hen  regarded  in  different  compartments,  they  appear  to 
be  bent  or  inclined  in  different  directions;  but  when  they  are  more  closely 
examined,  they  are  all  inclined  in  the  direction  which  the  food  takes  in  its 
passage  through  the  various  divisions  of  the  rumen.  They  are  evidendy 
erectile,  and  may  sometimes  bristle  up  and  oppose  the  passage  of  the 
food;  while,  at  other  times  they  yield  and  bend,  and  suffer  it  to  pass 
with  litde  or  no  obstruction.  Some  have  imagined  that  these  are  glandular 
bodies,  and  that  they  secrete  a  peculiar  fluid;  others  confine  the  glandular 
apparatus  to  the  tissue  between  the  cuticular  coat,  and  numerous  litde 
prominences,  which  can  be  seen  in  the  inflated  stomach  of  a  young  rumi- 
nant when  exposed  to  the  light,  are  best  accounted  for  by  considering 
them  as  glandular  bodies. 

There  are  two  openings  into  the  rumen;  the  one  already  spoken  of  at 
the  base  of  the  oesophagus,  and  through  which  the  substances  gathered  at 
the  first  cropping  of  the  food,  and  perhaps  all  solids  fall,  and  a  consi- 
derable proportion  of  the  liquids  swallow-ed.  The  other  opening  is  below 
this.  It  is  larger  and  always  open;  it  communicates  with  the  second 
stomach;  but  there  is  a  semilunar  fold  of  the  rumen  that  runs  obliquely 
across  it,  and  acts  as  a  valve,  so  that  nothing  can  pass  from  the  first 
into  the  second  stomach,  except  by  some  forcible  eflort;  and  it  is  very 
seldom  that  any  thing  is  returned  from  the  rumen  directly  into  the  oeso- 
phagus. 

Considering  the  size  of  the  paunch,  it  has  very  few  blood-vessels;  in 
fact,  it  has  not  much  to  do  except  macerating  the  food.  The  arteries  are 
supplied  by  the  splenics,  which  are  of  very  great  size  in  ruminants.  The 
nerves  are  given  out  by  the  cceliac  plexus. 

(/.  The  reticulum,  or  second  stomach.  The  cuticular  coat  here  covers  a 
very  irregular  surface;  consisting  of  cells,  shallower  and  wider  than  those 
of  a  honey-comb,  but  very  much  resembling  them;  hence  this  stomach 
is  sometimes  called  the  honey-comb.  Each  of  tbese  divisions  contains 
several  smaller  ones;  and  at  the  base  and  along  the  sides  of  each  are 
found  numerous  minute  prominences,  or  papillae;  which  are  evidendy 
secreting  glands. 

There  are  two  openings  into  the  stomach;  one  through  the  floor  of  the 
oesophagean  canal,  one  of  the  pillars  of  which  is  formed  of  a  duplicature 
of  the  coats  of  the  lesser  curvature  of  the  reticulum.  The  other  is  that 
already  described,  between  this  stomach  and  the  rumen. 


428  CATTLE. 

The  muscular  coat  of  this  stomach  is  thick  and  powerful,  but  the  blood- 
vessels are  not  numerous,  for  it  will  Iiereafter  appear  that  its  functions 
are  very  simple.  The  arteries  and  nerves  of  the  reticulum  are  derived 
from  the  same  source  as  tliose  of  the  rumen. 

e.  The  manyphis,  or  third  stomacli.  'I'he  internal  structure  of  this 
stomach  is  very  singular.  The  oesophagean  canal  changes  its  form  and 
character  at  the  commencement  of  the  manyplus,  and  the  fleshy  pillars  of 
which  mention  has  been  so  often  made,  unite,  forming  a  kind  of  obtuse 
angle.  The  floor  of  the  canal  is  now  perfect,  and  nothing  can  any  longer 
fall  into  the  stomachs  beneath.  A  small  circular  aperture  alone  is  left 
between  them,  which  conducts  to  the  third  stomach,  the  floor  of  which  is 
closed,  but  the  roof  is  constructed  in  a  remarkable  way.  The  whole  of  the 
stomach  contributes  to  form  this  roof;  and  from  it  there  descend  numerous 
duplicatures  of  the  cuticular  coat,  each  duplicature  containing  within  it 
cellular  tissue,  blood-vessels,  and  a  thin  but  powerful  layer  of  muscles. 
They  are  formed  into  groups.  A  long  duplicature,  resembling  a  leaf  or 
curtain,  hangs  from  the  roof,  and  floats  free  in  the  stomach,  and  reaches 
nearly  down  to  the  floor.  On  either  side  of  it  is  a  shorter  leaf,  and  beyond 
that  a  shorter  still,  until  the  outer  leaf  becomes  very  narrow.  Then  com- 
mences another  group  witb  a  long  leaf  in  the  centre,  and  others  progres- 
sively shortening  on  each  side,  until  the  stomach  is  filled  with  these 
leaves,  hanging  down  from  every  part  of  it;  floating  loosely  about,  and 
the  lower  edge  of  tlie  longest  of  them  reaching  into  the  continuation  of 
the  cESophagean  canal. 

The  cuticular  covering  of  these  leaves  is  peculiarly  dense  and  strong, 
and  thickly  studded  with  little  prominences;  so  that  when  the  leaf  is  exa- 
mined it  exhibits  a  file-like  hardness,  that  would  scarcely  be  thought  pos- 
sible; and  it  is  evidently  capable  of  acting  like  a  file,  or  little  grindstone. 
These  prominences  are  larger  and  harder  towards  the  lower  part  of  the 
leaf;  and,  in  the  central  leaves,  assume  the  form  and  oflice  of  litfle  crotch- 
ets, or  hooks  some  of  which  have  the  hardness  of  horn,  so  that  nothing 
solid  or  fibrous  can  escape  them. 

These  groups  of  leaves  vary  in  number  in  diiferent  animals,  and  the 
number  of  leaves  constituting  each  group  vaiy  too.  They  float  thickest, 
and  the  canal  is  smallest  at  the  entrance  into  this  stomach,  where  they 
are  most  wanted.  Towards  the  fourth  stoiuach  the  course  is  left  more 
open. 

As  would  be  expected,  from  the  complicated  mechanism  of  this  stomach; 
it  is  more  abundantly  supplied  wiih  blood-vessels  and  with  nerves  than 
the  second,  or  even  than  the  first,  although  that  is  many  times  larger  than 
the  third. 

f.  The  abomasum,  or  fourth  stomach,  is  lined  by  a  soft  villous  membrane, 
like  the  digestive  portion  of  the  stomach  of  the  horse.  It  also  contains 
a  great  number  of  folds,  or  leaves,  somewhat  irregularly  placed,  but  running 
chiefly  longitudinally.  They  are  largest  and  most  numerous  at  the  upper 
and  wider  part  of  the  stomach;  and  one  of  the  folds,  in  particular,  is 
placed  at  the  entrance  into  the  abomasum,  yielding  to  the  substances 
Avhich  pass  from  the  third  stomach  into  tlie  fourth,  and  leaving,  as  it  were,  a 
free  and  open  way,  but  opposing  an  almost  perfect  valvular  obstruction 
to  their  return.  This  explains  the  reason  why  vomiting  is  so  rare  in  the 
ruminant;  and  that  when  it  does  occur,  it  must  be  produced  by  such 
violent  spasmodic  eflx»rts  as  to  cause  or  indicate  the  approach  of  death. 
See  g  and  h.  p.  424. 

Towards  the  lower  and  narrower  part  of  the  stomach  these  folds  are  less 
numerous  and  of  smaller  size:  they  are  also  more  irregular  in  the  course 
which  they  take;  some  of  them  running  obliquely  and  even  transversely. 


CHANGES  OF  THE  FOOD  IN  THE  RUMEN.  429 

This  coat  of  the  stomach,  -when  the  animal  is  in  health,  is  thickly  covered 
with  mucus,  while,  from  innumerable  glands,  it  secretes  the  gastric  juice, 
or  true  digestive  fluid. 

The  pyloric  or  lower  orifice  of  this  stomach  is  guarded  by  a  rounded 
projecting  thick  substance,  by  which  the  entrance  into  the  intestine  is  much 
contracted,  and  which,  indeed,  pardy  discharges  the  function  of  a  sphinc- 
ter muscle. 

g-  is  a  portion  of  the  duodenum,  or  first  intestine. 

h  gives  the  place  where  the  biliary  and  pancreatic  ducts  enter  the  duo- 
denum. 

i.  A  stilett  is  here  supposed  to  be  passed  through  that  portion  of  the 
OBSophagean  canal  (the  very  beginning  of  it,)  through  which  the  gullet 
communicates  with  the  paunch. 

k.  A  stilett  is  here  supposed  to  run  through  that  part  of  the  canal  by 
means  of  which  the  gullet  communicates  w'ith.the  second  stomach. 

/.  A  stilett  here  passes  below  the  last,  and  under  the  oesophagean  canal, 
showing  the  situadon  of  the  direct  communication  between  the  rumen 
and  the  recticulum. 

m.  The  supposed  direction  of  the  oesophagean  canal  to  the  third  stomach 
over  the  roofs  of  the  paunch  and  the  second  stomach. 

n.  Its  passage  through  the  third  stomach,  and  entrance  into  the  fourth. 

THE    CHANGES    OF    THE    FOOD    IN    THE    DIFFERENT    STOMACHS. 

The  OX  rapidly  and  somewhat  greedily  crops  the  herbage,  which  under- 
goes litde  or  no  mastication,  but  being  rolled  into  a  pellet,  and  as  it  passes 
along  the  pharynx,  being  somewhat  enveloped  by  the  mucus  there  se- 
creted, is  swallowed.  The  pellet,  being  hard  and  rapidly  driven  along 
by  the  action  of  the  muscles  of  the  oesophagus,  falls  upon  the  anterior 
portion  of  the  CESophagean  canal,  and  its  curiously-formed  floor;  and  either 
by  the  force  with  which  it  strikes  on  these  pillars,  or  by  some  instinctive 
influence,  they  are  separated,  and  the  pellet  falls  into  the  rumen,  which  is 
found  immediately  under  the  base  of  the  gullet,  as  represented  at  c,  p.  424, 
and  i,  p.  426.  The  food,  however,  which  thus  enters  the  rumen  does  not 
remain  stationary  in  the  place  where  it  falls.  It  has  been  seen  that  the 
walls  of  this  stomach  are  supplied  with  muscles  of  considerable  power,  and 
which  run  longitudinally  and  transversely,  and  in  various  directions  all 
over  it,  and  by  means  of  them  the  contents  of  the  paunch  are  gradually 
conveyed  through  all  its  compartments.  At  first  the  food  travels  with 
comparative  rapidity,  for  the  muscles  of  the  stomach  act  strongly,  and  the 
papilla?  with  which  it  is  lined  easily  yield  and  suffer  it  to  pass  on;  but, 
the  rumen  being  filled,  or  the  animal  ceasing  to  graze,  the  progress  of  the 
foot  is  retarded.  The  muscles  act  with  less  power,  and  the  contents  of 
the  stomach  with  greater  difficulty  find  their  way  over  the  partitions  of  the 
different  sacs,  and,  at  die  same  time,  probably,  the  papillae  exert  their 
erectile  power,  and  oppose  a  new  obstacle. 

Some  cruel  experiments  have  been  instituted  in  order  to  ascertain  the 
nature  of  this  muscular  action  of  the  coats  of  the  rumen,  so  necessary  to 
produce  this  revolution  of  the  food  through  its  compartments.  A  consi- 
derable opening  was  cut  into  the  flank,  immediately  over  the  paunch,  and 
a  swinging  or  balancing  motion  of  that  stomach,  both  upwards  and  down- 
wards, and  forwards  and  backwards  was  plainly  seen. 

The  uses  of  the  papillae  seem  to  be  various;  they  support  the  weight 
of  the  superincumbent  food,  rough,  unmasticated,  and  Hable  to  injure  the 
coat  of  the  stomach  over  which  it  is  continually  moving;  they  take  away 
the  pressure  from  the  follicular  glands  of  the  stomach,  and  which  pressure 


430  CATTLE. 

would  render  it  impossible  for  these  glands  to  discliarg-e  that  mucous 
lubricating  fluid,  which  is  requisite  for  the  protection  of  the  stomach  and 
the  revolution  of  the  food.  The  papillae  are  consequently  more  numerous 
and  larger  and  stronger  at  the  centre  or  bottom  of  each  of  the  compart- 
ments where  the  food  would  accumulate  and  press  most:  and  they  are 
more  thinly  scattered,  and  in  some  places  almost  disappear,  where  there 
is  no  danger  from  the  pressure  of  the  friction.  In  addition  to  all  these, 
are  the  important  functions  of  yielding  and  suffering  the  food  to  pass 
unimpeded  along,  M'hile  the  stomach  is  rapidly  filling  as  the  animal 
grazes,  and  then  by  their  erectile  power  retarding  that  progress  when  the 
beast  has  ceased  to  eat,  and  the  slow  process  of  rumination  has  com- 
menced. The  glandular  bodies,  to  which  allusion  has  been  made,  are 
most  plentifully  situated,  and  are  of  largest  size,  on  the  upper  part  of  the 
sides  of  the  rumen,  where  they  are  least  exposed  to  pressure,  and  may- 
discharge  the  lubricating  mucus  which  they  secrete  without  obstacle. 

The  only  change  that  takes  place  in  the  food  in  a  healthy  state  and 
action  of  this  stomach  is  that  of  maceration,  and  preparation  for  the  second 
mastication  as  may  be  easily  proved  by  taking  from  the  mouth  of  a  cow 
a  pellet  that  has  been  returned  for  rumination  and  which  will  be  found  to 
be  merely  the  grass,  or  other  food,  no  otherwise  altered  than  as  being 
softened,  and  covered  with  a  portion  of  mucus.  The  fluid  which  the 
rumen  contains  is  not  secreted  there,  but  whenever  the  animal  drinks, 
a  portion  of  the  water  breaks  through  the  pillars  of  the  oesophagean  canal, 
regulated  in  quantity  either  by  the  will  of  the  beast  or  by  the  sympathy 
of  the  parts  with  the  state  and  wants  of  the  stomach,  or  with  the  state 
of  the  constitution  generally.  The  rumen  of  a  healthy  ox  always  con- 
tains a  considerable  quantity  of  fluid. 

The  food,  having  traversed  all  the  compartments  of  this  stomach,  would 
arrive  again  at  the  point  from  which  it  started,  were  it  not  that  a  fold  of 
the  rumen  arrests  its  course,  and  gives  it  a  somev/hat  different  direction. 
This  fold  is  placed  at  the  spot  where  there  exists  a  communication  between 
the  rumen  and  the  reticulum,  and  wdiich  also  is  guarded  by  a  fold  or  valve; 
but  the  peristaltic  motion  of  the  stomach  going  on,  and  the  food  pressing 
from  behind,  a  portion  of  it  is  at  length,  by  a  convulsive  action,  pardy 
voluntary  and  partly  involuntary,  thrown  over  this  fold  into  the  i-eti- 
culum. 

The  inner  coat  of  the  reticulum,  or  second  stomach,  has  been  described 
as  divided  into  numerous  honeycomb-formed  cells  (they  are  well  repre- 
sented at  d,  p.  426,)  at  the  base  of  each  of  which  are  numerous  small  secre- 
tory glands  which  also  furnish  a  considerable  quantity  of  mucus.  The  action 
of  this  stomach  consists  in  first  contracting  upon  its  contents;  and,  in  doing 
this,  it  forms  the  portion  just  received  from  the  rumen  into  the  proper 
shape  for  its  return  up  the  oesophagus,  and  covers  it  more  completely  with 
mucus:  then,  by  a  stronger  and  somewhat  spasmodic  action,  it  forces  the 
pellet  between  the  pillars  at  the  floor  oi'  the  o^sophagean  canal,  where  it  is 
seized  by  the  muscles,  that  are  so  powerful  at  the  base  of  the  oesophagus, 
and  which  extend  over  this  part  of  the  canal,  and  is  conveyed  to  the  mouth. 
The  reticulum,  expanding  again,  receives  a  new  portion  of  food  from  the 
rumen,  and  which  had  been  forced  over  the  valve  by  the  convulsive  action 
of  that  viscus. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  the  manner  in  which  these  acts  are  performed.  The 
cow  is  generally  found  couching  on  her  right  side,  in  order  that  the  intestines 
which  are  principally  lodged  on  that  side  may  not  press  upon  and  interfere 
with  the  action  of  the  rumen.  After  a  pellet  that  has  undergone  the  pro- 
cess of  rumination  is  swallowedj  there  is  a  pause  of  two  or  three  seconds, 


THE  DIFFICULTY  OF  PURGING  CATTLE.  431 

during  which  the  cow  is  making  a  slow  and  deep  inspiration.  By  means 
of  this  the  lungs  are  inflated  and  press  on  the  diaphragm;  and  the  dia- 
phragm in  its  turn  presses  on  both  the  rumen  and  the  reticulum,  and  assists 
their  action.  Suddenly  the  inspiration  is  cut  short  by  an  evident  spasm; 
it  is  the  forcible  ejection  of  the  pellet  from  the  reticulum  and  of  a 
fresh  quantity  of  food  over  the  valvular  fold  to  enter  the  reticulum  as  soon  as  ■ 
it  expands  again.  This  spasmodic  action  is  immediately  followed  by  the 
evident  passage  of  the  ball  up  the  oesophagus  to  the  mouth.  The  spiral 
muscles  of  the  oesophagus,  with  their  fibres  interlacing  each  other,  are 
admirably  suited  to  assist  the  ascent  as  well  as  the  descent  of  the  pellet 
of  food. 

This  prolonged  inspiration  is  precisely  the  same  as  that  to  which  the 
human  being  has  recourse  when  he  would  expel  a  portion  of  the  gas 
that  distends  his  stomach. 

This  account  of  the  construction  and  function  of  the  rumen  wUl  throw 
considerable  light  on  some  circumstances  not  a  litde  annoying  to  the 
practitioner.  It  has  been  stated  that  a  portion  of  the  fluid  swallowed 
usually  enters  the  rumen,  and  that  the  quantity  which  actually  enters  it 
depends  a  little  perhaps  on  the  will  of  the  animal,  more  on  the  manner 
in  which  the  fluid  was  administered,  but  most  of  all  on  some  state  of  the 
constitution  over  which  we  have  no  control.  Accordingly  it  happens, 
and  not  unfrequently,  and  particularly  under  some  diseases  of  an  in- 
flammatory nature,  and  in  which  physic  is  imperatively  required,  that 
although  it  is  administered  in  a  liquid  form  and  as  gently  as  possible, 
the  greater  part,  or  the  whole  of  it  enters  the  rumen,  and  remains  there 
totally  inert.  Dose  after  dose  is  administered  until  the  practitioner  is 
tired,  or  afraid  to  give  more;  and,  ignorant  of  the  anatomy  and  functions 
of  the  stomachs,  he  wonders  at  the  obstinate  constipation  Mdiich  seems  to 
bid  defiance  to  all  purgative  medicines;  whereas,  in  fact,  little  or  none  of 
it  had  entered  the  intestinal  canal.  At  length,  perhaps,  the  rumen  is 
excited  to  action,  and  ejects  a  considerable  portion  of  its  liquid,  and  some 
of  its  more  solid  contents,  either  directly  into  the  ossophagean  canal,  or 
through  the  medium  of  the  recticulum;  and  which,  by  an  inverted  and 
forcible  contraction,  is  driven  through  the  manyplus  and  into  the  fourth 
stomach,  and  thence  into  the  intestinal  canal,  and  produces  sometimes 
natural,  but  at  other  limes  excessive  and  unmanageable  and  fatal  purgation. 
The  great  quantity  of  fibrous  substance,  which  occasionally  is  found  in 
the  dung,  warns  us  that  this  has  taken  place. 

Occasionally,  when  dose  after  dose  has  been  given,  and  the  animal  dies 
apparently  constipated,  the  whole  of  the  physic  is  found  in  the  rumen. 
These  are  difiicullies  in  catfle  practice  which  are  not  yet  sufiiciently  un- 
derstood. 

When  two  or  three  moderate  doses  have  been  given,  and  purging  is  not 
produced,  the  practitioner  may  begin  to  suspect  that  his  medicine  has 
fallen  through  this  oesophagean  fissure  into  the  rumen;  and  then,  although 
he  does  not  quite  discontinue  the  physic,  he  should  principally  endeavour 
to  stimulate  this  cuticular,  yet  not  quite  insensible  stomach.  He  should 
lessen  the  quantity  of  the  purgative,  and  he  should  double  or  treble  that 
of  the  aromatic  and  stimulant;  and,  in  many  cases,  he  will  thus  succeed 
in  producing  an  intestinal  evacuation,  the  fibrous  nature  of  which  will 
prove  the  unnatural  process  by  which  it  was  eflected.* 

It   was,    perhaps,    from  observation  of  the  occasional  benefit  derived 

*  Mr.  Friend,  V.  S.,  of  Walsall,  has,  in  the  'Veterinarian'  for  1833,  some  exceedingly 
valuable  observations  on  the  practice  which  he  adopted  in  these  annojing-  and  puzzling 
circumstances. 


432  CATTLE. 

from  the  administration  of  aromatics  and  stimulants,  even  in  inflammatory 
cases,  that  the  absurd  and  mischievous  practice  of  giving  them  in  every 
disease,  and  every  state  of  disease,  arose. 

The  reason  and  the  propriety  of  the  administration  of  catde-medicine 
in  a  liquid  form  is  hence  evident.  A  ball,  in  consequence  of  its  weight, 
and  the  forcible  manner  in  which  it  is  urged  on  by  the  muscles  of  the 
oesophagus,  bi:eaks  through  the  floor  of  the  cssophagean  ean-al,  and  enters 
the  rumen  and  is  lost.  A  liquid,  administered  slowly  and  carefully,  and 
trickling  down  the  oesophagus  without  the  possibility  of  the  muscles  of 
that  tube  acting  upon  it  and  increasing  its  momentum,  is  likely  to  glide 
over  tills  singular  floor,  and  enter  the  fourth  stomach  and  the  intestines. 
A  hint  may  hence  be  derived  with  regard  to  the  manner  of  administering 
a  drink.  If  it  is  poured  down  bodily  from  a  large  vessel,  as  is  generally 
done,  it  will  probably  fall  on  the  canal  with  sufficient  force  pardy,  at 
least,  to  separate  the  pillars,  and  a  portion  of  it  will  enter  the  rumen  and 
be  useful. 

In  the  calf,  fed  entirely  on  its  mother's  milk,  the  rumen  is  in  a  manner 
useless,  for  all  the  food  goes  on  to  the  fourth  stomach.  It  is  of  a  liquid 
form,  and  it  is  swallowed  in  small  quantities,  and  with  little  force  at  each 
act  of  deglutition.  The  instinctive  closure  of  the  pillars — an  act  of 
organic  life — (because  the  milk  if  suffered  to  fall  into  tlie  rumen  would  be 
lost,  or  would  undergo  dangerous  changes  there) — has  far  more  to  do  with 
the  direction  of  the  fluid  than  any  mechanical  effect  resulting  from  the 
form  of  the  aliment,  or  the  force  with  which  it  descended  the  gullet.  It 
is  curious  to  observe  die  comparatively  diminutive  size  of  the  rumen,  and 
the  development  of  the  abomasum  in  the  fostal  calf. 

THE  SUBJECT  OF  RUMINATION,  AND  THE  CHANGES  OF  THE  FOOD  RESUMED. 

The  food,  being  returned  from  the  recticulum  to  the  mouth,  is  there 
subjected  to  a  second  mastication,  generally  very  leisurely  performed,  and 
which  is  continued  until  enough  is  ground  not  only  to  satisfy  the  cravings 
of  hunger,  but  to  fill  the  comparatively  small  true  stomach  and  intestine  of 
the  animal;  and  then,  if  he  is  undisturbed,  he  usually  falls  asleep.  The  act 
of  rumination  is  accompanied,  or  closely  followed,  by  that  of  digestion, 
and  requires  a  considerable  concentration  of  vital  power;  and  hence  the 
appearance  of  tranquillity  and  sleepy  pleasure  which  the  countenance  of 
the  beast  presents.  Sometimes  the  process  is  carried  on  while  the  animal 
is  standing,  and  especially  if  he  is  accustomed  to,  or  fears,  interruption; 
and  the  working  ox,  if  he  is  not  driven  too  fast,  or  has  not  too  heavy  a  load 
behind  him,  will  ruminate  as  he  walks  along.  The  rumen  is  rarely  or 
never  emptied;  and  probably  the  food,  that  is  returned  for  rumination, 
is  that  which  has  been  macerating  in  the  stomach  during  many  hours. 
The  process  of  rumination  is  very  easily  interrupted.  Any  thing  that 
surprises  or  frightens  the  animal  will  have  this  effect:  even  the  compelling 
of  the  couching  beast  to  rise  will  suspend  it,  and  it  is  sometimes  a  long 
while  before  the  process  is  recommenced. 

Some  persons  have  had  the  curiosity  to  count  the  number  of  times  that 
the  jaws  have  moved  in  the  act  of  grinding  the  pellet,  and  these  have 
varied  from  thirty  to  forty,  according  to  the  time  the  animal  had  fasted, 
or  his  freedom  from  interruption;  but  the  portion  of  food  having  been 
sufficiendy  comminuted,  is  at  length  swallowed  a  second  time;  and  then 
either  being  of  a  softer  consistence,  or  not  being  so  violenUy  driven  down 
the  gullet,  or,  by  some  instinctive  influence,  it  passes  over  the  floor  of 
the  canal,  without  separating  the  pillars,  and  enters  the  manyplus,  or  third 
stomach.     This  is  represented  at  b,  p.  423,  and  w,  p.  426. 


SWALLOWING  IDIGESTIBLE  SUBSTANCES.  433 

The  manyplus  presents  an  admirable  provision  for  that  perfect  commi- 
nution of  the  food  which  is  requisite  in  an  animal  destined  to  supply  us  with 
nutriment  both  when  living  and  when  dead.  That  which  is  quite  ground 
down  is  permitted  to  pass  on ;  but  the  leaves,  that  have  been  described 
as  hanging  from  the  roof,  and  floating  close  over  the  oesophagean  canal, 
and  armed  with  numerous  hook-formed  papillse,  seize  upon  every  particle 
of  fibre  that  remains,  and  draw  it  up  between  them,  and  file  it  down  by 
means  of  the  hard  prominences  on  their  surfaces,  and  suffer  it  not  to 
escape  until  it  is  reduced  to  a  puply  mass. 

These  three  stomachs,  then,  are  evidently  designed  for  the  preparation 
and  comminution  of  the  food  before  it  enters  the  fourth  stomach,  in  which 
the  process  of  digestion  may  be  said  to  commence,  and  where  the  food, 
already  softened,  is  converted  into  a  fluid  called  chyme.  The  villous  coat 
of  the  abomasum  abounds  with  small  follicular  glands,  whence  is  secreted 
a  liquid  called  the  gastric  juice,  and  which  is  the  agent  in  producing  this 
chyme.  The  change,  in  all  probability,  merely  consists  in  the  food  being 
more  perfectly  dissolved,  and  converted  into  a  semi-fluid  homogeneous 
mass.  This  form  it  must  of  necessity  assume  before  its  nutritive  matter 
can  be  separated.  The  solution  being  complete,  or  as  much  so  as  it  can 
be  rendered,  the  food  passes  through  the  pyloric,  or  lower  orifice  of  the 
stomach,  into  the  duodenum,  or  first  intestine,  {g,  p.  426,)  where  its  sepa- 
ration into  the  nutritive  and  innutritive  portions  is  effected,  and  the  former 
begins  to  be  taken  up,  and  carried  into  the  system. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  enter  into  the  consideration  of  the  diseases  of 
this  complicated  apparatus. 

DISEASES  OF  THE  RUMEN  OR  PAUNCH. 

It  has  already  been  hinted  that  the  cow,  and  particularly  while  she  is 
in  calf,  is  a  greedy  animal,  and  will  not  only  choke  herself  by  swallowing 
broken  food,  half  masticated,  or  scarcely  masticated  at  all,  but  will  occa- 
sionally devour  very  strange  things.  Inflammation  of  the  pericardium  has 
not  unfrequently  been  produced  by  wires  from  the  riddles  or  sieves  which 
the  animal  has  demolished  from  mere  wantonness,  and  from  needles  and 
large  pins  that  she  has  picked  up.  Three  very  instructive  cases  of  this 
were  given  in  page  250. 

This  is  particularly  the  case  with  the  cattle  of  poor  people,  and  where 
the  women  and  children  live,  as  it  were,  among  them. 

SWALLOWING  INDIGESTIBLE  SUBSTANCES. 

There  are  some  singular  records  of  this  depraved  appetite,  if  so  it  may 
be  called.  The  museum  of  the  veterinary  school  at  Alfort  contains  a  cal- 
culus that  was  taken  from  the  rumen  of  an  ox,  and  the  nucleus,  or  central 
body,  around  which  the  vegetable  and  slimy  matter  gradually  formed  and 
hardened,  was  a  woman's  neckerchief,  without  one  laceration  in  it.  In 
the  same  museum  is  a  pair  of  scissors,  to  which  a  cow  had  taken  a  fancy ; 
and  which  had  worked  their  way  through  the  coats  of  the  stomach,  and 
at  length  begun  to  protrude  between  two  of  the  ribs,  whence  they  were 
extracted.  It  was  necessary  to  break  the  rivet  by  which  the  blades  were 
united,  before  their  removal  could  be  accomplished.  Another  cow  swal- 
lowed a  similar  pair,  but  these  were  arrested  in  their  passage  down  the 
throat,  whence  they  penetrated  into  the  thorax,  and  at  length  protruded 
between  two  of  the  ribs.  An  old  shoe  was  found  in  the  paunch  of  an  ox; 
and  the  lash  of  a  whip,  with  part  of  the  handle  attached  to  it,  began  to 
elevate  the  left  flank  of  a  cow,  and  was  extracted  after  an  incision  had 
been  made  upon  it.  An  ox,  destined  to  be  slaughtered,  was  led  to 
38 


434  CATTLE. 

the  abattoir,  where  the  man  in  attendance  had  taken  off  his  waistcoat, 
and  left  it  in  the  slaughter-house,  from  which  he  Avas  called  away  for  a  few 
minutes.  On  his  return  the  waistcoat  was  missing,  and  his  companions 
were  accused  of  the  theft,  or  trick :  but  it  was  presently  found  in  the 
paunch  of  the  beast.  A  cow  exhibited  symptoms  of  choking,  and  was  in 
extreme  distress.  There  was  evidently  no  obstructing  body  in  the  portion 
of  the  gullet  above  the  thorax,  nor  could  it  be  detected  lower ;  yet  the 
symptoms  were  those  only  which  could  be  referred  to  the  lodgment  of 
some  foreign  body  in  the  gullet,  or  the  orifice  of  the  stomach.  A  large 
incision  was  made  in  the  left  flank,  sufficient  for  the  admission  of  a  man's 
hand ;  that  incision  was  carried  on  into  the  rumen,  and  a  buckskin  glove 
was  abstracted,  that  had  been  fixed  between  the  pillars  of  the  floor  of  the 
ossophagean  canal,  between  which  lies  the  entrance  into  the  rumen.* 

The  presence  of  bodies  like  these  in  the  rumen  cannot  fail  of  being  inju- 
rious to  the  animal.  They  must  produce  local  irritation,  interfering  with 
the  proper  function  of  this  stomach  ;  suspending  the  process  of  rumination, 
or  rendering  it  less  effectually  performed  ;  and  exciting  inflammation,  pro- 
bably of  the  stomach  generally  as  this  foreign  body  is  traversing  its  diffe- 
rent compartments,  or  of  some  particular  portion  in  which  it  may  be  acci- 
dentally arrested,  and  leading  on  to  abscess  and  perforation  of  the  stomach 
at  that  spot.  During  the  strange  journey  of  these  bodies  through  various 
parts  of  the  frame,  previous  to  their  final  expulsion,  and  while  they  are, 
as  it  were,  seeking  a  way  of  escape,  they  cannot  fail  of  producing  much 
serious  indisposition.  The  symptoms  which  would  indicate  this  peculiar 
cause  of  disease  are  not  yet  sufficiently  known ;  but  there  must  be  con- 
siderable disturbance  when  a  body  sufficiently  hard  and  pointed  thus  to 
force  its  way  commences  its  journey.  Inflammation,  as  conducting  to 
suppuration  and  destruction  of  the  living  substance,  must  precede  its 
course  and  make  way  for  it;  and  as  it  passes  along,  the  aperture  closes, 
and  the  wound  is  healed  behind  it.  The  nerves  and  blood-vessels  which 
lie  in  its  way  are,  with  mysterious  skill,  unerringly  avoided,  and  as  little 
injury  as  possible  is  done  to  the  neighbouring  tissues ;  but  local  inflamma- 
tion and  pain  attend  the  whole  process,  which,  in  many  cases,  are  accom- 
panied by  general  and  severe  disease. 

It  is  seldom  that  medical  skill  could  be  of  avail  here,  until  the  substance 
approaches  to  the  skin,  even  if  the  case  were  understood.  All  that  can  be 
done  is  to  prevent  the  animals,  as  much  as  possible,  from  having  the  op- 
portunity of  swallowing  these  things. 

CONCRETIONS  TN  THE  RUMEN. 

A  more  frequent  and  a  more  serious  complaint  is  the  formation  of  va- 
rious concretions  in  the  rumen.  They  are  generally  round,  but  occasion- 
ally of  various  forms,  and  varying  likewise  in  weight  from  a  few  ounces  to 
six  or  seven  pounds.  The  composition  of  these  balls  is  also  very  different. 
Those  which  are  decidedly  peculiar  to  cattle  are  composed  entirely  of 
hair  matted  together  by  the  mucous  secretion  from  the  follicular  glands 
of  the  stomach.  Sometimes  they  have  no  distinct  central  body  ;  at  other 
times  it  exists  in  the  form  of  a  bit  of  straw  or  wood,  or  frequently  of  stone 
or  iron.  They  exist  in  the  rumen,  and  in  the  abomasum.  In  the  aboma- 
sum  they  are  composed  exclusively  of  hair,  irregularly  matted  and  held 
together  by  the  mucus  of  the  stomach ;  in  the  rumen  there  is  generally  a 
mixture  of  food,  or  earthy  matter,  in  the  composition  of  the  concretion. 

*Vide  Recueil  de  Medecine  Veterinaire,  1830,  p.  324.  Memoires  et  Observations 
sur  la  Chirurgie  et  la  Medecine  Veterinaires,  tome  ii.  p.  360,  et  Diet.  Veterinaire,  par 
Hurtrel  d'Arboval, '  Corps  Etrangers.' 


DISTENTION  OF  THE  RUMEN  FROM  FOOD.  435 

When  simple  food  mingles  with  the  hair,  the  ball  seems  to  be  formed  by 
a  succession  of  concentric  layers,  and  in  the  centre  is  a  bit  of  nail  or 
stone;  or,  if  the  beasts  have  access  to  running  water,  a  piece  of  shell  often 
constitutes  the  nucleus. 

The  hair  is  obtained  by  the  habit  which  cattle,  and  even  very  young 
calves,  have  of  licking  each  other.  Two  cows  will  sometimes  stand  for  a 
long  time,  titillating  one  another  in  this  manner.  A  considerable  quantity 
of  hair  is  loosened  and  removed  by  the  rough  tongues  of  these  animals, 
the  greater  part  of  which  is  swallowed;  and  there  seems  to  be  a  kind  of 
power  in  the  stomach  to  separate  these  indigestible  matters  from  the  other 
substances  which  it  contains.  It  is  also  easy  to  imagine  that  the  hairs 
which  the  manyplus,  with  all  its  grinding  power,  cannot  rub  down,  will 
collect  together  when  floating  in  the  semi-fluid  contents  of  the  fourth  sto- 
mach, and  gradually  accumulate  in  considerable  and  hard  masses. 

These  balls  will  begin  to  form  at  a  very  early  age  of  the  animal.  Mr. 
Linton,  of  Bishop's  Auckland,  found  a  ball  '  as  large  as  his  two  fists,'  in 
the  rumen  of  a  calf  that  was  slaughtered,  when  only  five  weeks  old.  This 
calf,  although  it  was  made  sufliciently  fat  for  the  butcher,  was  subject  to 
distention  of  the  rumen,  and  was  always  uneasy  for  the  space  of  an  hour 
after  its  milk  had  been  given  to  it.* 

When  only  a  little  hair  enters  into  the  formation  of  these  calculi,  they 
are  usually  made  up  of  earthy  matter,  with  bits  of  hay,  straw,  or  other 
food,  agglutinated  together  by  the  mucus  of  the  stomach.  These  have 
uniformly  a  hard  central  nucleus,  generally  metallic.  The  concentric  lay- 
ers can  here  also  be  traced,  but  they  are,  occasionally,  somewhat  confused. 

In  some  cases,  but  not  so  often  as  in  the  horse,  more  of  the  various 
compounds  of  lime,  and  still  more  of  silicious  matter,  can  be  detected  by 
chemical  analysis.  These  concretions  are  round;  they  are  seldom  found 
except  in  the  rumen,  and  never  in  the  intestines;  and  there  is  always  a 
central  nucleus  of  stone  or  metal;  the  concentric  layers  are  regularly  and 
beautifully  marked;  and  the  concretion,  when  sawn  asunder,  will  bear  a 
high  degree  of  polish. 

Of  the  efliect  of  these  substances  on  the  health  of  the  animal  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  speak.  One  thing,  however,  is  certain,  that  they  are  often  found 
and  in  greater  numbers  in  those  that  are  ailing  and  out  of  condition,  than 
in  stronger  and  thriving  beasts;  but  whether  some  fault  in  the  digestive 
organs,  indicated  by  this  poorness  of  condition,  gives  a  tendency  to  the 
formation  of  concretions  in  the  paunch,  or  the  presence  of  these  concre- 
tions impairs  the  digestive  powers  and  produces  general  unthriftiness,  are 
questions  which  it  is  difficult  to  answer.  Each  opinion  may  in  its  turn 
be  true,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  latter  state  of  things  oftenest  occurs. 
However  this  may  be  decided,  these  calculi  are  not  so  injurious  to  cattle 
as  to  the  horse,  because  they  are,  with  few  exeeptions,  confined  to  the 
stomach,  where  they  may  produce  a  sense  of  oppression  and  impairment 
of  appetite,  but  cannot  be  the  cause  of  that  severe  colic,  and  obstruction, 
and  inflammation,  and  strangulation  of  the  intestines  which  destroy  so 
many  horses. 

DISTENTION  OF  THE  RUMEN  FROM  FOOD. 

Cattle,  when  first  put  on  succulent  grass  or  turnips,  or  when  suffered  to 
gorge  themselves  with  potatoes  or  grains,  or  even  with  chaff,  will  some- 
times distend  the  ruuien  almost  to  bursting.     The  disease  is  recognised  in 

*  Veterinarian,  October,  1833. 


436  CATTLE. 

town-dairies  by  the  name  of  grain-sick;  in  some  parts  of  the  country  it 
is  termed  maw-bound. 

The  history  of  the  case  will  generally  unfold  the  nature  of  it;  and  it 
will  be  distinguished  from  hoove  by  its  not  being  attended  by  occasional 
eructation,  by  the  swelling  not  being  so  great  as  in  hoove,  and  by  the  hard- 
ness of  the  flanks.  Should  any  doubt,  however,  remain,  the  probang 
should  be  passed  into  the  rumen,  when,  if  that  is  distended  with  gas,  a 
sudden  and  violent  rush  of  the  imprisoned  air  will  follow.  The  probang, 
however,  should  always  be  used,  not  only  to  determine  this  point,  but  the 
degree  to  which  the  rumen  is  distended  by  food. 

When,  although  the  animal  may  be  dull,  refusing  to  eat,  and  ceasing  to 
ruminate,  generally  lying  down  and  showing  great  disinclination  to  move, 
yet  the  pulse  is  not  materially  quickened,  and  the  muscle  is  cool  and  moist, 
and  there  is  little  heaving  at  the  flanks,  and  no  indication  of  pain,  the 
practitioner  may  content  himself  with  a  free  bleeding  and  a  powerful  dose 
of  physic.  These  symptoms,  however,  are  often  treacherous,  and,  with- 
out warning,  uneasiness  and  heaving,  and  stupor  and  death,  may  rapidly 
succeed.  Some  farmers  place  great  reliance  on  goose-grease,  which  is 
carefully  preserved  to  be  used  in  this  complaint;  and,  it  is  said,  that  one 
pound  of  it  boiled  in  a  quart  of  milk  will  give  immediate  relief.  If  it  does 
give  relief,  it  is  because  the  goose-grease  is  an  aperient;  but  a  dose  of  olive 
or  castor-oil  would  have  answered  the  same  purpose,  without  the  danger 
of  poisoning  by  the  deleterious  acid  that  is  sometimes  developed  in  this 
animal  matter. 

Mr.  Parkinson  strongly  recommends  his  chamberley  and  salt,  as  an  ef- 
fectual remedy  for  grain-sick,  which  they  may  use  who  are  not  ashamed 
to  administer  so  filthy  a  medicine.  He,  however,  very  properly  adds, 
that  '  the  beasts  should  be  turned  into  the  cow-stand  or  pasture,  exercise 
being  an  essential  in  the  cure  of  this  complaint.'  In  these  milder  cases, 
stimulants  may  also  be  resorted  to  with  frequent  advantage.  Ammonia, 
ether,  aromatics,  and  ardent  spirits,  have  succeeded  in  rousing  the  stomach 
to  action,  and  establishing  the  process  of  rumination;  and  that  once  esta- 
blished, there  is  little  fear  of  the  result  of  the  case.  These  stimulants 
should,  however,  be  always  accompanied  by  aperient  medicines. 

When,  however,  the  symptoms  are  sudden  dulness,  uneasiness,  shifting 
of  posture,  moaning,  swelling  at  the  sides,  the  flank  feeling  hard  and  not 
yielding  to  pressure;  when  rumination  ceases,  and  the  uneasiness  and 
moaning  increase,  and  the  animal  gradually  becomes  unconscious,  this  is  a 
most  serious  business,  and  will  admit  of  no  delay.  It  is  a  case  that  de- 
mands mechanical  relief. 

The  practitioner  will  probably  be  able  to  obtain  some  account  of  the 
nature  of  the  contents  of  the  stomach,  and  the  introduction  of  the  probang 
will  ascertain  the  degree  of  distention. 

Should  the  probang  enter  a  little  way  into  the  stomach,  and  the  operator 
be  able  to  move  it  about,  he  will  have  proof  that,  although  the  paunch  is 
sufficiently  distended  to  produce  severe  annoyance  and  considerable  dan- 
ger to  the  animal,  it  is  not  stretched  to  the  utmost;  and  he  will  consider 
whether  he  may  not  first  try  the  effect  of  mild  measures,  and  he  will  be 
especially  encouraged  to  attempt  this  if  he  finds  that  the  food  is  of  a  ra- 
ther light  nature. 

A  case  related  by  Mr.  Cotcheifer,  of  Newark,*  will  best  illustrate  the 
method  to  be  pursued.  He  was  consulted  respecting  two  cows  that  had 
gorged  themselves  with  eating  wheat-chaff,  and  one  of  which  was  already 

*  Veterinarian,  June,  1830. 


DISTENTION  OF  THE  RUMEN  FROM  FOOD.  437 

dead.  Mr.  Cotcheifer,  tliat  he  might  lose  no  time,  first  administered  a 
strong  purging  draught  to  the  living  one.  He  then  proceeded  to  examine 
the  dead  cow;  and  finding  that  both  the  first  and  second  stomachs  were 
filled  with  this  chaff,  he  immediately  saw  that  he  must  have  recourse  to 
other  means  in  order  to  remove  this  accumulated  food.  Reasoning  upon 
the  nature  of  the  food,  and  the  distention  not  being  exceedingly  violent, 
he  sent  home  for  Read's  Stomach  Pump,  and,  having  passed  the  flexible 
tube  into  the  paunch,  he  injected  a  considerable  quantity  of  water.  He 
then  attempted  to  pump  out  some  of  the  contents  which  he  had  thus 
softened,  but  he  found  this  to  be  impracticable,  from  the  lightness  and  half 
masticated  state  of  the  food,  which  soon  stopped  up  the  syringe;  he  there- 
fore injected  water  into  the  rumen  until  it  began  to  react  upon  its  contents, 
and  a  considerable  proportion  of  them  were  discharged  by  vomit.  He 
afterwards  threw  up  a  large  clyster  of  warm  water,  and  ordered  the  cow 
to  be  drenched  with  it  several  times  in  the  day,  and  to  be  moved  "gently 
about.  The  physic,  assisted  by  the  clyster,  acted  freely.  On  the  follow- 
ing day,  the  cow  was  better,  and  she  recovered;  but  it  was  a  considerable 
time  before  she  fully  regained  her  appetite  and  condition. 

If  the  probang  cannot  be  introduced  at  all  into  the  rumen,  or  the  food 
eaten  is  heavy,  as  grains,  or  potatoes  or  corn,  the  most  judicious  plan  will 
be  to  make  an  incision  without  delay  through  the  left  flank  into  the  rumen, 
and  thus  extract  its  contents. 

A  case,  related  by  Mr.  J.  Steel,  of  Biggar,  N.  B.,*  will  form  a  useful 
commentary  on  the  advice  here  given.  He  was  sent  for  in  haste  to  a  cow 
that  was  supposed  to  be  very  much  hoven,  and  that  seemed  to  be  dying. 
He  found  indeed  every  appearance  of  approaching  dissolution.  A  surgeon 
had  been  prevailed  on  by  the  owner  to  puncture  her  with  a  trocar,  but  no 
air  came  away;  and  it  was  evident  (as  it  would  have  been  by  examination 
with  the  probang)  that  the  stomach  was  distended  with  food.  She  had 
been  feeding  on  clover  pasture.  Mr.  Steel,  with  a  decision  that  did  him 
credit,  proposed  an  immediate  opening  into  the  stomach,  and  the  mechani- 
cal removal  of  its  contents.  He  was  supported  by  the  opinion  of  the  sur- 
geon; and  the  owner  consented  when  he  was  assured  that  not  a  moment 
was  to  be  lost. 

Mr.  S.  made  an  incision,  five  inches  in  length,  through  the  flank  into 
the  stomach.  The  contents  immediately  came  rushing  out  in  a  large 
stream,  and  continued  doing  so  for  some  time;  and  when  it  stopped 
coming  of  itself,  he  introduced  his  hand,  and  removed  a  great  deal  more 
of  it;  and  he  says  that  the  quantity  of  this  indigested  mass  that  was 
taken  out  was  almost  incredible.  He  then  stitched  up  the  Avound,  ab- 
stracted some  blood,  and  gave  a  purgative.  Some  days  having  elapsed, 
and  the  bowels  not  acting,  and  the  cow  not  feeding,  he  examined  the  state 
of  the  rumen  through  the  wound,  some  of  the  stitches  having  given  way. 
He  found  that  the  portion  of  the  food,  which  was  not  removed,  was  lying 
in  large  hard  masses  in  the  paunch.  He  was  unwilling  to  open  the  whole 
of  the  wound  afresh;  but,  with  the  point  of  a  long  syringe,  he  broke  dowa 
these  masses  ag  well  as  he  could,  injected  a  good  quantity  of  warm  water, 
and  gave  a  smart  dose  of  physic,  which  acted  briskly.  On  the  next  day, 
she  was  evidendy  better,  and  continued  to  improve;  and,  at  length,  in  spite 
of  a  severe  catarrhal  fever,  which  was  brought  on  by  an  accidental  cause, 
she  perfecdy  recovered. 

This  mode  of  proceeding,  however,  is  recommended  only  in  cases  of 
extreme  distention  with   heavy  food.     The   rumen  of  cattle,  with  few 
blood-vessels  and  nerves,  will  endure  very  severe  treatment  without  serious 
*  Veterinarian,  February,  1834. 
38* 


438  CATTLE. 

injury.  The  principal  danger  is,  and  it  exists  to  a  considerable  extent, 
that  a  portion  of  the  food  will,  during  the  extrication  of  the  rest  from  the 
stomach,  fall  into  the  abdomen,  and  there  remain  a  source  of  irritation, 
and  die  unsuspected  cause  of  serious  and  fatal  disease  when  the  fears  of 
the  owner  had  completely  subsided. 

A  beast  that  has  been  subjected  to  this  operation,  or,  indeed,  whose 
paunch  has  been  distended  to  any  considerable  degree,  should  be  prepared 
for  the  butcher  as  soon  as  possible,  or  sold  almost  immediately,  if  in 
tolerable  condition:  for  a  stomach,  whose  muscular  fibres  have  been  so 
stretched  and  enfeebled,  will  not  soon  do  its  full  duty  again;  or  a  small 
portion  of  food,  which,  notwithstanding  the  most  careful  management  may 
fall  into  the  belly,  will  sometimes,  after  a  while,  produce  inflammation  of 
the  intestines,  and  death. 

HOOVE,    OR   DISTENTION    OF    THE    STOMACH    FROM    OAS. 

If  a  beast,  taken  from  poor  or  less  nutritive  food,  is  put  upon  clover,  or 
turnips,  or  rich-fog,  it  eats  so  greedily  and  so  much,  that  the  rumen  ceases 
to  act.  These  green  vegetable  substances  are  naturally  subject  to  fer- 
rctentation,  during  which  much  gas  is  extricated,  but  when  inclosed  in  the 
stomach  and  exposed  to  the  combined  influence  of  heat  and  moisture,  the 
commencement  of  the  fermentation  is  hastened,  and  its  effect  increased. 

The  "  Hoove"  or  "  Blown"  is  distention  of  the  rumen,  by  gas  extri- 
cated from  substances  undergoing  the  process  of  fermentation  within  it. 
In  a  healthy  discharge  of  the  functions  of  the  stomach,  the  food  simply 
undergoes  a  process  of  maceration  or  softening;  but  if  the  food  is  retained 
in  the  stomach  longer  than  the  usual  period,  it,  or  perhaps  only  a  portion 
of  the  juices  which  it  contains,  begins  to  ferment;  or,  as  in  animals  with 
simple  stomaclis,  even  this  preparatory  one  may  so  sympathise  with  cer- 
tain states  of  the  constitution,  as  either  to  secrete  an  acid  principle,  or  to 
favour  the  development  of  it  in  the  food.  It  is  from  this  cause  that  some 
degree  of  hoove  accompanies  most  fevers,  it  has  been  seen  that  it  is  the 
consequence  of  general  irritation  produced  by  obstruction  of  the  oesophagus; 
and  it  sometimes  accompanies  difficult  parturition,  and  to  such  an  extent, 
that  it  is  necessary  to  puncture  the  rumen  before  the  calf  can  descend  suf- 
ficiently low  into  the  pelvis  to  be  extracted. 

Its  most  frequent  cause,  however,  is  that  which  has  been  just  stated, 
namely,  the  turning  of  a  beast  from  poor,  or  less  nutritious  food,  into 
plentiful  and  luxuriant  pasture,  when  he  frequently  eats  so  greedily,  and 
so  much,  that  the  stomach  is  overloaded,  and  is  unable  to  circulate  the 
food  through  its  cavities,  and  from  the  combined  action  of  heat  and 
moisture  its  contents  speedily  ferment,  and  gas  is  extricated.  The  follow- 
ing are  the  symptoms: — 

The  animal  gradually  becomes  oppressed  and  distressed.  It  ceases  to 
eat;  it  does  not  ruminate;  it  scai'cely  moves;  but  it  stands  with  its  head 
extended,  breathing  heavily,  and  moaning.  The  whole  belly  is  blown 
up;  this  is  particularly  evident  at  the  flanks  and  most  of  all  at  the  left 
flank,  for  under  that  the  posterior  division  of  the  rumen  lies.  When  the 
effects  of  this  distention  of  the  stomach  in  the  horse  were  described,  a 
determination  of  blood  to  the  head  was  spoken  of  as  an  early  and  a  fearful 
symptom.  Many  blood-vessels  go  to  the  stomach  of  the  horse,  and  it 
is  richly  supplied  with  nervous  influence,  therefore  the  brain  soon  sym- 
pathises willi  this  overloaded  organ,  and  niaggers  are  produced.  It 
has  been  shown,  however,  that  the  rumen  in  catde  is  scantily  supplied 
with  eidier  blood-vessels  or  nerves,  and  therefore  the  brain  is  seldom 
much  affected  in  an  early  stage  of  hoove.     Swelling,  unwillingness  to 


DISTENTION  OF  THE  RUMEN  FROM  GAS.  439 

move,  and  laborious  breathing,  are  the  first  and  distingnishing  symptoms. 
In  proportion  as  the  stomach  becomes  distended  by  ihe  extricated  gas,  the 
case  becomes  more  desperate,  not  only  from  the  pressure  on  the  other 
contents  of  the  abdomen,  thus  impeding  the  circulation  of  the  blood;  and 
also  on  the  diaphragm,  against  which  the  rumen  abuts,  and  thus  impeding 
respiration,  and  also  the  danger  of  rupture  of  the  paunch,  but  the  construc- 
tion of  the  ossophagean  canal  renders  it  manifest  that  the  rumen  will  be 
more  obstinately  closed  in  proportion  as  it  is  distended.  It  is  the  relaxa- 
tion of  the  muscular  fibres  which  causes  the  two  pillars  that  constitute  the 
floor  of  the  canal  and  the  roof  of  the  rumen  to  be  easily  opened,  either  for 
the  admission  or  the  return  of  food;  but  when  the  stomach  is  filled  and 
elongated,  as  well  as  widened,  these  fleshy  pillars  must  be  stretched,  and 
in  proportion  as  they  are  distended,  wl'l  they  be  brought  closer  to  each 
other,  and  firmly  held  there.  Two  cords,  tied  together,  at  the  ends,  may 
be  easily  separated  from  each  other  in  the  centre,  when  they  are  loosely 
held;  but  if  they  are  tightly  stretched,  they  are  brought  close  together,  and 
the  difficulty  of  separating  them  increases  with  the  tension. 

This  every-day  illustration  may  explain  the  seeming  difliculty  of  the 
rumen  becoming  thus  dangerously  distended,  with  these  moveable  pillars 
in  its  roof.  When  the  rumen  is  filling,  there  are  occasional  eructations  of 
a  sour  or  foetid  character;  but  when  the  stomach  is  once  filled,  there  is  no 
longer  the  possibility  of  escape  for  its  contents. 

The  animal  cannot  long  sustain  this  derangement  of  important  parts; 
inflammation  is  set  up,  and  the  circulation  becomes  seriously  and  danger- 
ously disturbed  by  this  partial  obstruction.  Affection  of  the  brain  comes 
at  last,  characterised  by  fulness  of  the  vessels,  hardness  of  the  pulse,  red- 
ness of  the  conjunctiva,  and  protrusion  of  the  eye.  The  tongue  hangs 
from  the  mouth,  and  the  mouth  is  filled  with  spume.  The  beast  stands 
with  his  back  bent,  his  legs  as  much  as  possible  under  him;  and  he  gradu- 
ally becomes  insensible — immoveable — he  moans — falls — struggles  with 
some  violence,  and,  as  death  approaches,  some  relaxation  of  the  parts  en- 
sues, and  a  quantity  of  green  sour  liquid,  occasionally  mixed  with  more 
solid  food,  flows  from  the  mouth  and  nose. 

There  can  be  no  dispute  as  to  the  first  object  to  be  accomplished,  in  or- 
der to  save  the  animal;  the  gas  must  be  liberated  or  otherwise  got  rid  of. 
Some  persons,  when  symptoms  of  hoove  appear,  drive  the  animal  about, 
and  keep  him  for  a  Avhile  in  constant  motion.  This  is  particularly  the  case 
with  sheep.  It  is  supposed,  that  in  the  motion  of  all  the  contents  of  the 
abdomen,  while  the  animal  is  moving  briskly  about,  the  pillars  of  the  roof 
of  the  paunch  must  be  for  a  moment  relaxed,  and  opportunity  given  for 
the  gas  to  escape  into  the  CESophagean  canal,  and  through  the  gullet;  and 
this  will,  undoubtedly,  be  the  case  to  a  certain  degree.  In  sheep,  that  can 
be  more  easily  driven  about  than  oxen,  this  is  sometimes  effectual;  but  the 
ox  cannot  without  much  difficulty;  and  often  not  at  all,  be  induced  to  move 
with  rapidity,  which  is  necessary  to  produce  concussions  sufficiently 
powerful  to  shorten  and  disunite  the  muscular  pillars.  There  must  also 
be  some  danger  of  rupturing  the  stomach  so  much  distended,  or  the  dia- 
phragm, against  which  it  is  pressing,  by  the  very  production  of  these  con- 
cussions. 

In  some  parts  of  Leicestershire,  the  farmers  still  retain  the  old  method 
of  very  eflfectually  producing  these  shocks:  pails-full  of  cold  water  are 
thrown  one  after  another  on  the  beast.  A  violent  eructation  follows,  and 
the  animal  is  relieved;  but  it  unfortunately  happens  that  the  stomach  now 
and  then  gives  way,  instead  of  the  pillars  of  the  oesophagean  canal,  and 
the  patient  is  lost. 


440  CATTLE. 

Some  writers  recommend  the  administration  of  vinegar,  the  propriety  of 
which  admits  of  much  doubt,  for  the  fluid  contained  in  the  stomach  is  al- 
ready sufficiendy  acid. 

Others  have  recommended  alkalies,  and  described  them  as  almost  a  spe- 
cific. Ammonia  has  been  extolled  as  seldom  failing  to  give  relief.  It  may 
be  conceded,  that  the  alkali  would  be  likely  to  neutralise  the  acid  contents 
of  the  stomach;  but  there  is  one  objection  to  it,  (another  will  be  stated 
presendy,)  viz.,  that  the  same  closing  of  the  roof  of  the  rumen,  which 
prevents  the  escape  of  the  gas,  would  also  prevent  the  entrance  of  the  al- 
kali, which  would,  consequendy,  pass  on  to  the  third  and  fourth  stomachs, 
'where  there  is  no  acid  for  it  to  neutralise. 

Oil  (whether  olive,  or  spermaceti,  or  castor,  or  common  whale  oil, 
seems  to  be  a  matter  of  indifference)  will  sometimes  prove  serviceable  in 
cases  of  hoove;  but  it  is  either  at  the  very  commencement,  before  the  mus- 
cular pillars  are  tightened,  and  when  a  portion  of  it  can  enter  the  paunch, 
and  pi-oduce  a  disposition  to  vomiting  or  purging;  or,  if  the  whole  passes 
on  into  the  fourth  stomach,  and  so  into  the  intestinal  canal,  a  sympathetic 
but  inverted  action  is  excited  in  the  rumen,  and  a  portion  of  its  contents  is 
sent,  by  an  unusual  passage,  from  the  rumen  through  the  third  and  into 
the  fourth  stomach,  and  so  relief  is  obtained.  In  this  way  purging  is  oc- 
casionally established,  either  in  consequence  of  a  stimulus  applied  imme- 
diately to  the  coals  of  the  first  stomach,  or  from  sympathy  with  the  action 
going  forward  in  the  intestinal  canal,  a  portion  of  the  food  is  carried  from 
the  rumen  into  the  intestines  without  being  returned  to  the  mouth  to  be 
remasticated.  The  grassy  and  harder  fibres,  sometimes  found  in  the  dung 
in  considerable  quantities,  prove  that  that  portion  of  it  could  not  have  un- 
dergone rumination.    This,  however,  is  not  striking  at  the  root  of  the  evil. 

The  object  to  be  accomplished  is  the  extrication  of  the  gas,  and  the  pre- 
vention of  any  fresh  quantity  of  it  being  developed.  If  the  farmer  or 
the  practitioner,  at  a  distance  from  home,  sees  any  of  his  catde  so  danger- 
ously hoven  or  swelled  as  to  threaten  speedy  death,  he  adopts  a  summary 
mode  of  getting  rid  of  the  gas:  he  takes  a  sharp-pointed  knife,  and  plunges 
it  into  the  left  flank,  underneath,  and  in  contact  with  which  the  rumen  is 
found.  The  gas  rushes  violendy  through  the  aperture,  carrying  with  it 
steam,  and  fluid,  and  pieces  of  food.  The  belly  falls,  and  the  beast  is  im- 
mediately relieved.  The  safest  place  for  this  operation  is  the  following: — 
Supposing  a  line  to  be  drawn  close  along  the  vertebrae,  from  the  haunch- 
bone  to  the  last  rib,  and  two  other  lines  of  equal  length  to  extend  down 
the  flank,  so  as  to  form  an  equilateral  triangle,  the  apex  of  the  triangle,  or 
the  point  where  these  lines  would  meet,  would  be  the  proper  place  for  the 
operation,  for  there  is  no  danger  of  wounding  either  the  spleen  or  the 
kidney. 

It  may  also  be  suggested,  that  a  small  trocar  is  far  preferable  to  a  knife 
for  this  operation,  and  might  very  conveniently  be  carried  in  the  instru- 
ment-case of  the  surgeon,  or  the  pocket  of  the  farmer.  It  consists  of  a 
short  strong  stilett,  terminating  in  three  cutting-edges  converging  to  a 
point,  and  having  a  handle  that  may  be  grasped  with  some  force.  To  this 
is  accurately  fitted  a  silver  canula  or  tube,  reaching  from  the  termination  of 
the  three  edges  to  the  handle.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  instrument  used  by  hu- 
man surgeons  in  tapping  for  dropsy.  This  is  plunged  into  the  flank;  the 
stilett  is  then  withdrawn,  and  the  canula  remains  as  long  as  the  operator 
pleases,  and  may  be  secured  by  tapes  attached  to  two  I'ings  at  the  base  of 
it,  and  tied  round  the  body  of  the  animal. 

The  gas  is  certainly  extricated  in  this  way,  and  generally  successfully 


DISTENTION  OF  THE  RUMEN  FROM  FOOD.  441 

so.  When  gas  ceases  to  escape,  it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  the 
manufacture  of  it  has  ceased  in  the  rumen ;  the  trocar  may  then  be  with- 
drawn, and  the  wound  will  speedily  heal.  There  are,  however,  occa- 
sional bad  consequences,  which  are  altogether  unsuspected  by  the  former 
or  the  practitioner.  At  the  commencement  of  the  operation,  when  the 
inside  of  the  flank  is  in  close  contact  with  the  paunch,  the  gas,  fluid, 
and  fibrous  matter  will  all  be  safely  thrown  out  through  the  two 
wounds,  for,  lying  upon  each  other,  they  are  but  as  one ;  hut  when 
the  stomach  is  partially  emptied  of  the  gas,  it  sinks,  and  is  no  longer  in 
contact  with  the  parieies  of  the  abdomen.  The  gas  and  particles  of 
solid  food  continue  to  be  discharged  for  a  considerable  time  after  this ;  and 
although  the  greater  part  may  be  ejected  with  sufficient  force  to  be  driven 
through  the  aperture  in  the  flank,  yet  some  portion  will  necessarily  fall 
into  the  abdomen  and  remain  there.  This  will,  ere  long,  become,  a 
source  of  considerable  and  dangerous  irritation ;  slow  or  rapid  in  its  pro- 
gress and  effects,  according  to  the  quantity  of  food  that  has  escaped  from 
the  stomach  into  the  abdominal  cavity  :  accordingly  it  happens,  that 
although  the  beast  may  appear  to  be  perfectly  relieved  by  this  operation, 
he  does  not  thrive  well  afterwards,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  or 
months,  sickens  and  dies  of  some  obscure  disease,  but  which  is  principally 
referrible  to  inflammatory  aflection  of  the  abdomen.  Therefore,  the  farmer 
or  practitioner  who  has  faith  in  an  occasional  recourse  to  the  mode  of  cure 
by  puncturing  the  rumen  should  always  carry  a  trocar  with  him,  for  the 
canula  penetrating  three  or  four  inches  into  the  abdomen  would  form  a 
continuous  passage  between  the  rumen  and  the  flanks,  notwithstanding  the 
subsidence  of  the  former,  and  would  prevent  the  escape  of  any  portion  of 
the  contents  of  the  rumen  into  the  abdomen. 

Although  a  portion  of  the  gas  may  be  liberated  by  this  operation,  yet 
the  process  of  fermentation  may  proceed.  The  gas  may  escape,  but  that 
which  would  furnish  a  long,  continued,  and  annoying,  and  dangerous  sup- 
ply of  it  remains.  Then  the  advocates  for  paunching  carry  their  operation 
a  little  farther.  They  enlarge  the  aperture  into  the  paunch,  until,  as  in 
bad  cases  of  maw-bound,  they  can  introduce  their  hand,  and  shovel  out 
the  contents ;  and,  as  before  stated,  the  stomach,  from  its  comparative  in- 
sensibility, and  want  of  vitality,  bears  all  this  without  any  considerable 
inflammation  or  danger ;  there  is,  however,  as  in  the  simple  paunching, 
danger  from  the  escape  of  a  portion  of  the  contents  into  the  cavity  of  the 
abdomen. 

This  larger  opening  into  the  rumen  should  never  be  attempted  except  by 
a  veterinary  surgeon,  or  a  person  perfecfly  acquainted  with  the  anatomy  of 
cattle,  and  the  precise  situation  of  the  viscera  of  the  belly.  A  cow  had 
eaten  a  great  quantity  of  lucern,  and  was  hoven.  A  neighbour,  who  was 
supposed  to  know  a  great  deal  about  cattle,  made  this  large  incision  into 
the  paunch  :  the  gas  escaped,  a  great  portion  of  the  food  was  removed, 
and  the  animal  appeared  to  be  considerably  relieved,  but  rumination  did 
not  return,  and  on  the  following  day  the  animal  was  dull — she  refused  her 
food,  but  was  eager  for  drink — she  became  worse  and  worse — and,  on  the 
sixth  day,  she  died.  She  was  examined  after  death  ;  and  one  of  the 
kidneys  was  found  to  be  punctured,  and  the  peritoneum  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  wound  was  black  with  inflammation. 

The  French  Practical  Journal  of  Veterinary  Medicine  (for  1829,  p.  390) 
contains  a  case  in  which  the  cow  was  destroyed  by  the  operation,  although 
the  larger  opening  was  not  resorted  to,  and  even  a  rude  kind  of  canula 
was  used.  A  cow  that  was  hoven  was  punctured  by  the  shepherd  with  his 
knife.    The  gas  escaped,  and  the  animal  was  relieved;  but  whether  the  man 


442  CATTLE. 

had  made  the  opening  into  the  rumen  too  large,  or  had  irritated  the  wound 
by  hokhng  it  open  with  his  fingers,  while  some  one  procured  a  hollow  piece 
of  elder  to  be  introduced  as  a  canula  into  it,  the  cow  was  evidently  ill  on 
the  following  day,  and  became  rapidly  worse,  and  exhibited  symptoms  of 
inflammation  of  the  bowels,  and,  on  the  seventh  day  after  the  puncturing, 
was  so  bad,  that  she  was  destroyed.  Several  gallons  of  fluid  were  found 
in  the  belly,  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  half-chewed  food  swimming 
in  it:  many  portions  of  the  small  intestines  were  highly  inflamed,  and  the 
peritoneum  generally  was  so,  and  particularly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
wound. 

It  was  the  knowledge  of  facts  like  these,  (and  similar  ones  must  have 
occurred  in  the  experience  of  every  practitioner,)  that  produced  the  convic- 
tion that  the  practice  of  puncturing  the  rumen  was  not  so  simple  and  so 
free  from  danger  as  some  had  imagined,  and  led  to  the  invention  and  use 
of  the  probang  and  stomach-pump.  The  tube  (fig.  1,  a.  p.  417)  is  intro- 
duced into  the  mouth,  and  is  passed  down  the  throat,  with  the  rounded 
extremity,  e,  downwards,  and  is  forced  on  through  the  pillars  of  the  ceso- 
phagean  canal:  the  stilett  is  then  withdrawn,  and  the  gas  rushes  violently 
out.  The  tube  is  continued  in  the  mouth  until  the  belly  sinks,  and  little 
gas  escapes :  the  animal  is  greatly  relieved,  and  if  it  begins  to  swell  again, 
the  probang  is  once  more  introduced.  But  the  tube  cannot  remain  in  the 
mouth  and  gullet  for  any  great  length  of  time ;  and  when  it  is  withdrawn, 
the  manufacture  of  gas  may  continue  undiminished,  and  the  relief  be  only 
temporary,  and  so  far  the  probang  may  be  in  some  degree  inferior  to  the 
trocar. 

The  practitioner  then  has  recourse  to  the  stomach-pump,  and  he  throws 
in  a  considerable  quantity  of  warm  water,  and  pumps  it  out  again  ;  and 
repeats  the  operation  until  he  has  washed  away  all  the  acid  fermenting 
fluid,  and  then  usually  the  process  of  rumination  recommences,  and  the 
animal  does  well.  Sometimes  he  so  overcharges  the  stomach  that  vomit- 
ing is  produced,  and  a  great  portion  of  the  contents  of  the  rumen  is  thus 
discharged. 

Hoove,  however,  had  long  been  considered  to  be  a  case  in  which  the 
aid  of  chemistry  might  be  resorted  to  with  considerable  benefit:  and  alkalies 
were  thrown  into  the  stomach  to  neutralise  the  supposed  acid  principle 
which  then  prevailed.  The  carbonate  of  ammonia  was  a  favourite  medi- 
cine for  this  purpose;  but  they  who  were  deluded  by  this  supposed  appli- 
cation of  chemistry,  forgot  that  the  necessary  consequence  of  the  com- 
bination of  the  alkali  with  the  acid  would  be  the  extrication  of  an  immense 
volume  of  gas,  of  a  different  nature  indeed,  but  which  would  still'  more 
distend  the  rumen,  and  that  even  to  bursting.  As,  however,  a  very  small 
portion  of  it,  if  any,  enters  the  rumen,  it  will  principally  do  good,  and 
much  good  it  frequently  does  effect  by  its  stimulant  effect  on  the  fourth 
stomach,  propagated  by  sympathy  to  the  first. 

Acids  are  resorted  to  by  other  practitioners,  but  it  would  be  difficult  to 
say  on  what  principle,  except  their  stimulant  efl^ect  on  the  rumen,  and  thus 
rousing  it  to  contract,  if  possible,  upon,  and  expel  its  contents.  More 
powerful  stimulants  than  the  acids  are  with  great  propriety  adopted  by  ano- 
ther set  of  practitioners,  and  peppermint,  wine,  and  even  ardent  spirits 
are  freely  administered,  and  in  many  cases  with  beneficial  effect,  and  espe- 
cially when  they  can  be  got  into  the  rumen. 

At  length  it  occurred  to  some  inquiring  men  to  turn  their  chemistry  to 
better  account  by  an  analysis  of  the  gas  that  was  so  rapidly  and  abun- 
dandy  extricated,  and  the  extrication  of  which  was  the  source  of  all  the 
mischief.     It  had  been  suspected  that  it  consisted  principally  of  hydrogen ; 


DISTENTION  OF  THE  RUMEN  FROM  FOOD.  443 

for  when  a  lighted  candle  had  been  accidentally  brought  into  contact  with 
the  vapour  as  it  rushed  from  the  aperture  in  the  flank,  the  gas  immediately 
caught  fire.  Careful  analysis  indicated  that  the  gas  was  difl^erently  com- 
bined, in  different  stages.  In  recent  hoove  it  consisted  chiefly  of  carburet- 
ted  hydrogen — the  union  of  carbon  with  hydrogen;  in  more  chronic  cases 
there  was  a  mixture  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen — the  union  of  sulphur  and 
hydrogen;  and,  in  proportion  to  the  continuance  of  the  hoove,  the  sul- 
phuretted hydrogen  increased,  and  at  length  prevailed.  In  both  cases  hy- 
drogen was  the  chief  constituent. 

Then  came  the  inquiry,  whether  something  might  not  be  introduced 
into  the  stomach  which  would  combine  with  the  gas  already  extricated, 
and  cause  it  to  disappear,  and  also  prevent  its  future  accumulation,  by 
combining  with  it  as  soon  as  it  was  produced.  Chlorine  suggested  itself 
to  the  mind  of  the  inquirer,  between  which  and  hydrogen  a  very  strong 
affinitv  prevailed,  and  which  rapidly  combined  with  hydrogen,  and  form- 
ed muriatic  gas,  while  this  new  and  compound  gas  was  immediately  ab- 
sorbed by  water,  and  became  muriatic  acid. 

There  Avere,  however,  some  obvious  difiiculties  attached  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  chlorine;  for,  in  the  form  of  gas,  it  is  destructive  to  life,  and 
even  when  combined  with  water,  it  produces  speedy  and  dangerous  in- 
flammation of  the  stomach  and  bowels.  The  muriatic  acid  also — the  re- 
sult of  the  combination  of  the  chlorine  and  the  hydrogen  and  water — was 
not  a  very  harmless  thing  in  the  stomach  of  the  horse,  or  of  catde. 

A  method,  nevertheless,  %vas  soon  discovered,  by  which  it  might  be  ad- 
ministered with  perfect  safety  and  admirable  result.  Chlorine  had  afii- 
nity  for  various  substances,  as  lime,  potash,  and  soda;  and  its  combination 
with  either  of  these  could  be  substituted  for  the  unmanageable  and  destruc- 
tive chlorine.  When  introduced  by  means  of  the  stomach-pump  into  the 
rumen,  the  chlorine  would  separate  itself  from  the  alkali,  and  combine 
with  the  hydrogen,  for  which  it  had  a  more  powerful  affinity,  and  formed  mu- 
riatic gas.  This  gas  had  a  strong  affinity  for  water,  and  would  be  quickly 
absorbed  by  the  fluid  always  contained  within  the  stomach;  and  so,  quit- 
ting its  gaseous  for  a  fluid  form,  it  quickly  disappeared,  or  would  not 
retain  a  thousandth  part  of  its  foimer  bulk,  and  muriatic  acid  would  be 
formed.  At  the  same  time,  the  lime  or  potash,  or  soda,  (according  to 
the  combination  that  was  used,)  would  be  liberated;  yet  no  danger 
would  result  from  the  presence  of  this  corroding  acid  and  caustic  alkali; 
for  there  was  a  chemical  afiinity  between  them  which  would  be  soon 
exerted,  and  the  harmless  and  inert  muriates  of  lime  or  potash,  or  soda, 
would  be  produced.  This  was  not  mere  theory,  but  when  brought  to 
the  test  of  practice  was  verified  in  every  particular;  and  hence  resulted 
one  of  the  most  important  improvements  in  cattle-medicine  that  modern 
times  have  produced. 

The  chloride  of  lime  is  as  good  as  either  of  the  others,  and  should 
always  be  in  the  possession  of  the  farmer  and  practitioner,  not  only  for 
this  purpose,  but  because,  in  cases  of  foul,  foetid  ulceration,  and  gangrene 
generally,  it  is  the  most  powerful  disinfectant,  and  the  most  useful  stimu- 
lant that  can  be  applied.  The  proper  and  safe  dose  is  two  drachms  of  the 
powdered  chloride  of  lime  dissolved  in  two  quarts  of  water,  and  injected 
into  the  paunch  by  means  of  the  stomach-pump.  This  may  be  repeated 
an  hour  afterwards,  if  circumstances  should  appear  to  require  it. 

The  trocar  will  then  supersede  the  use  of  the  knife  and  the  lancet, 
when,  under  circumstances  of  emergency,  the  practitioner  may  be  com- 
pelled to  act  promptly;  for,  by  the  continuance  of  the  canula  in  the 
wound,  some  of  the  distant  and  unsuspected  results  of  the  common  method 


444  CATTLE. 

of  puncturing  the  rumen  may  be  avoided;  but  when  the  practitioner  is 
near  home,  or  can  obtain  speedy  access  to  his  stomach  tube  and  pump, 
the  trocar  will  be  completely  discarded. 

The  animal  having  been  relieved,  and  the  gas  ceasing  to  distend  the 
paunch,  a  pound  of  Epsom  salts  should  be  administered  with  an  ounce  of 
carraway  powder,  and  half  an  ounce  of  ginger;  and,  on  several  successive 
mornings,  four  ounces  of  Epsom  salts,  two  of  powdered  gentian,  and  half 
an  ounce  of  ginger,  should  be  given.  The  object  of  the  practitioner,  or 
the  owner,  should  be  to  restore,  as  speedily,  and  as  effectually  as  possible, 
the  tone  and  action  of  the  rumen.  The  return  of  the  process  of  rumina- 
tion will  show  when  that  is  beginning  to  be  effected,  and  rumination  will 
usually  precede  the  desire  to  eat. 

Attention  should  for  some  time  be  paid  to  the  manner  of  feeding.  A 
mash  should  be  daily  allowed,  and  the  pasture  on  which  the  beast  is 
turned  should  be  short  and  bare,  rather  than  luxuriant.  It  should  also  be 
kept  in  mind  that  the  over-distended  stomach  of  the  hoven  beast  will  not 
soon,  and  in  most  cases  will  never,  quite  revover  its  former  energy;  and 
that,  if  the  beast  is  in  tolerable  condition,  it  should  be  sent  to  the  butcher, 
or  it  should  be  got  ready  for  the  market  as  quickly  as  that  can  with  safety 
be  effected. 

One  of  the  most  singular  cases  of  hoove  that  we  have  on  record  is  con- 
tained in  one  of  the  French  periodicals.*  A  cow  that  had  been  turned 
into  the  pasture  in  perfect  health,  was  found,  in  the  course  of  the  morn- 
ing, labouring  under  great  excitation,  making  frequent  and  violent  efforts  to 
vomit,  and  then  galloping  over  the  field  with  her  mouth  half  open,  and 
the  saliva  running  from  it  as  if  she  were  mad.  The  eyes  were  haggard 
and  fixed,  and  starting  from  their  orbits,  and  the  nostrils  were  unusually 
dilated.  When  she  stood  still  her  back  was  bowed,  but  presently  she 
would  stretch  herself  out,  and  bound  away  over  the  field.  Her  paunch 
began  speedily  to  swell,  and  she  moaned  dreadfully,  and  could  not  be  still 
for  a  moment. 

The  practitioner,  not  having  a  trocar,  punctured  the  rumen  with  a  bis- 
toury. A  vast  quantity  of  gas  rushed  violently  out;  the  enlargement  of 
the  abdomen  subsided,  and  she  appeared  to  be  perfectly  at  ease;  but  pre- 
sently the  efforts  to  vomit  recommenced,  and  the  aperture  into  the  paunch 
being  accidentally  closed,  she  begun  rapidly  to  swell  again.  The  practi- 
tioner now  suspected  that  the  cause  of  all  this  mischief  was  concealed 
somewhere  in  the  gullet,  or  the  entrance  into  the  first  stomach.  He  care- 
fully examined  along  the  whole  extent  of  gullet  in  the  neck,  but  could  not 
detect  any  obstruction.  He  then  opened  the  mouth,  and  raised  the  head, 
in  order  to  introduce  a  flexible  osier  rod  into  the  gullet,  when  the  animal 
again  making  a  sudden  and  more  violent  effort  to  vomit,  he  saw  the  tail  of 
a  snake  in  the  posterior  part  of  the  mouth.  He  seized  it  immediately  with 
his  right  hand,  and,  steadying  himself  by  laying  firm  hold  of  the  horn  with 
his  left  hand,  he  drew  it  out:  it  was  dead,  and  measured  three  feet  and 
eleven  inches  in  length.  There  was  no  appearance  of  bile  or  wound 
upon  it,  but  it  was  covered  with  a  greenish  spume.  The  efforts  to  vomit 
immediately  ceased,  the  hoove  disappeared,  and  the  cow  began  to  rumi- 
nate, and  steadily  regained  her  appetite  and  spirits. 

Sucking  calves  are  occasionally  subject  to  hoove.  Little  more  will  be 
necessary  in  this  case  than  the  introduction  of  the  probang.  This  disten- 
tion of  the  rumen  arises  from  some  accidental  and  temporary  cause,  and 
there    is  rarely   any  continued  manufacture  of   gas    within  the  stomach 

*  Recueil  dc  Med.  Vet.  1826,  p.  403. 


POISONS.  445 

Some  calves  become  blown  from  the  trick  which  they  frequently  have  of 
sucking  each  other's  pizzle  or  ear.  It  is  curious  to  see  with  Avhat  eager- 
ness they  will  do  this,  and  how  quickly  they  blow  themselves  up  by  the 
air  which  they  draw  in  and  swallow.  The  introduction  of  the  probang 
will  be  sufficient  here,  but  it  will  be  prudent  to  separate  the  animals.* 

LOSS  OF  CUD. 

The  cessation  of  rumination,  designated  by  the  term  "  the  loss  of  cud," 
is  more  a  symptom  of  disease,  than  a  disease  of  itself.  It  accompanies 
most  inflammatory  complaints,  and  is  often  connected  with  those  of  debi- 
lity. It  will  be  the  duty  of  the  practitioner  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  this 
suspension  of  second  mastication,  and  to  adapt  his  mode  of  treatment  to 
the  nature  of  that  cause,  A  dose  of  physic,  with  a  very  small  portion  of 
aromatic  medicine,  will  be  indicated  if  any  fever  can  be  detected ;  more 
than  the  usual  quantity  of  the  aromatic  will  be  added  in  the  absence  of 
fever,  and  still  more,  with  tonic  and  alterative  medicine,  if  general  debility 
is  indicated.  The  carraway  and  ginger  powder  are  the  best  aromatics  that 
can  be  employed  and  will  supersede  every  other :  the  gentian  and  ginger, 
with  Epsom  salts,  as  recommended  in  page  444,  will  prove  a  very  useful 
tonic  and  alterative,  incases  of"  loss  of  cud"  that  cannot  be  traced  to  any 
particular  diseased  state  of  the  animal,  or  that  seems  to  be  connected  with 
general  debility. 

INFLAJIMATION  OF  THE  RUMEN. 

In  almost  every  book  on  cattle-medicine  mention  is  made  of  "inflam* 
mation  of  the  stomach;"  and'certainly  cases  do,  although  but  rarely,  occur, 
in  which  evident  traces  of  inflammation  of  the  rumen  may  be  discovered 
on  examination  after  death.  The  cuticular  coat  is  not  discoloured,  but  it 
peels  from  the  mucous  coat  below  at  the  slightest  touch,  and  that  coat  is  red 
and  injected.  This  is  particularly  the  case  when  a  beast  dies  soon  after 
apparent  recovery  from  distention  of  the  stomach  by  grass,  or  when  he  is 
destroyed  by  the  accumulation  of  solid  food  that  could  not  be  removed.  It 
is  likewise  found  in  every  case  of  poisoning,  but  the  symptoms  during  life 
are  so  obscure  that  it  would  be  useless  to  bestow  further  time  on  the  con- 
sideration of  this  disease. 


Nature  has  endowed  the  brute  with  an  acuteness  of  the  various  senses, 
and  with  a  degree  of  instinct  which,  so  far  as  the  life  and  enjoyment  and 
usefulness  of  the  animal  are  concerned,  fully  compensate  for  the  lack  of  the 
intelligence  of  the  human  being.     The  quadruped  is  scarcely  born  ere  he 

*  It  is  amusing  to  observe  tlie  strange  notions  which  some  persons  have  formed  of 
this  disease  and  its  treatment.  Mr.  Parkinson  contends  that  it  chiefly  arises  from  the 
glands  of  the  mouth  being  over-abundantly  supplied  with  saliva,  which,  passing  con- 
tinually down  the  throat  the  stomach  becomes  too  full,  and  the  end  of  the  gullet  or 
windpipe  is  stopped,  so  as  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the  wind  or  breath.  (What 
strange  activity  of  the  salivary  glands,  even  to  fill  the  enormous  cavity  of  the  rumen, 
and  to  stop  the  end  of  the  gullet  or  windpipe  I  Excellent  anatomy  I  The  mode  of  cure 
is  worthy  of  it.) 

'  I  am  convinced  it  is  solel)'  occasioned  by  a  too  abundant  flow  of  saliva  in  the  stomach. 
I  have  myself  been  much  troubled  with  this  complaint,  for  which,  after  trying  many 
things  prescribed  by  the  faculty,  I  found  an  effectual  remedy  in  smoking  tobacco.  This 
I  do  immediately  after  every  meal,  spitting  as  much  as  possible.  Any  stick  with  a 
knob  thrust  down  the  throat  will  give  ease ;  but  J  much  approve  of  tar  being  adminis- 
tered as,  i'rom  its  nauseous  quality,  it  will  cause  the  animal  to  throw  up  much  saliva — 
(I  have  known  them  to  discharge  as  much  as  a  quart  at  a  time) — and  affords  an  effec- 
tual and  immediate  relief.' — Parkinson's  Treatise  on  Live  Stock,  vol.  i.  p.  238. 


446  CATTLE. 

is  mysteriously  guided,  and  without  any  of  the  lessons  of  experience,  to 
the  kind  of  food  which  affords  him  the  most  suitable  nourishment,  and  he 
is  warned  from  that  which  would  be  deleterious.  There  is  scarcely  a 
pasture  which  does  not  contain  some  poisonous  plants,  yet  the  beast  crops 
the  grass  close  around  them  without  gathering  a  particle  of  that  which 
would  be  injurious.  In  the  spring  of  the  year,  however,  and  especially 
after  they  have  been  kept  in  the  stall  or  the  straw-yard  during  the  winter, 
and  supported  chiefly  on  dry  food,  as  soon  as  they  are  turned  into  the  fields 
cattle  eat  greedily  of  every  herb  that  presents  itself,  and  frequently  are 
seriously  diseased,  and  sometimes  quite  poisoned.  They  are  under  the 
influence  of  appetite  almost  ungovernable,  and  few  plants  have  then  ac- 
quired their  distinguishing  form  and  colour,  and  taste  and  smell.  It  has 
already  been  stated  (p.  310)  that  when  Linnfeus  visited  Tornea,  the  inhabi- 
tants complained  of  a  disease  which  destroyed  many  of  their  cattle,  and 
especially  if,  during  the  spring,  they  were  turned  into  a  particular  meadow 
in  the  neighbourhood.  He  soon  traced  the  disorder  to  the  water-hemlock, 
which  grew  plentifully  in  that  place,  and  which  the  cattle  in  spring  did  not 
know  how  to  avoid.*  The  common  and  water-hemlock,  the  water  drop- 
wort,  and  the  yew,  are  the  principal  plants  that  are  poisonous  to  cattle ; 
but  it  said  that  the  common  crow-foot,  and  various  others  of  the  ranuncu- 
lus family,  are  occasionally  destructive.  The  writer  of  this  treatise  recol- 
lects losing  one  cow  that  had  fed  on  the  wild  parsnip,  and  another  by  black 
henbane  ;  and  there  is  a  case  on  record  in  which  eight  cows  were  poisoned 
by  the  stalks  of  the  wild  poppy. t 

The  symptoms  of  poisoning  by  these  acrid  and  narcotic  plants  are 
obscure,  unless  they  can  be  connected  with  the  history  of  the  case.  They 
are  principally  sudden  swelling,  with  a  peculiar  stupor,  in  the  early  stage 
of  the  attack ;  cessation  of  rumination  ;  a  change  in  the  quality  of  the 
milk,  which  becomes  thin  and  serous,  and  presently  ceases  to  be  secreted ; 
the  refusal  of  all  solid  food,  and  eagerness  after  water ;  quickening  of  the 
pluse,  which  yet  becomes  small,  and,  in  some  cases,  scarcely  to  be  felt ; 
and  the  animal  frequently  grinds  his  teeth,  and  paws,  and  rolls,  as  if  it  felt 
severe  eolic  pains.  In  a  few  instances  the  stupor  passes  over,  and  a  de- 
gree of  excitement  and  blind  fury  succeeds,  which  has  been  mistaken  for 
madness. 

On  examination  after  death,  the  greater  part  of  the  poison  is  usually 
found  in  the  paunch,  but,  in  a  few  cases,  it  has  been  remasticated,  and  con- 
veyed into  the  fourth  stomach  and  intestines.  The  sense  of  taste  does  not 
seem  to  be  very  acute  in  cattle  ;  it  is  a  sleepy  kind  of  pleasure  which  they 
feel  in  rumination,  and  the  acrid  and  bitter  flavour  of  many  a  plant  appears 
to  give  them  little  annoyance. 

Inflammation  is  found  in  the  paunch  and  second  stomach  characterised 
by  the  ease  with  which  the  cuticular  coat  is  separated  from  that  beneath. 
The  manyplus  is  usually  filled  with  dry  and  hardened  food  ;  and  the  fourth 
stomach  and  intestines  exhibit  inflammation  and  ulceration  proportioned 
to  the  acrimony  of  the  poison,  and  the  quantity  of  it  which  had  passed  into 
these  viscera. 

The  yew  is  probably  the  most  destructive  poison,  especially  when  a 
quantity  of  it  is  taken  unmixed  with  other  food.  Mr.  Husard,  however, 
relates  that,  in  Hanover  and  Hesse,  the  cattle  are  partly  fed  on  the  leaves 
of  the  yew.  He  examined  the  trees  as  they  grew  in  the  mountains  of 
those  countries,  and  he  found  them  to  be  the  true  yew.     In  winter,  and 

*  Lachesis  Laponica,  vol.  ii.  p.  136. 

+  Recueil  de  Med.  Veterinuire,  Oct.  1829,  p.  99. 


POISONS.  447 

especially  when  fodder  is  more  than  usually  scarce,  a  portion  of  yew  leaves 
and  branches  is  mingled  with  the  other  food.  The  quantity  of  the  yew  is 
small  at  first,  but  it  is  gradually  increased  until  it  constitutes  the  greater 
part  of  the  food;  and  it  has  the  reputation  of  materially  contributing  to  the 
fattening  of  the  beast. 

The  inhabitants  of  Hanover  and  Hesse  are,  nevertheless,  perfectly  aware 
of  the  poisonous  property  of  the  leaves  of  this  tree,  and  are  sometimes 
taught,  by  dear  experience,  that  it  will  destroy  their  catde,  unless  it  is  ma- 
naged with  this  degree  of  caution. 

M.  Husard  adds,  that  on  his  return  to  France  he  determined  to  put  this 
matter  to  the  test,  but  he  selected  the  horse  instead  of  cattle  as  the  subject 
of  his  experiment.  He  gave  the  yew  mixed  with  oats  in  the  proportion  of 
half  a  pound  of  the  former  to  a  pound  and  a  half  of  the  latter,  and  the  horse 
did  not  appear  to  be  in  the  slightest  degree  inconvenienced  by  what  he  had 
eaten. 

This  animal,  however,  was  enfeebled  and  emaciated  previous  to  the  ex- 
periment; and  it  occurred  to  M.  Husard  that  there  might  be  a  deficiency 
of  sensibility  in  the  stomach,  and  in  the  frame  generally,  and  that,  in  con- 
sequence of  this,  the  poison  might  not  produce  its  fatal  effects:  he,  there- 
fore, selected  a  mare  in  good  health  and  condition,  as  the  subject  of  a 
second  experiment.  She  ate  the  mingled  yew  and  oats,  and  suflTered  no 
inconvenience. 

He  selected  another  horse  as  the  subject  of  a  third  and  decisive  experi- 
ment. He  took  seven  ounces  of  the  yew,  and  bruised  and  mixed  it  with 
twelve  ounces  of  water,  so  as  to  make  a  kind  of  electuary,  which  he  gave 
to  a  horse  that  had  fasted  four  hours;  an  hour  afterwards  he  fell  and  died.* 

The  British  agriculturist  will  scarcely  be  tempted  to  make  experiments 
like  these,  except  in  times  of  the  greatest  scarcity,  and  then  he  would  act 
with  all  the  caution  of  the  Hanoverian,  for  several  instances  occur  to  the 
recollection  of  the  writer  in  which  the  presence  of  a  considerable  quantity 
of  other  food  in  the  rumen  did  not  preserve  the  beast  from  the  fatal  effects 
of  the  yew.  Fortunately,  it  is  seldom  that  cattle  browse  upon  the  green 
yew;  the  mischief  is  usually  done  by  tlie  half-dried  clippings  of  the  yew- 
trees,  or  hedges,  which  are  too  often  suffered  to  lie  in  the  way  of  cattle,  and 
which  they  will  eat,  if  not  with  avidity,  yet  freely. 

Little  can  be  done  in  the  way  of  medicine  when  cattle  have  browsed  on 
these  poisonous  plants,  and  the  only  hope  of  the  practitioner  must  be 
founded  on  the  early  and  persevering  use  of  the  stomach-pump.  Plenty  of 
Avarni  water  should  be  injected  and  pumped  out,  and  that  repeated  again 
and  again;  and  at  length  the  stomach  should  be  fully  distended  with  water, 
for  the  purpose,  and  in  the  hope  of,  producing  vomiting,  as  in  Mr.  Cot- 
cheifer's  case.  Whether  this  succeeds  or  not,  a  brisk  purgative  should  be 
next  administered,  but  as  cautiously  and  gently  as  possible,  that  it  may 
pass  on  over  the  closed  floor  of  the  cesophagean  canal  into  the  fourth  sto- 
mach, and  not,  by  the  power  with  which  it  descends,  force  open  the  pillars 
that  compose  that  floor,  and  enter  the  rumen  and  be  lost.  Tonics  and  aro- 
matics  will  here  also  follow  the  evacuation  of  the  stomach,  in  order  to 
restore  its  tone. 

While  speaking  of  poisons,  it  will,  perhaps,  be  proper  to  mention  that 
catde  are  sometimes  exposed  to  extreme  danger  from  the  application  of 
deleterious  mineral  preparations  for  the  cure  of  mange  and  other  cutaneous 
eruptions.  A  practitioner  had  been  attending  on  some  mangy  cows;  he 
had  applied  the  usual   preparation  of   sulphur  mixed  with  a  portion  of 

*  Instructions  sur  les  Maladies  de  les  Animaux  Domestiques,  tome  vi.  p.  300. 


448  CATTLE. 

mercurial  ointment,  and  the  animals  were  decidedly  getting  better,  al- 
though not  so  rapidly  as  the  impatient  owner  desired.  The  gentleman  be- 
came dissatisfied,  and  another  person  was  called  in,  who  freely  applied  a 
lotion  to  the  sore  and  mangy  spots;  but  before  he  had  dressed  the  last  of 
the  cows,  the  first  became  suddenly  and  violently  ill,  and  died.  The  former 
practitioner  was  sent  for  in  great  haste,  but  ere  he  had  arrived,  three  had 
died,  and  became  just  in  time  to  witness  the  death  of  a  fourth.  They 
were  all  dead  in  less  than  two  hours  after  the  external  application  of  the 
lotion.  He  found  the  bottle  with  a  portion  of  the  lotion  remaining  in  it, 
w^hich  he  carried  away,  and  appointed  the  following  morning  for  tlie  open- 
ing of  tlie  animals,  to  whicli  he  desired  that  the  second  man  should  be 
summoned,  and  arriving  at  liis  home,  he  set  to  work  to  analyze  the  con- 
tents of  the  bottle.  Combined  with  some  unknown  vegetable  matter,  he 
found  a  nearly  saturated  solution  of  corrosive  sublimate.  On  the  following 
morning  the  post-mortem  examination  took  place.  Considerable  inflam- 
mation of  the  first  and  second  stomachs  was  found,  evidenced  by  the  ready 
separation  of  the  cuticular  coat;  the  fourth  stomach  and  the  intestines 
were  ulcerated,  and  in  many  places  nearly  perforated.  The  gas  which 
proceeded  from  the  abdomen  and  rumen  was  of  so  poisonous  a  character 
that  the  butcher  who  opened  the  animals,  although  warned  of  his  danger, 
yet  exposing  himself  to  the  blast  of  the  gas  as  it  escaped,  had  erysipelatous 
swelling  of  the  face  and  head,  which  threatened  his  life.  The  cows  were 
poisoned  by  the  application  of  the  mercurial  wash  to  the  mangy  and 
abraded  spots. 

It  is  no  unusual  thing  for  cattle  that  have  been  incautiously  dressed  with 
a  strong  solution  of  corrosive  sul^limate  to  becorae^eriously  ill.  They 
cease  to  eat  and  to  ruminate;  the  saliva  drivels  from  their  mouths;  they  paw 
with  their  feet;  look  anxiously  at  their  flanks,  and  are  violently  purged — 
blood  usually  mingling  with  the  faeces. 

The  remedy,  if  there  is  time  and  opportunity  to  have  recourse  to  it,  is 
the  white  of  several  eggs,  beaten  up  with  thick  gruel,  and  gently  poured 
down  the  throat,  that  it  may  be  more  likely  to  pass  on  to  the  fourth  sto- 
mach; and  this  repeated  every  hour,  until  the  animal  is  either  relieved  or 
dead.  As  soon  as  decided  relief  is  obtained,  a  dose  of  physic  should  be 
given,  and  if  any  fever  seems  to  be  coming  on,  a  {ew  pounds  of  blood 
should  be  taken  away. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  that  cattle  should  suffer  from  the  poison  of  arsenic, 
unless  it  is  maliciously  administered,  for  it  ought  not  to  enter  into  the  com- 
position of  any  medicine,  or  external  application.  The  antidote  would  be 
lime-water,  or  chalk  and  water  plentifully  administered. 

DISEASES  OF  THE  RETICULUM. 

Of  these,  in  the  present  state  of  knowledge  of  cattle-medicine,  little  can 
be  said.  Some  of  the  foreign  substances  that  are  found  in  the  rumen  have 
been  occasionally  discovered  in  the  reticulum,  as  pins,  pieces  of  wire, 
nails,  small  stones,  &c.  They  were,  probably,  ejected  over  the  valve 
between  the  two  stomachs,  enveloped  by,  or  attached  to,  the  portion  of 
food  that  was  preparing  for  a  second  mastication.  In  the  forcible  contrac- 
tion of  the  stomach,  it  has  been  severely  wounded  by  these  substances, 
and  so  much  inflammation  has  ensued,  that  the  animal  has  liecn  lost. 
The  following  narrative,  by  M.  Dupuy,  director  of  the  Veterinary  School 
at  Toiflouse,  which  is  almost  exclusively  devoted  to  the  consideration 
of  the  diseases  of  cattle,  will  form  a  sufiicient  illustration  of  this.  A  bull, 
three  years  old,  died  after  an  illness  of  fourteen  days.  The  symptoms 
scarcely  extended  beyond  the  peculiar  heaving  and  short  cough  of  hoove. 


DISEASES  OF  THE  MANYPLUS,  OR  MANIFOLDS.  449 

On  examination,  after  death,  it  Avas  found  that  the  second  stomach  adhered 
to  the  diaphragm  by  a  false  membrane,  which  was  clearly  the  consequence 
of  intense  inflammation  of  that  stomach.  The  coats  of  the  reticulum  had 
been  pierced,  and  in  the  aperture  was  a  piece  of  iron  wire,  that  had 
penetrated  through  the  diaphragm  and  the  pericardium,  and  entered  the 
right  ventricle  of  the  heart.  Within  the  diaphragm,  and  between  it  and 
the  heart,  was  a  sac  containing  nearly  a  pound  of  blood  mingled  with  the 
liquid  food  usually  contained  in  the  second  stomach. 

The  mischief  had  been  of  long  stan-ding,  for  the  walls  of  the  ventricle 
were  become  white  and  of  a  cartilaginous  structure,  and  the  ventricle 
itself  was  filled  with  coagulated  blood  deposited  layer  upon  layer.  The 
pericardium  was  contracted  and  adhered  to  the  heart,  and  might  almost 
be  said  to  have  disappeared.  The  lungs  were  emphysematous,  and  con- 
tained numerous  encysted  tubercles  resembling  hydatids,  or  actually 
being  so. 

The  Avriter  of  this  treatise  has  frequently  seen  inflammation  of  the  second 
stomach — sometimes  accompanying  that  of  the  paunch,  and  at  other  times 
seemingly  confined  to  the  reticulum.  This  inflammation  was,  as  in  the 
rumen,  characterised  by  the  peeling  off"  of  the  cuticular  coat,  and  the 
redness  of  the  tissue  beneath  it ;  but  the  symptoms  weie  so  different  in 
different  cases,  and  always  so  obscure,  that  no  legitimate  conclusion  could 
be  drawn  from  the  appearances  that  presented  themselves. 


DISEASES  OF  THE  MANYPLUS,  OR  MANIFOLDS. 

Although  the  function  of  this  stomach  is  one  of  a  purely  mechanical 
nature,  there  seems  to  be  a  strong  bond  of  sympathy  between  it  and  almost 
every  part  of  the  frame.  There  are  few  serious  diseases  by  which  catde  are 
afflicted,  and  there  are  none  of  an  acute  and  inflammatory  nature,  in  which 
the  manyplus  is  not  involved.  It  is  so  common  in  cases  of  catarrh,  con- 
stipation, inflammation  of  the  lungs,  or  bowels,  simple  fever,  dropping 
after  calving,  blain,  and  even  murrain,  to  find  the  manyplus  either  choked 
with  food  in  a  hardened  state,  or,  if  continuing  soft,  yet  having  become 
exceedingly  putrid  and  emitting  a  most  nauseous  smell,  that  the  idea  of 
the  animal  being  fardel-bound,  or  having  disease  of  the  fcdk  is  always 
present  in  the  mind  of  the  farmer  and  the  country  practitioner.  They  are 
seldom  wrong  in  this  surmise,  for  the  fardel-bag  either  sympathises  with 
the  diseases  of  other  parts,  or  is  the  original  seat  and  focus  of  disease. 

The  manyplus  has  been  described  as  containing  numerous  leaves  or 
curtains  or  duplicatures  of  its  cuticular  coat,  and  with  interposed  layers  of 
muscular  and  vascular  tissue,  which  hang  from  its  roof  and  float  loose  in  its 
cavity.  These  leaves  are  covered  with  innumerable  little  hard  papillae  or 
prominences ;  and  many  of  these,  and  especially  toward  the  lower  edges, 
assume  a  greater  degree  of  bulk,  and  something  of  a  hook-like  form.  Those 
portions  of  food  that  are  returned  after  the  second  mastication,  and  that 
have  not  been  thoroughly  ground  down,  are  seized  by  these  hooked  edges 
of  the  leaves  and  drawn  up  between  them,  and  there  retained  until,  by  the 
action  of  these  flexible  grindstones,  they  are  sufficiently  comminuted  for 
the  purpose  of  digestion. 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  that,  either  sharing  in  the  irritability  of  other  parts, 
or  being  the  original  seat  of  irritation  and  inflammation,  the  manyplus 
may'  spasmodically  contract  upon,  and  forcibly  detain  the  substances 
that  have  been  thus  taken  up  between  its  leaves.  By  this  contraction  the 
natural  moisture  of  the  food,  or  that  which  it  had  acquired  in  the  processes 
of  maceration  and  mastication,  is  mechanically  squeezed  out,  or  drained 

39* 


450  CATTLE. 

away  by  the  very  position  of  the  leaves,  and  a  hard  and  dry  mass  neces- 
sarily remains.  When  the  contraction  is  violent,  and  this  imprisonment  of 
the  food  long  continued,  we  can  even  conceive  of  the  possibility  of  its 
becoming  so  hardened  and  dry  as  to  be  snapped  between  the  fingers,  and  to 
be  capable  of  being  reduced  to  powder.  The  description  of  it  is  not  exag- 
gerated when  it  is  said  to  "look  as  if  it  had  been  baked  in  an  oven."  On 
the  other  hand,  it  can  as  readily  be  imagined  that,  either  debilitated  by 
inflammatory  action  peculiar  to  itself,  or  sympathising  with,  and  sharing  in 
the  debility  of  other  parts,  the  leaves  may  have  lost  the  power  of  acting  on 
the  food  contained  between  them,  and  which  supported  by  the  irregularities 
of  the  cuticular  coat,  and  miprisoned  there  in  a  somewhat  pultaceous  form, 
will  gradually  become  putrid  and  offensive. 

A  third  case  may  not  unfrequently  happen.  The  animal  may  be  fed 
on  too  dry  and  fibrous  matter,  or  he  may  lazily  and  but  half  perform  the 
process  of  rumination ;  in  consequence  of  this  the  hard  parts  of  the  food 
may  accumulate  in  the  manyplus  more  rapidly  than  they  can  be  ground 
down,  and  so  the  stomach  may  become  clogged  and  its  function  suspended. 
Whatever  may  be  the  cause,  this  state  of  contraction  or  inaction  of  the 
manyplus  often  occurs,  and  either  aggravates  the  pre-existing  malady,  or 
becomes  a  new  source  of  disease,  and  hastens  or  causes  the  death  of  the 
animal. 

When  this  stomach  has  been  spasmodically  contracted,  or  long  and  forci- 
bly distended,  the  imprisoned  food  presents  a  very  curious  appearance. 
There  is  an  indentation  of  the  papillte  on  the  surface  of  the  detained  mass. 
The  impression  is  as  perfect  as  could  be  made  by  any  seal.  All  this  force 
must  have  produced  inflammation  of  the  part ;  and  that  intense  inflamma- 
tion does  occasionally  exist  in  the  manyplus,  sufficient  to  produce  great  and 
general  derangement  and  even  to  destroy  the  beast,  is  rendered  sufficiently 
evident  by  the  easy  separation  of  the  cuticular  coat.  In  many  cases,  or 
perhaps  in  the  majority  of  them,  it  is  impossible  to  remove  the  detained 
mass  from  its  situation  without  a  portion  of  the  cuticular  coat  accompanying 
and  covering  it.  It  must,  however,  be  confessed,  that  even  this  hardened 
state  of  the  contents  of  the  manyplus  is  not  always  a  proof  of  general  dis- 
ease. It  is  an  unnatural  and  morbid  state  of  the  stomach,  but  very  consi- 
derable local  disease  may  exist  in  this  organ,  as  it  is  known  to  do  in  many 
other  parts,  without  materially,  or  in  any  appreciable  degree,  interfering 
with  general  health  and  good  condition.  Tubercles  and  abscesses  in  the 
lungs,  and  inflammation  and  almost  complete  disorganization  of  the  liver, 
will  occasionally  be  found  on  examination  of  the  carcase,  of  the  exist- 
ence of  which  there  was  not  the  slightest  suspicion  during  the  life  of  the 
animal.  So,  in  this  case,  the  fardel-bag  has  been  found  choked  with  food, 
and  that  dry,  and  black,  and  roasted,  and  yet  the  beast  had  apparently 
bepn  in  perfect  health. 

The  author  of  this  treatise  has  seen  the  loss  of  function  confined  to  one 
part  only  of  this  stomach.  Between  some  of  the  leaves,  or  on  one  side  or 
curvature  of  the  manyplus,  the  contents  have  been  green  and  fluid ;  in  the 
other  portion  of  it  they  have  been  perfectly  baked.  It  is  a  wise  and  kind 
provision  of  nature  that  the  general  health  and  thriving  of  the  animal  shall 
in  various  cases  be  so  little  impaired  by  local,  although  serious,  disease. 
Many  a  trifling  circumstance,  nevertheless,  may  cause  this  local  evil  to 
spread  rapidly  and  widely  ;  and,  even  without  any  additional  excitement, 
the  mere  continuance  of  such  a  disease,  accompanied  by  such  derangement 
of  function,  can  scarcely  fail  of  being  attended  by  injurious  consequences. 
A  very  singular  account,  however,  is  recorded  of  the  great  length  of  time 
during  which  this  hardened  matter  may  be  detained  between  the  leaves  of 


DISEASES  OF  THE  MANYPLUS,  OR  MANIFOLDS.         451 

ihe  manyplus.  A  person  at  Bourbourg  had  a  valuable  cow  that  was  fed 
principally  on  vetches.  A  serious  epizootic  broke  out  in  ihat  neighbour- 
hood, and  the  cow  was  removed  to  a  distant  and  uninfected  place,  where 
she  remained  for  six  weeks  apparently  well,  and  without  the  possibility  of 
her  getting  at  any  vetches;  she  then  became  infected  by  this  prevalent 
malady  and  died.  The  third  stomach  was  filled  with  vetches,  dry,  hai'd, 
and,  as  it  were,  roasted.  Although  there  was  no  apparent  illness,  it  is  im- 
possible to  determine  how  far  this  long-continued  and  unnatural  state  of 
the  manyplus  had  preyed  on  the  strength  of  her  constitution,  and  pre- 
pared her  for  a  fatal  attack  of  the  epidemic* 

In  the  Veterinarian  for  November,  1829,  several  cases  of  "  staking"  or 
*'  bound"  are  recorded  by  Mr.  Cartwright,  which  were  plainly  referrible 
to  this  stomach.  A  drove  of  Anglesea  catde  were  on  their  journey  to  the 
London  market.  They  appeared  to  be  in  perfect  health  when  they  crossed 
the  ferry,  and  they  stopped  one  night  in  a  field  near  Bangor.  They  had 
not  got  far  from  this  place  when  one  of  them  was  taken  ill,  and,  being  al- 
together unable  to  proceed,  he  was  slaughtered.  A  little  farther  on  two 
others  began  to  fail;  and  when  they  arrived  on  the  borders  of  Shropshire 
the  disease  was  spreading  rapidly  among  them.  They  were  dull,  moan- 
ing; they  could  scarcely  be  induced  to  move,  and  they  remained  obsti- 
nately standing.  Proper  measures  were  resorted  to:  they  were  bled  and 
purgative  medicine  was  administered,  but  four  of  them  presently  died.  In 
two  of  these  the  manyplus  was  full — clogged  with  food — but  it  Avas  soft; 
in  the  third,  the  greater  part  of  the  food  was  soft,  but  in  the  larger  curva- 
ture it  was  hard  and  friable.  In  the  fourth  beast  the  manyplus  was  quite 
full  and  hard,  each  layer  being  so  dried  that  it  would  snap  short  ofi";  and 
upon  each  layer  there  was  a  thin  pellicle  or  secretion  of  a  blueish  colour 
that  could  be  easily  separated;  the  leaves  of  the  stomach  were  of  a  light 
pinkish  hue,  and  the  vessels  were  injected.  Four  others,  that  had  been 
taken  ill  in  the  same  way,  recovered;  but  it  was  eight  or  nine  days  before 
any  medicine  operated,  although  great  quantities  were  administered.  In 
the  third  stomach  of  each  there  Avere  a  great  number  of  small  seeds  from 
some  unknown  plant,  said  to  have  grown  in  this  field  at  Bangor,  and  which 
had  remained  in  the  stomach  from  that  night. 

A  more  satisfactory  proof  of  the  serious  nature  of  the  maladies  of  this 
stomach  is  recorded.! 

Towards  the  end  of  September,  1746,  a  great  number  of  cows  died  at 
Osterwich,  in  the  principality  of  Halberstadt.  Lieberkuhn,  a  celebrated 
physician,  (there  were  not  any  veterinary  surgeons  at  that  time,)  was  sent 
to  examine  into  the  nature  of  the  disease,  which  was  supposed  to  be  one  of 
the  species  of  murrain  that  was  then  committing  such  ravages  among  the 
cattle  in  various  parts  of  the  continent.  There  were  none  of  the  tumours, 
or  pestilential  buboes,  that  in  an  earlier  or  later  period  of  the  malady  usu- 
ally accompanied  and  characterised  murrain,  but,  on  inspection  of  the  dead 
bodies,  considerable  peritoneal  inflammation  was  found;  the  first  and 
second  stomachs  Avere  filled  with  food,  but  the  third  stomach  Avas  the  pal- 
pable seat  of  disease — its  leaves  Avere  black  and  gangrened.  The  mass 
contained  betAveen  the  leaves  Avas  black,  dry,  and  so  hard  that  it  could 
scarcely  be  cut  Avith  a  scalpel.  It  intercepted  the  passage  of  the  food  from 
the  tAvo  first  stomachs  to  the  fourth;  and  this  latter  stomach  Avas  empty  and 
much  inflamed.     Neither  tlie  heart  nor  the  lungs  nor  intestines  exhibited 

*  Moyens  Curatifs,  par  Vicq-d'Azir,  p.  481. 

t  Disputations  de  Haller.  Tom.  v. — Journal  Pratique,  1286,  p.  38, 


452  CATTLE. 

any  trace  of  dii?ease.  Twelve  cows  were  opened,  and  the  appearances 
were  nearly  the  same  in  all  of  them.* 

M.  Lieberkuhn  thus  accounted  for  the  disease:  the  pasture  had  been 
overflowed  in  the  preceding  month,  and  when  the  water  subsided,  vege- 
tation was  much  quickened  by  the  united  influence  of  moisture  and 
heat,  and  the  numerous  poisonous  plants  with  which  that  locality  abound- 
ed (different  species  of  dropwort,  clematis,  and  ranunculus  growing  rapid- 
ly, and  succulent  with  the  rest)  not  possessing  the  natural  odour  or  taste  of 
the  mature  plant,  the  beasts,  like  those  in  the  island  of  Tornea,  fed  on  them 
unconsciously,  and  the  poisonous  principle  which  they  contained  was 
evidenced  in  the  paralysis  or  over-excitation  of  the  muscles  of  the  manyplus. 

This  state  of  the  manyplus  is  one  of  the  most  serious  species  of  indi- 
gestion to  which  these  animals  aie  subject,  and  deserves  the  attentive  con- 
sideration of  the  practitioner.  There  are,  nevertheless,  many  difficulties 
accompanying  the  study  of  this  important  subject,  and  which  chiefly  arise 
from  the  present  wretched  state  of  the  knowledge  of  cattle-medicine.  The 
symptoms  by  which  primary  or  dangerous  disease  of  the  manyplus  may 
be  distinguished  from  that  of  the  other  stomachs,  and  the  manner  in  which 
it  can  be  successfully  treated — these  are  points  on  which  no  author  has 
written,  nor  has  any  veterinary  teacher  on  the  south  side  of  the  Tweed 
instructed  his  pupils  with  regard  to  them.  There  is  no  clue,  no  light,  to 
guide  the  bewildered  practitioner  on  his  way.  Is  it  not  disgraceful,  that 
when  the  veterinary  art  has  professedly  been  studied  in  England  more 
than  forty  years,  no  effective  school  of  catffe-medicine  has  yet  been  esta- 
blished; but  oxen  and  sheep,  the  most  valuable  of  the  live-stock  of  the 
agriculturist,  continue  to  be  abandoned  to  the  ravages  of  the  various  dis- 
eases to  which  they  are  exposed?  It  is  high  time  for  the  different  farming 
societies  and  for  government  to  interfere,  and  to  protect  the  most  important 
interests  of  the  agriculturist,  and  the  most  efl!ectual  source  of  national  pros- 
perity and  wealth. 

The  clue,  or  fardel-bound,  names  by  which  the  retention  of  the  food  in 
the  manifolds  is  distinguished,  may  be  occasionally  produced  by  the  ani- 
mal feeding  on  too  stimulating  plants,  or  on  those  which  are  of  a  narcotic 
nature.  A  sudden  change  from  green  and  succulent  food  to  that  which  is 
hard  and  fibrous  may  also  readily  be  supposed  to  be  a  very  likely  cause  of 
it.  The  strange  fancy  that  induces  many  cows,  and  especially  those  in 
calf,  to  refuse  the  soft  and  nutritious  food  of  the  pasture  and  browse  on  the 
coarse  grass  and  weeds  which  the  hedges  produce,  will  necessarily  over- 
load the  manyplus  with  hard  and  fibrous  substances;  and  many  a  beast  has 
suffered  in  this  way  from  being  too  rapidly  and  exclusively  put  on  chafT 
of  various  kinds. 

The  symptoms  vary  in  different  animals,  but  the  following  is  an  outline 
of  them:  the  animal  is  evidently  oppressed;  the  pulse  is  somewhat  accele- 
rated and  hard;  the  respiration  not  so  much  quickened;  the  muzzle  is  dry; 
the  mouth  hot;  the  tongue  protruded,  and  seemingly  enlarged;  the  mem- 
brane both  of  the  eyes  and  nose  is  injected;  the  eye  is  protruded  or 
weeping;  the  head  is  extended;  the  animal  is  unwilling  to  move;  and  the 
gait  is  uncertain  and  staggering;  the  urine  is  generally  voided  with  diffi- 
culty, and  is  sometimes  red  and  even  black.  There  is  apparent  and  obsti- 
nate costiveness,  yet  small  quantities  of  liquid  faeces  are  discharged.  As 
the  disease  proceeds,  and  often  at  an  early  period,  there  is  evident  deter- 

*  The  reporter  adds,  (exhibiting  the  •wretched  state  of  veterinary  science,  and  how  far 
the  most  scientific  men  were  deluded  by  the  absurd  notions  of  the  cow-keeper  of  that 
period,)  '  we  examined  and  divided  the  tail  in  various  parts,  and  found  it  in  its  natural 
state.' 


DISEASES  OF  THE  MANYPLUS,  OR  MANIFOLDS.         453 

mination  of  blood  to  the  head,  evinced  not  only  by  this  staggering  gait,  but 
by  a  degree  of  unconsciousness;  the  eyes  weep  more;  the  lids  are  swollen; 
the  costiveness  continues  or  some  hardened  excrement  is  voided,  but  foetid 
and  mixed  with  blood;  rumination  ceases;  the  secretion  of  milk  is  usually 
suspended,  or  the  milk  becomes  offensive  both  in  taste  and  smell;  the  urine 
flows  more  abundantly,  but  that  too  continues  of  a  dark  colour. 

Many  of  these  symptoms  distinguish  this  complaint  from  distention  of 
the  rumen;  there  is  not  the  hardness  at  the  flanks,  and  the  general  swelling 
of  the  belly,  which  is  observed  in  distension  by  food;  nor  the  greater  dis- 
tension and  threatened  suff'ocation  which  accompany  hoove.  In  bad  cases, 
and  when  the  symptoms  take  on  much  of  the  character  of  that  undescribed, 
and  unintelligible  disease,  wood-evil,  tremblings  of  the  frame  generally,  a 
degree  of  palsy,  coldness  of  the  extremities,  actual  swelling  of  the  tongue, 
the  eyes  glaring,  and  the  ears  and  the  tail  being  in  frequent  and  convulsive 
motion — these  are  the  precursors  of  death. 

The  peiiod  of  the  termination  of  the  disease  is  uncertain;  it  extends  from 
three  or  four  days  to  more  than  as  many  weeks.  Many  of  these  symp- 
toms so  often  accompany  other  diseases  that  they  are  utterly  insufficient 
always  or  generally,  to  lead  to  a  right  conclusion  as  to  the  natare  of  the 
complaint,  and  careful  inquiry  must  be  made  into  the  history  of  the  case. 

The  treatment  is  as  unsatisfactory  as  the  history  of  the  symptoms.  It 
will  always  be  proper  to  bleed  in  order  to  diminish  any  existing  fever,  or 
to  prevent  the  occurrence  of  that  which  continued  disease  of  this  important 
stomach  would  be  likely  to  produce.  To  this  should  follow  a  dose  of 
physic,  in  order  to  evacuate  the  intestines  beyond  the  place  of  obstruction, 
and,  by  its  action  on  them,  possibly  recall  this  viscus  also  to  the  discharge 
of  its  healthy  function.  The  Epsom  salts,  with  half  the  usual  quantity  of 
ginger,  will  form  the  best  purgative;  and  it  should  be  administered  either 
by  means  of  a  small  horn,  or  the  pipe  of  the  stomach-pump  introduced 
half  way  down  the  gullet,  and  the  liquid  very  slowly  pumped  in.  By 
this  cautious  method  of  proceeding  the  pillars  of  the  cesophagean  canal  will 
probably  not  be  forced  open,  and  the  liquid  will  flow  on  through  the  pas- 
sage still  partially  open  at  the  bottom  of  the  manyplus,  and  thence  into  the 
abomasum.  Of  the  sympathetic  influence  which  the  establishment  of  in- 
creased action  of  the  intestines  has  on  the  stomachs  above  in  rousing  them 
to  their  wonted  function,  mention  has  already  been  made:  it  is  a  fact  of 
much  importance,  and  should  never  be  forgotten  by  the  practitioner. 

A  consideration  of  the  nature  of  the  disease  will  necessarily  lead  to  the 
next  step.  Either  a  great  quantity  of  food  is  retained  between  the  leaves 
of  the  manyplus  in  a  natural  and  softened  state,  or  it  is  powerfully  com- 
pressed there,  and  has  become  dry  and  hard.  Now  the  longer  leaves  of 
this  stomach  reach  from  the  roof  almost  or  quite  to  the  base  of  it,  and  some 
of  them  float  in  the  continuation  of  the  cesophagean  canal  through  which  all 
fluids  pass  in  their  way  to  the  fourth  stomach.  Then  plenty  of  fluid 
should  be  made  to  flow  through  this  canal;  and  this  may  readily  be  efl^ected 
by  the  small  horn,  or  much  better  by  the  stomach-pump.  An  almost  con- 
stant current  of  warm  water  may  thus  be  kept  up  through  the  canal,  by 
means  of  which  the  food  retained  towards  the  lower  edge  of  the  leaves, 
and  most  obstinately  retained  there  on  account  of  the  hook-like  form  of  the 
papillae,  will  be  gradually  softened  and  washed  out.  This  will  leave  room 
for  the  descent  of  more;  and  the  natural  action  of  this  portion  of  the  leaves 
being  possibly  re-established,  when  freed  from  the  weight  and  oppression 
of  that  by  which  they  had  been  filled,  the  mass  that  remains  above  will  be- 
gin to  be  loosened;  it  will  gradually  descend  and  be  softened  by  the  stream, 
and  it  too  will  be  carried  oflT;  and  so,  in  process  of  time,  a  great  part  of 


454  CATTLE. 

the  stomach  will  be  emptied,  and  the  manifolds  will  be  so  far  relieved  as 
to  be  able  to  renew  its  natural  function. 

The  use  of  oil  has  been  recommended  for  this  purpose,  but  the  hardened 
food  will  be  more  readily  softened  by  warm  water,  than  by  any  oleaginous 
fluid  that  can  be  administered.  Some  portion  of  aperient  salt  should  be 
dissolved  in  the  water,  in  order  that  purgation  may  be  established  as  soon 
as  possible,  or  kept  moderately  up  when  it  is  established;  but  no  heating, 
stimulating,  tonic  medicine,  beyond  the  prescribed  proportion  of  aromatic 
to  the  purgative,  should  on  any  account  be  given,  for  it  is  impossible  to 
tell  what  inflammatory  action  may  be  going  forward  in  the  manyplus,  or 
to  what  degree  the  spasmodic  contraction  on  its  contents  may  be  increased. 
No  food  should  be  allowed  except  soft  or  almost  fluid  mashes,  but  the 
animal  may  be  indulged  in  water  or  thin  gruel  without  limit.  Clysters 
can  have  little  effect,  and  will  only  uselessly  tease  the  animal  already  suffi- 
ciently annoyed  ^by  frequent  drenching. 

After  all,  it  may  be  doubtful  whether  the  injury  and  danger  produced  by 
the  distention  of  the  manifolds  with  food  is  not  sometimes  brought  about  in 
a  different  way  from  that  which  has  been  hitherto  imagined.  This  stomach 
has  already  been  described  (p.  425,)  as  situated  obliquely  between  the  liver 
and  the  right  sac  of  the  rumen,  and,  therefore,  Avhen  distended  by  food  it 
will  press  upon  the  liver,  and  impede  the  circulation  through  the  main 
vessel  that  returns  the  blood  from  the  intestines  to  the  heart,  and  thus 
cause  the  retention  of  an  undue  quantity  of  blood  in  the  veins  of  the  abdo- 
men. From  this  will  naturally  or  almost  necessarily  arise  a  determination 
of  blood  to  the  brain,  and  the  winding  up  of  the  disease  by  a  species  of 
apoplexy.  This,  however,  will  not  alter  the  opinion  that  has  been  given 
of  the  proper  treatment  of  the  disease;  but  will  throw  considerable  light  on 
the  nature  and  causes  of  some  of  these  determinations  to  the  head,  which 
have  not  hitherto  been  perfectly  understood. 

MALFORMATION  OF  THE  MANYPLUS. 

A  singular  construction  of  the  manifolds  is  related  by  Mr.  Harrison,  and 
from  which  some  useful  hints  may  be  derived.*  He  says  that  "  two  cows 
were  observed,  during  the  whole  of  their  lives,'to  eat  a  more  than  ordinary 
quantity  of  food;  so  much  so,  as  at  some  times  to  double,  and  even  treble, 
that  which  was  consum.ed  by  ordinary  cattle.  They  did  not,  however, 
repay  this  great  consumption  by  a  better  appearance  or  more  plentiful 
supply  of  milk;  on  the  contrary,  their  milk  was  rather  smaller  in  quantity, 
and  of  an  inferior  quality  compared  with  ordinary  cows;  and  the  fattening 
of  them  was  attended  with  great  cost  and  trouble,  and  took  much  longer 
than  the  usual  time. 

I  for  a  long  time  narrowly  watched  them,  unable  to  give  any  satisfactory 
reason  for  their  great  voracity,  and  frequently  thinking  that  if  bulimia 
(unnatural  appetite)  was  ever  known  to  exist  in  the  brute  creation,  it  was 
here  presented  to  my  view,  for  food  of  every  description,  except  animal, 
was  devoured  by  them  with  wonderful  rapidity.  The  cause  of  this  re- 
mained unknown  and  unsuspected  until  they  were  slaughtered,  when,  to 
me,  a  most  important  point  in  the  physiology  of  digestion  in  ruminants 
stood  clearly  developed;  for,  upon  examining  into  the  structure  of  their 
manifolds,  the  internal  surface  of  one  of  them  merely  displayed  rugae  not 
quite  so  long  as  my  firtger,  and  in  the  other  the  corrugations  were  even 
less  strongly  marked. 

The  fact,  then,  was  plainly  demonstrated,  that  the  food  in  these  two 
cases,  owing  to  the  mal-formation  of  the  manifolds,  was  not  retained  that 
*  Veterinarian,  1833,  p.  584. 


VOMITING.  455 

length  of  time  which  was  necessary  for  the  breaking  or  macerating  of  it 
into  a  pulp,  for  the  complete  action  of  the  abomasum  und  intestines;  and 
that  in  its  passage  through  the  latter,  as  much  chyle  could  not  be  sepa- 
rated from  an  equal  quantity  of  food,  as  would  have  been,  had  not  nature 
played  this  freak;  and  that  from  this  cause  they  were  obliged  to  take  in  a 
larger  quantity,  or  in  other  words,  to  eat  more  frequendy,  than  ordinary 
cattle,  in  order  to  produce  the  required  quantity  of  nutriment  for  their  due 
support,  and  the  healthy  performance  of  the  various  secretions," 

THE    DISEASES    OF    THE    ABOMASUM   OR   FOURTH    STOMACH. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  nature,  and  symptoms,  and  treatment  of  these 
diseases  is  as  imperfect  as  of  those  of  the  manyplus.  Concretions,  and 
mosdy  of  hair,  are  occasionally  found  in  this  stomach,  which,  by  their 
pressure,  must  produce  disease  to  a  certain  extent.  Poisonous  sub- 
stances, received  into  this  stomach  after  rumination,  as  is  sometimes  the 
case  when  the  plants  are  fully  grown,  from  the  deficiency  of  acute  taste  in 
the  ox,  and  which  oftener  happens  when,  in  spring,  neither  their  taste  nor 
their  smell  is  developed,  produce  inflammation  and  ulceration  of  the  coats 
of  the  abomasum.  Inflammation  may  and  does  exist  from  other  causes,  as 
exposure  to  too  great  heat,  and  the  continuance  of  unseasonable  cold  and 
wet  weather,  too  sudden  change  of  food,  the  administration  of  acrid  and 
stimulating  medicines:  but  the  practitioner  can  rarely  distinguish  them 
from  inflammatory  disease  of  the  other  stomachs,  or  of  the  intestinal  canal. 
So  far  as  the  catalogue  of  symptoms  can  be  arranged,  they  are  nearly 
the  following :  there  is  fever;  a  full  and  hard  pulse  at  the  commencement, 
but  rapidly  changing  its  character  and  becoming  small,  very  irregular,  in- 
termittent, and,  at  last,  scarcely  to  be  felt  except  at  the  heart.  The  beast 
is  much  depressed  and  almost  always  lying  down,  with  its  head  turned 
towards  its  side,  and  its  muzzle,  as  nearly  as  possible,  resting  on  the  place 
beneath  which  the  fourth  stomach  would  be  found,  or  when  standino",  it 
is  curiously  stretching  out  its  fore  limbs,  with  its  brisket  almost  to  the 
ground.  The  inspirations  are  deep,  interrupted  by  sighing,  moaning, 
grinding  of  the  teeth,  and  occasionally  by  hiccup;  the  tongue  is  dry  and 
furred,  and  red  around  its  edges  and  at  the  tip;  the  belly  generally  is 
swelled,  more  so  than  in  distention  of  the  rumen  by  food,  but  less  so  than 
in  hoove,  and,  as  further  distinguishing  the  case  from  both,  it  is  exceed- 
ingly tender;  there  is  frequendy  distressing  tenesmus,  and  the  urine  is 
voided  with  difficulty  and  drop  by  drop.  After  death,  the  stomach  exhibits 
much  inflammation  of  the  lining  membrane,  but  very  seldom  any  ulceration. 
The  remedies  would  be  bleeding,  purgatives,  mashes,  and  gruel.* 
It  is  almost  useless  to  dwell  longer  on  this  unsatisfactory  portion  of  the 
subject,  except  to  warn  the  practitioner  against  being  misled  by  the  pecu- 
liar softness  of  the  inner  lining  membrane  of  the  fourth  stomach  of  the  ox. 
That  which  would  be  said  to  be  diseased  condition,  or  softening,  or  even 
decomposition  of  the  inner  coat  of  the  stomach  in  other  animals,  is  the 
natural  state  of  the  abomasum  in  cattle. 


A  case  was  related,  in  page  436,  of  the  treatment  of  a  cow  that  had 
gorged  herself  by  eating  wheat  chaff".     Water  was  injected  into  the  rumen, 

*  Some  of  the  foreign  remedies  for  this  malady  are  stranger  and  more  absurd  than 
those  which  disgrace  the  practice  of  the  most  ignorant  empirics  in  the  British  islands. 
A  pomid  of  shot  is  first  administered,  and  this  succeeded,  or  perhaps  superseded  by  a 
drug  of  a  very  different  kind  :  a  black  pullet  is  roasted  with  all  its  leathers  upon  it ;  it 
is  then  pulled  to  pieces,  boned,  and  crammed  down  the  throat  of  the  animal.  Toggia, 
Malattie  dc  Bovei,  torn.  i.  p.  63. 


456  CATTLE. 

until  that  stomach  began  to  react  upon  its  contents,  and  a  considerable  pro- 
portion of  them  was  discharged  by  vomit.  M.  Girard  mentions  a  case  in 
which  the  contents  of  the  rumen  were  thrown  off  without  this  injection  of 
water.  He  was  sent  for  to  some  cows  that  had  been  feeding  on  young 
lucern,  and  that  were  beginning  to  swell.  He  found  one  in  the  act  of 
dying;  two  others  were  prodigiously  swelled — they  breathed  with  difficulty, 
and  seemed  to  be  in  danger  of  immediate  suffocation;  others  were  much 
inconvenienced  by  the  distension  of  the  paunch.  He  hastened  to  puncture 
the  flank  of  one  of  those  that  appeared  to  be  in  extreme  danger;  and,  while 
he  was  thus  employed,  the  other,  after  some  convulsive  efforts,  vomited  two 
pailsful  of  unmasticated  food.  Her  flanks  immediately  subsided,  and  in 
the  course  of  a  very  little  while  she  seemed  to  have  perfectly  recovered.* 

The  knowledge  of  these  facts,  of  the  occasional  occurrence  of  which 
few  practitioners  can  be  ignorant,  will  point  out  a  mode  of  proceeding  that 
promises  the  happiest  result  when  the  stomach  is  distended  by  food.  This 
is  not,  however,  strictly  speaking,  the  act  of  vomiting;  it  is  only  an  exten- 
sion of  the  process  of  returning  the  food  to  the  mouth  for  the  purpose  of 
rumination,  or  it  is  the  whole  returned  suddenly  and  in  a  mass,  instead  of 
pellet  after  pellet.  True,  vomiting  is  the  return  of  food  from  the  fourth  or 
digesting  stomach,  that  which  alone  may  be  considered  a  veritable  stomach, 
in  distinction  from  the  mere  preparatory  functions  discharged  by  the  others. 
Respecting  this,  it  has  been  stated  in  page  428,  that  it  is  comparatively  a 
rare  process,  and  attended  with  extreme  danger.  The  slightest  reconsidera- 
tion of  the  structure  and  connexion  of  that  portion  of  the  digestive  appara- 
tus which  has  been  described,  will  render  it  evident  that  every  thing  is  dis- 
posed to  facilitate  the  return  of  the  food  from  the  rumen  to  the  mouth,  but 
to  render  that  return  difficult  from  the  fourth  stomach.  First,  there  is  the 
fold  of  that  stomach  placed  at  the  entrance  into  it  from  the  manyplus.  It 
is  delineated  at  g  and  A,  page  424.  It  evidendy  leaves  a  free  and  open 
Avay  to  the  substances  that  pass  from  the  third  stomach  into  the  fourth,  but 
presents  an  almost  perfect  valvular  obstruction  to  their  return.  Supposing 
that  could  be  surmounted,  it  is  evident  that  when  the  fourth  stomach,  pressed 
upon  by  the  abdominal  muscles  and  the  diaphragm,  contracted,  the  other 
stomachs  would  contract  too,  and  especially  the  manyplus;  and,  in  that 
contraction,  the  aperture  between  it  and  the  cesophagean  canal  would  be 
firmly  closed:  or  even,  if  that  were  not  the  case,  there  is  only  a  small  cir- 
cular aperture  between  the  cesopliagean  canal  and  the  fourth  stomach,  through 
which  the  returned  semifluid  mass  would  pass  very  slowly,  and  not  in  the 
quantity  in  which  it  would  be  ejected  from  the  abomasum  in  the  effort  to 
vomit. 

M.  Fleurens  put  this  to  the  test.  He  injected  a  solution  of  emetic  tartar 
into  the  veins.  This  was  followed  by  the  greatest  distress,  and  violent 
efforts  to  vomit,  but  not  a  particle  of  the  remasticated  food  was  returned. 
He  injected  more  into  the  manyplus,  whence  it  passed  into  the  abomasum. 
The  efforts  to  vomit  were  here  also  violent,  but  fruitless.! 

There  is,  however,  a  case  of  true  vomiting,  so  singular  as  to  deserve  to 
be  put  upon  record.  An  ox  presented  the  following  appearances:  the  hair 
rough;  the  skin  dry  and  adherent;  the  muzzle  dry;  the  appetite  di- 
minished; rumination  slow  and  seldom;  and  slight  tension  of  the  left  flank. 
Having  heard  that  the  animal  occasionally  vomited,  the  practitioner  de- 
termined to  remain  a  while  in  the  stable  in  order  to  satisfy  himself  of  the 
accuracy  of  the  account.  In  about  an  hour  rumination  commenced  pre- 
ceded by  deep  and  sonorous  eructations  having  a  penetrating  odour.     This 

*  Memoire  sur  le  Vormissement,  par  J.  Girard,  p.  24. 
t  Recueil  Med.  Vet.  Aout,  1833, 


THE  SPLEEN.  457 

lasted  about  ten  minutes;  after  which  the  animal  got  up,  backed  himself  in 
his  stall;  hung  on  the  chain;  his  fore  limbs  trembled;  he  brought  his  hind 
extremities  as  much  as  possible  under  him,  and  bent  his  neck,  and  de- 
pressed his  head,  and  after  a  deep  and  powerful  inspiration,  he  vomited 
15  pounds  of  semifluid  matter,  perfectly  triturated.  The  vomiting  ceased, 
the  ox  remained  for  a  moment  motionless,  and  then  lay  down  again,  and 
ruminated  afresh.  He  continued  this  about  thirty-five  minutes,  when  he 
had  a  renewed  fit  of  vomiting  perfectly  similar  to  the  preening. 

This  was  the  only  one  of  the  herd  that  vomited,  but  the  others  were  con- 
stipated, and  hide  bound,  and  in  every  way  out  of  condition.  The  cause 
of  this  was  supposed  to  be  that  the  animals  were  driven  nearly  a  league 
twice  every  day  in  order  to  be  watered,  at  a  time  when  the  heat  was  ex- 
cessive. They  were  ordered  to  be  oftener  watered,  and  that  at  home;  and 
the  one  that  vomited  was  bled,  physic  was  administered,  and  the  sickness 
almost  immediately  ceased.* 

It  is  impossible  to  doubt  the  accuracy  of  this  account,  or  that  it 
Avas  a  case  of  true  vomiting.  The  matter  discliarged  was  semifluid,  and 
well  triturated,  and,  consequently,  could  neither  come  from  the  rumen  nor 
the  manyplus.  The  same  author,  M.  Creuzel,  relates  other  instances  of 
%vhat  he  terms  vomiting,  but  evidendy  ejection  of  the  contents  of  the  ru- 
men: all  of  them  were  connected  with  hoove,  and  in  every  case  the  animal 
experienced  immediate  and  perfect  relief. 


CHAPTER  Xni. 

THE  ANATOMY  AND  DISEASES  OP  THE  SPLEEN,  LIVER 
AND  PANCREAS. 

THE  SPLEEX. 

The  Spleen,  or  Melt,  is  a  long,  thin,  dark-coloured  substance,  situated  on 
the  left  side,  attached  to  the  rumen,  and  between  that  stomach  and  the 
diaphragm.  It  is  longer,  and  yet  narrower  and  smaller  in  catde  than  in 
the  horse,  and  is  more  closely  tied  to  the  stomach  by  blood-vessels,  and 
cellular  texture.  In  the  horse,  it  is  thick  at  one  end,  and  tapers  towards 
the  other;  in  cattle,  it  is  of  a  uniform  size  through  its  whole  extent,  except 
that  it  is  rounded  at  both  ends.  Of  its  use  we  are,  in  a  manner,  ignorant; 
and  it  has  been  removed  without  any  apparent  injury  to  digestion.  Its 
artery  is  large  and  tortuous,  and  its  vein  is  of  great  size,  and  forms  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  that  which  conveys  the  blood  from  the  other  contents  of 
the  abdomen  to  the  liver.  It  is  probably  connected  either  with  the  functions 
of  the  liver,  or  with  the  supply  of  some  principle  essentia)  to  the  blood. 

It  is  subject  to  various  diseases,  inflammation,  ulceration,  increased  size, 
tubercles,  hydatids,  ossification;  but  in  the  present  state  of  cattle  medicine 
it  is  impossible  to  state  the  symptoms  by  which  the  greater  part  of  these 
are  characterised. 

In  sheep,  inflammation  of  the  spleen,  and  haemorrhage  from  it,  or  exu- 
dation of  blood  through  its  coats,  is  not  an  uncommon  disease.  In  those 
that  die  of  inflammatory  fever,  -with  which  a  high  degree  of  intestinal  in- 
flammation is  connected,  or  that  perish  in  consequence  of  inflammation  of  the 
peritoneum  or  investing  membrane  of  the  bowels,  it  is  not  unusual  to  find 
an  eff'usion  of  a  deep  blood-coloured  fluid  in  the  abdomen.  This  has  been 
almost  uniformly  attributed  to  one  or  the  other  of  these  diseases,  in  propor- 

*  Journal  Pratique,  1830,  p.  322. 
40 


458  CATTLE. 

tion  as  they  have  been  observed  to  prevail;  but  the  occasional  seat  of 
disease,  the  spleen,  and  which  is  found  most  especially  to  have  suffered,  is 
too  frequently  overlooked.  So  it  is  in  cattle.  A  beast  in  high  condition, 
over-driven,  or  placed  in  too  luxuriant  pasture,  is  suddenly  taken  ill: 
he  staggers ;  his  respiration  becomes  laborious ;  his  mouth  is  covered 
with  foam;  he  stands  with  his  head  stretched  out,  labouring  for  breath  ; 
he  moans;  blood  escapes  from  the  nostrils  or  the  anus:  the  disease  runs  its 
course  in  the  space  of  a  few  hours,  and  the  animal  staggers  and  dies. 
On  opening  him,  the  vessels  beneath  the  skin  are  all  gorged  with  blood; 
the  skin  itself  is  injected  and  red;  the  lungs  and  abdominal  viscera  are 
congested  with  blood;  the  liver  is  gorged  with  it.  It  is  inflammatory  fever 
that  has  destroyed  the  animal;  but  the  spleen  is  most  of  all  affected  and  dis- 
organised— it  is  augmented  in  size,  softened,  its  peritoneal  covering  torn, 
and  blood  has  rushed  from  it  and  filled  the  belly;  or  the  blood  has  oozed 
through  the  investment  without  any  visible  rupture. 

In  such  a  malady,  the  skill  of  the  practitioner  can  be  of  little  avail.  Had 
the  peculiar  determination  of  disease  to  the  spleen  been  discovered,  it  could 
not  have  been  arrested;  and  all  that  can  be  obtained  is  a  lesson  of  wisdom, 
a  caution  to  adopt  a  more  equable  and  less  forcing  system  of  feeding,  and 
the  avoidance  of  all  those  causes  of  general  inflammation  in  which  the 
weakest  organ  suffers  most,  and  by  its  disorganization,  causes,  or,  at  all 
events,  hastens  death.  M.  Dupuy,  professor  of  the  veterinary  school  at 
Toulouse,  records  a  case  of  haemorrhage  from  the  spleen,  but  not  attended 
by  so  much  general  inflammation  as  is  usually  found.  He  says,  that  on  the 
21st  of  March,  1831,  a  beast,  eighteen  or  twenty  hours  after  it  died,  was 
brought  to  the  school  to  be  examined  as  to  the  cause  of  death.  It  had  a  cough 
for  several  months;  but  the  disease  that  had  probably  destroyed  it,  had 
come  on  all  at  once,  and  had  run  its  course  in  a  few  hours.  The  belly 
contained  2i  gallons  of  blood,  but  the  intestinal  canal  was  perfectly  sound. 
All  the  vessels  of  the  abdomen  were  carefully  examined,  in  order  to  dis- 
cover the  source  of  haemorrhage,  but  no  rupture  was  found.  The  liver 
■was  double  its  natural  size,  soft,  friable  and  of  a  gray  colour.  The  spleen 
three  times  as  large  as  it  is  found  to  be  in  a  state  of  health.  The  peritoneal 
covering  was  detached  from  the  substance  of  the  spleen,  and  tlie  cavity 
thus  made  was  filled  by  a  clot  of  blood  three  or  four  lines  in  thickness; 
and  towards  the  middle  of  the  inferior  border  was  a  laceration  four  or  five 
inches  in  length,  whence  the  blood  had  flowed.  The  substance  of  the 
spleen  was  reduced  to  a  semifluid  form,  and  was  of  a  livid  red  colour. 
The  pericardium  contained  half  a  pound  of  bloody  serosity.* 

THE  LIVER. 

This  organ  is  situated  on  the  right  side  of  the  abdomen,  between  the 
manyplus  and  the  diaphragm.  It  is  principally  supported  by  a  duplica- 
ture  of  the  peritoneum  extending  from  the  spine;  and  is  confined  in  its 
situation  by  other  ligaments,  or  similar  peritoneal  duplicature  connecting 
its  separate  lobes  or  divisions  with  the  diaphragm.  It  is  divided  into  two 
lobes  of  unequal  size.  The  right  lobe  is  larger  than  that  in  the  liver  of 
the  horse;  the  smaller  one  is  comparatively  diminutive;  and,  altogether, 
the  liver  of  the  ox  is  less  than  that  of  the  horse. 

It  has  just  been  stated  that  the  blood  from  the  other  contents  of  the 
abdomen,  instead  of  flowing  directly  to  the  heart,  passes  through  the  liver. 
It  enters  by  two  large  vessels,  and  is  spread  through  every  part  of  the  liver 
by  means  of  the  almost  innumerable  branches  into  which  these  vessels  di- 
vide. As  it  passes  through  the  liver,  a  fluid  is  secreted  from  it,  called  the 
*  Journ.  Prat,  de   Med.  Vet.,  Mai  1831,  p.  161. 


INFLAMMATION  OF  THE  LIVER.  459 

bile,  probably  a  kind  of  excrement,  the  continuance  of  which  in  the  blood 
would  be  injurious,  but  which,  at  the  same  time,  answers  a  peculiar  pur- 
pose in  the  process  of  digestion,  that  will  be  presendy  described. 

The  bile  thus  secreted  flows  into  the  intestines,  and  enters  the  duode- 
num through  an  orifice,  the  situation  of  which  is  marked  out  by  h,  p.  426. 
In  the  horse,  it  flows  into  the  intestines  as  fast  as  it  is  secreted  or  sepa- 
rated from  the  blood;  but  in  catde,  a  portion  of  it,  probably  a  compara- 
tively small  portion,  is  received  into  a  reservoir,  the  gall-bladder,  where 
it  is  retained  until  needed  for  the  purpose  of  digestion.  While  the  ox  is 
grazing  or  asleep,  there  is  no  necessity  for  the  whole  of  the  bile  to  run  on 
into  the  intestines,  but  a  part  of  it  accumulates  in  the  gall-bladder.  While 
it  is  retained  there,  it  undergoes  some  change;  part  of  the  water  which  it 
contains  is  absorbed,  and  the  residue  becomes  thickened,  and  more  effec- 
tive in  its  operation;  and  when  the  animal  begins  to  ruminate,  and  por- 
tions of  food  pass  through  the  fourth  and  true  stomach  into  the  duo- 
denum, not  only  is  the  flow  of  bile  into  the  gall-bladder  stopped,  but,  either 
by  some  mechanical  pressure  on  that  vessel  which  no  one  has  yet  ex- 
plained, or,  more  probably,  by  the  sympathy  which  exists  among  all  the 
organs  of  digestion,  and  the  influence  of  the  great  organic  nerve  causing 
the  (probably)  muscular  coat  of  the  vessel  to  contract,  the  bile  flows  out  of 
its  reservoir,  and  proceeds  to  its  ultimate  destination,  along  with  the  portion 
which  continues  to  run  directly  from  the  liver  into  the  intestine,  through 
the  medium  of  the  hepatic  duct,  This  pear-shaped  reservoir,  the  gall- 
bladder, is  placed  in  a  depression  in  the  posterior  face  of  the  liver,  and  ad- 
heres to  it  by  means  of  a  delicate  cellular  texture.  The  construction  of 
this  vessel  deserves  attention.  It  has  the  same  external  peritoneal  coat 
Avith  the  viscera  generally;  beneath  is  a  thicker  coat,  evidendy  composed 
of  cellular  substance,  in  which  no  muscular  fibres  have  yet  been  demon- 
stratively traced,  but  in  which  they  may  be  well  conceived  to  exist,  and  in 
which,  doubdess,  they  do  exist,  in  order  to  enable  the  gall-bladder  to 
contract  and  expel  its  contents.  The  inner  coat  is  a  very  singular  one.  It 
has  not  precisely  the  honeycomb  cells  of  the  reticulum  in  miniature,  but 
it  is  divided  into  numerous  cells  of  very  irregular  and  difi'erent  shapes, 
in  the  base  of  which,  as  in  the  cells  of  the  reticulum,  are  minute  follicular 
glands  that  secrete  a  mucous  fluid  to  defend  the  internal  surface  of  the 
gall-bladder  from  the  acrimony  of  the  bile  which  it  contains. 

INFLAMMATION    OF    THE  LIVER. 

Catde,  and  especially  those  that  are  stall-fed,  are  far  more  subject  than 
the  horse  to  inflammation  of  the  liver.  This  appears  evidendy  enough  on 
examination  after  death,  but  the  symptoms  during  life  are  exceedingly 
obscure,  and  not  to  be  depended  upon.  An  almost  invariable  one,  how- 
ever, is  yellowness  of  the  eyes  and  skin;  but  this  accompanies,  or  is  the 
chief  characteristic  of  obstruction  of  the  biliary  duct,  and  possibly  exists 
without  the  slightest  inflammation  of  the  substance  of  the  liver.  It  should 
also  be  remembered  that  there  is  scarcely  any  acute  disease  to  which  catde 
are  subject  in  which  the  liver  does  not  sympathise. 

We  shall  have  reason  to  suppose,  by-and-by,  that  the  bile  performs  an 
important  part  in  the  process  of  digestion.  It  is  secreted  in  great  abun- 
dance in  a  healthy  state  of  the  animal,  and  that  secretion  is  very  much 
increased  under  almost  every  intestinal  disease,  on  account  of  the  sympathy 
which  exists  between  the  liver  and  the  other  organs  of  digestion.  The  feed- 
ing too  much  on  oil-cake  will  produce  in  most  cattle  a  yellowness  of  the 
skin  during  life,  and  a  yellow  tinge  of  the  fat  and  the  envelopes  of  the 
muscles  after  deadi. 


460  CATTLE. 

In  addition  to  the  common  symptoms  of  fever,  (quickness  of  the  pulse, 
heaving,  dryness  of  the  muzzle,  heat  of  the  mouth  and  root  of  the  horn, 
listless  or  suspended  rumination,)  those  that  would  lead  to  the  suspicion 
of  inflammation  of  the  liver  would  be,  lying  continually  on  the  right  side, 
slight  spasms  on  that  side,  or  wavy  motions  of  the  skin  over  the  region  of 
the  liver — a  general  fulness  of  the  belly,  but  most  referrible  to  the  right 
side,  and  the  express)on  of  considerable  pain  when  pressure  is  made  on 
that  side.  Occasionally,  the  animal  looks  round  on  this  part,  and  endea- 
vours to  rest  his  muzzle  upon  it.  There  is  usually  some  degree  of  consti- 
pation; the  beast  does  not  urine  so  often  or  so  abundantly  as  in  health, 
and  the  urine  is  yellow  or  brown,  or,  in  a  few  cases,  bloody. 

The  proper  remedies  are  bleeding,  physic,  blisters  on  the  right  side,  and 
restricted  diet,  from  which  every  thing  of  a  stimulating  kind  is  carefully 
Avithdrawn.  The  most  frequent  causes  of  this  complaint  arc  blows,  over- 
driving, the  use  of  too  stimulating  food,  and  the  sudden  repulsion  of  some 
cutaneous  disease. 

Inflammation  of  the  liver  sometimes  takes  on  a  chronic  form.  Perhaps 
it  never  assumed  any  great  degree  of  intensity,  or  the  intense  inflamma- 
tion was  palliated,  but  not  removed;  and  this  state  may  exist  for  some 
months,  or  years,  not  characterised  by  any  decided  symptom,  and  but  little 
interfering  with  health.  Then  commences  induration,  or  hardening  of  a 
portion  of  the  liver,  or  of  the  greater  part  of  it,  and  accompanied  by  tuber- 
cles, vomic?e,  hydatids,  and  the  existence  of  the  fluke-worm  in  the  ducts. 

A  cow  came  up  from  the  west  to  Smithiield  market,  in  the  year  1832. 
She  was  in  tolerable  condition,  yet  not  in  such  a  state  as  to  aflbrd  a  chance 
of  her  being  bought  by  any  respectable  butcher;  she  was,  therefore,  set 
apart  for  the  sausage-makers,  and  to  them  she  was  sold.  She  walked  pretty 
well  with  the  other  cattle,  and  had  no  indication  of  diseas?,  except  enlarge- 
ment of  the  belly,  yellowness  of  the  skin,  and  her  not  carrying  so  much 
flesh  as  the  rest.  On  examination  after  death,  the  liver  weighed  no  less 
than  137lbs.,  and  measured,  from  one  lobe  to  another,  more  than  a  yard 
and  a  quarter.  There  was  litde  of  the  common  appearance  of  inflamma- 
tion but  it  was  evident  that  there  were  numerous  hydatids:  in  fact,  they 
occupied  the  larger  part  of  the  organ,  and  had  hollowed  it  into  various 
cavities  of  greater  or  smaller  size.  One  cavity,  nearly  thirty  inches  in  cir- 
cumference, presented  when  opened  the  appearance  of  a  honeycomb,  all 
the  cells  of  which,  and  the  whole  of  the  excavatio:*,  Avere  filled  with  hyda- 
tids, irom  the  size  of  a  sparrow's  egg  to  that  of  a  swan:  there  were  nearly 
300  of  them.  Some  cysts  were  filled  with  blood,  and  others  with 
inatler  of  a  fibrous  character,  and  others  had  large  fibrous  cords  extending 
from  side  to  side.  A  few  portions  presented  nearly  the  character  of 
healthy  liver,  but,  in  general,  where  there  were  no  hydatids,  the  substance 
resembled  a  deposit  of  matter  that  had  gradually  hardened  into  cartilaginous 
cells,  and  the  centre  of  the  liver  was  perfectly  fibro-cartilaginous,  without 
any  trace  of  its  original  structure.  This  disease  had  probably  existed 
during  a  long  period,  and  had  only  interfered  with  health  by  preventing 
her  attaining  the  usual  condition  of  fatted  cattle. 

Mr.  Goodworth,  of  Howden,  relates  another  case  of  the  existence  of 
disease  of  the  liver,  apparendy  for  a  considerable  period,  and  not  interfering 
with  health.  lie  says,  that  '  a  cow,  the  property  of  a  neighbour,  had 
calved,  and  done  well.  She  was  milked  twice  a  day,  and  appeared  in  good 
health  for  six  weeks,  when  the  maid  going  to  milk  her  in  the  morning 
found  her  very  uneasy,  and  evidently  ill.  The  cow  was  bled,  and  a  mes- 
senger was  sent  to  a  druggist  for  medicine;  but  although  he  was  absent 
only  a  few  minutes,  the  cow  was  dead  on  his  return.     On  opening  th  e 


HEMORRHAGE  FROM  THE  LIVER.  461 

body,  all  the  abdominal  viscera  were  found  in  perfect  health,  except  the 
liver,  the  right  lobe  of  which  was  much  enlarged;  and  on  an  incision  being 
made  into  it,  a  quart  of  matter  of  the  consistence  and  colour  of  cream  es- 
caped.'* 

The  difficulty  of  detecting  this  chronic  inflammation  during  the  life  of 
the  animal  throws  much  obscurity  on  the  mode  of  treating  it.  Perma- 
nent yellowness  of  the  skin — a  constant,  but  not  violent  cough — and  the 
want  of,  or  the  slowness  in  acquiring,  condition  beyond  a  certain  degree, 
would  be  the  symptoms  of  most  frequent  occurrence.  The  treatment  should 
consist  of  the  frequent  exhibition  of  gentle  purgatives,  with  a  more  than  the 
usual  quantity  of  the  aromatic  (six  ounces  of  Epsom  salts,  and  half  an  ounce 
of  ginger,)  and  the  food  should  be  green,  succulent,  and  as  little  stimu- 
lating as  possible.  Mercury,  to  which  recourse  is  usually  had,  when  a 
similar  complaint  is  suspected  to  exist  in  the  human  subject,  would  be 
worse  than  thrown  away  upon  cattle.  In  the  majority  of  cases  in  which  it 
is  used  for  the  diseases  of  cattle,  it  produces  decided  injurious  effect. 

HAEMORRHAGE  FROM  THE  LIVER. 

It  has  already  been  observed  that  when  these  animals  are  turned  on  the 
fresh  grass  in  the  spring,  or  the  fog  in  autumn,  they  are  subject  to  various 
plethoric  or  inflammatory  complaints.  The  ravages  of  apoplexy  and  in- 
flammatory fever  at  these  times  have  been  described.  An  undue  quantity 
of  blood  rapidly  formed  oppresses  the  whole  system,  and,  from  some  cause  of 
determination  to  it,  a  particular  organ  or  part  becomes  violently  congested 
or  inflamed,  and  the  animal  is  destroyed.  The  liver  occasionally  suffers  in 
this  way. 

A  case  will  illustrate  this.  It  occurred  in  the  practice  of  Mr.  Tait,  of 
Portsoy.  He  was  requested  to  see  a  heifer,  two  years  old,  that  on  the 
previous  night  had  been  observed  to  be  unwell.  The  pulse  was  80,  nearly 
imperceptible  at  the  jaw;  the  extremities  were  cold,  and  rumination  was 
suspended.  There  was  much  trembling  of  the  hind  quarters.  An  attempt 
was  made  to  bleed  her,  but  ere  the  blood  could  flow,  she  fell  and  ex- 
pired. On  opening  the  belly,  the  cavity  was  found  to  contain  nearly  six 
gallons  of  blood,  which  had  escaped  from  a  rupture,  two  inches  in  length, 
in  one  of  the  lobes  of  the  liver.t 

It  would  have  been  more  satisfactory  if  fuller  particulars  of  the  previous 
symptoms  of  the  disease  and  of  the  appearance  of  the  other  viscera  had 
been  given,  but  the  experience  of  almost  every  practitioner  will  supply  the 
deficiency.  Certain  beasts  have  died  of  some  obscure  disease;  it  has  been 
rapid  in  its  progress,  and  not  characterized  by  any  symptoms  of  great  in- 
flammation, or  the  inflammatory  symptoms,  if  such  had  appeared,  have 
subsided,  and  those  of  evident  and  extreme  exhaustion  have  suc- 
ceeded. The  pulse  has  been  feeble,  or  almost  indistinct — the  mouth 
has  been  cold — the  membranes  of  the  mouth  and  nose  pale.  The  breath- 
ing has  been  accelerated,  and  the  weakness  extreme.  After  the  death, 
substance  of  the  liver  has  been  found  softened;  it  has  broken  on  the 
slightest  handling;  it  may  be  washed  away,  and  the  various  vessels  which 
permeate  it  exposed:  the  peritoneal  covering  has  been  loosened — elevated 
from  the  liver — and  the  interval  has  been  occupied  by  a  clot  of  blood;  and 
from  some  rupture  in  this  covering,  which  has  partaken  of  the  softening 
of  the  viscus  itself,  a  quantity  of  blood  has  been  poured  out;  or  it  has 
oozed  through  the  covering,  and  partially  or  almost  entirely  filled  the 
cavity  of  the  abdomen. 

»  The  '  Veterinarian,'  June,  1831,  p.  307. 
t  Ibid.  March,  1834,  p.  147, 
40* 


462  CATTLE. 

In  such  a  case,  the  resources  of  medical  art  would  be  powerless,  but 
every  instance  of  haemorrhage  from  the  liver  should  be  regarded  as  a 
warning  against  the  adoption  of  too  forcing  a  system  of  fattening,  espe- 
cially in  young  beasts,  and  in  the  spring  or  fall  of  the  year. 

JAUNDICE,  OR  THE  YELLOWS. 

There  are  few  diseases  to  whicli  cattle  are  so  frequently  subject,  or 
which  are  so  difficult  to  treat,  nsjaitndice,  commonly  known  by  the  appro- 
priate name  of  the  yelloivs.  It  is  characterized  by  a  yellow  colour  of  the 
eyes,  the  skin  generally,  and  the  urine.  Its  appearance  is  sometimes 
sudden,  at  other  times  the  yellow  tint  gradually  appears  and  deepens.  In 
some  cases  it  seems  to  be  attended,  for  a  while,  by  little  pain  or  incon- 
venience, or  impairment  of  condition;  in  others,  its  commencement  is  an- 
nounced by  an  evident  state  of  general  irritation  and  fever,  and  particu- 
larly by  quickness  and  hardness  of  pulse,  lieaving  of  ihe  flanks,  excessive 
thirst,  and  the  suspension  of  rumination;  to  these  rapidly  succeed  depres- 
sion of  spirits,  and  loss  of  appetite,  strength,  and  condition.  The  animals 
can  scarcely  be  induced  to  move,  or  they  separate  themselves  from 
the  herd,  and  retiring  to  the  hedge,  either  slowly  pace  along  the  side  of 
it,  or  stand  hour  after  hour,  Ustlcss  and  half  unconscious.  Not  only  the 
skin,  but  the  very  hair,  gradually  becomes  yellow;  a  scaly  eruption 
appears  attended  by  extreme  itching,  and  sometimes  degenerating  into 
the  worst  species  of  mange.  It  is  seldom,  indeed,  that  bad  mange 
appears  among  cattle  without  being  accompanied  by  a  yellow  skin;  and 
the  cutaneous  eruption  av?.s  probably  caused  by  the  presence  and  constant 
excretion  of  bile  irritating  the  exhalent  vessels  of  the  skin.  A  state  of 
costiveness  usually  accompanies  the  yellow  skm,  at  least  in  the  early 
period  of  the  disease,  although  diarrhcea,  which  no  astringents  will  subdue, 
may  afterwards  appear,  and,  in  fact,  will  generally  wind  up  the  affair,  and 
carry  the  patient  off.  Jaundice  cannot  long  exist  without  being  accom- 
panied by  general  impairment  of  health,  and  loss  of  condition.  Cows 
are  particularly  subject  to  it  in  spring  and  autumn.  The  milk  soon  shares 
in  the  yellowness  of  the  other  secretions,  and  occasionally  acquires  an 
unpleasant  and  bitter  taste. 

The  usual  cause  of  jaundice  is  obstruction  of  the  passage  of  the  bile 
from  the  gall-bladder  into  the  duodenum.  This  obstruction  is  effected  in 
various  ways;  but  most  frequently  by  biliary  concretions  or  calculi.  Dur- 
ing the  continuance  of  the  bile  in  the  gall-bladder,  a  certain  portion  of  the 
water  which  it  contains  is  removed  by  the  process  of  absorption;  the  resi- 
due becomes  proportionably  thickened,  and  the  most  solid  parts  are  either 
precipitated,  or  form  themselves  into  hard  masses.  Biliary  calculi  are  not 
unfrequently  found  in  the  gall-bladder  of  cattle,  of  varying  size,  from  that 
of  a  pin's  head  to  a  large  walnut.  Their  form  indicates  that  they 
were  composed  by  some  process  of  crystallization;  they  are  round  with 
concentric  circles,  or  conical,  or  assuming  in  a  rude  way  the  form  of  a 
cube,  or  a  pentagon,  or  hexagon.  There  is  usually  some  central  portion 
of  harder  bile  round  which  the  rest  is  collected.  They  are  of  less 
specific  gravity  than  the  bile,  and  even  than  water,  and  are  found  swim- 
ming in  the  gall-bladder.  They  are  composed  of  the  yellow  matter  of 
the  bile,  with  a  portion  of  mucus  holding  it  together;  and  this  colouring 
matter  is  valued  by  the  painter  on  account  of  its  peculiar  and  almost 
unrivalled  permanence.  It  is  insoluble  in  water  and  alcohol,  but  it 
readily  diffnses  itself  in  a  solution  of  potash. 

So  far  as  c:: ^  be  observed,  the  presence  of  these  calculi  in  the  gall-bladder 
does  not  inconvenience  the  animal,  or  interfere  with   health,  for  they  are 


JAUNDICE,  OR  THE  YELLOWS.  463 

found  in  the  greater  number  of  oxen  that  are  brought  to  the  metropolitan 
slaughter-houses.  At  all  events,  there  are  no  recognized  symptom.s  by 
Avhich  their  presence  can  be  detected,  or  even  suspected.  In  some  cases 
the  writer  of  this  work  has  detected  more  than  a  hundred  small  calculi  in 
the  bladder  of  one  ox.* 

Sometimes,  however,  they  enter  the  duct  (the  cystic)  which  conveys 
the  bile  to  the  intestines.  They  are  likely  to  do  this  on  account  of  their 
swimming  on  the  surface  of  the  fluid  which  the  bladder  contains.  The 
cystic  duct  is  large  at  its  union  with  the  bladder;  it  is  a  continuation  of 
the  neck  of  the  bladder;  and  the  gall-stone  may  be  easily  pressed  into  the 
commencement  of  the  tube:  but  it  has  scarcely  entered  it  before  its  passage 
is  obstructed  by  the  folds  of  the  inner  coat  of  the  duct.  These  assume  a 
semilunar  form,  with  the  edges  projecting  towards  the  bladder,  and  they 
act  as  partial  valves,  retarding  the  progress  of  the. bile,  so  that  it  may 
not  be  all  pressed  out  at  once,  but  gradually  escape  as  the  process  of 
digestion  may  require. 

The  gall-stone  being  thus  impacted,  violent  spasmodic  action  takes 
place  in  the  muscles  of  the  duct,  occasioned  by  the  irritation  of  its  conti- 
nued pressure.  It  is  fortunate,  however,  that  although  the  muscles  of 
these  ducts  act  with  some  power,  the  obstruction  is  usuall)^  with  no 
great  difficulty,  overcome.  The  duct  distends;  as  it  distends,  these 
valvular  folds  lie  closer  to  the  sides,  and  no  longer  oppose  the  passage  of 
the  calculus,  which  is  pressed  on  until  it  reaches  the  common  duct.  The 
calibre  of  this  tube  is  larger,  and,  unless  the  calculus  is  of  considerable 
bulk,  no  farther  difliculty  occurs  until  it  reaches  the  opening  into  the  duo- 
denum, which  being  situated  in  the  centre  of  a  muscular  prominence, 
acting  as  a  valve,  and  preventing  the  passage  of  all  matters  whether  fluid 
or  solid  Irom  the  intestine  into  the  duels,  a  new  difliculty  is  opposed  to  the 
progress  of  the  gall-stones,  and  there  is  some  return  of  pain,  and  in  a  few 
cases  tlie  pain  is  evidendy  more  intense  than  in  the  early  stage.  At 
length  this  sphincter  muscle  of  the  duodenum  dilates;  the  calculus  enters 
the  intestinal  canal;  the  pain  ceases,  and  tlie  natural  colour  of  the  skin 
returns.  In  this  species  of  jaundice,  Ave  have,  in  addition  to  the  yellow 
skin,  the  heaving  of  the  flanks,  the  hard  concentrated  pulse,  the  diminished 
appetite,  the  insatiable  thirst  and  the  other  symptoms  of  fever.  Then,  too, 
we  have  the  alternate  coldness  and  heat  of  the  ears,  the  roughness  of  the 
coat,  the  urine  becoming  first  of  a  transparent  yellow,  and  then  opaque 
red,  safl^'ron-coloured,  or  brown,  and  the  sediment  brown.  The  bowels 
are  constipated,  the  faeces  seldom  evacuated,  and,  when  appearing,  are 
hard  and  black. 

Bleeding  is  now  clearly  indicated,  and  that  until  the  animal  becomes 
faint.  During  this  partial  sympathy,  the  muscles  of  the  duct  may  cease 
their  spasmodic  constriction,  and  the  calculus  may  pass  on.  To  this 
should  be  added  powerful  purgation,  consisting  of  doses  of  a  pound  and  a 
half  each  of  Epsom  salts,  or  of  a  pound  of  the  salts,  with  10  grains  of  the 
Croton  Tiglii;  the  medicine  being  repeated  once  in  six  hours,  until  purging 
is  produced.  Maslies  should  be  given  to  hasten  and  increase  the  action 
of  the  physic,  and  the  beast  should,  if  possible,  be  turned  out  to  grass 
during  the  day,  and  taken  up  at  night.  Opium  or  digitalis,  and  particularly 
the  latter,  may  be  given,  in  doses  of  half  a  drachm  of  either,  Avith  a  view 
to  allay  the  violent  constriction  of  the   duct.     From  the  knowledge  that 

* '  Tlie  number  of  calculi  sometimes  contained  in  tlie  gall-bladder  is  almost  incre- 
dible. Morgagni  took  3646  out  of  this  reservoir  belonging  to  a  human  being;  and  in 
the  liuntcrian  Museum  at  Glasgow,  1000  arc  preserved,  which  are  stated  to  have 
been  extracted  from  one  gall-bladder.' — Cyclopesdia  of  Practical  Medicine,  article 
Jaundice. 


46-t  CATTLE. 

biliary  concretions  dissolve  in  a  solution  of  potash,  considerable  quantities 
of  nitrate  and  acetate  of  potash  have  been  given,  but  with  doubtful  success. 
Ether,  hydrochlorate  of  ammonia,  potash,  and  soda,  have  also  been 
fruitlessly  administered  for  the  same  purpose. 

Another  mechanical  cause  of  jaundice  may  be  the  obstruction  formed  by 
the  fasciola  or  Jluke-ivorm.  This  singular  parasite,  resembling  in  form  a 
little  sole,  and  of  the  natural  history  of  which,  or  of  the  changes  that  it  has 
nndergone,  or  may  undergo,  nothing  is  known,  is  found  in  great  quantities 
in  the  livers  of  rotted  sheep  and  deer,  and,  next  to  them,  in  the  livers  of 
cattle,  and  especially  of  those  that  are  bred  in  low  and  marshy  situations. 
They  accompany  almost  every  chronic  disease  of  the  liver,  and  often  exist 
in  the  healthy  animal.  They  inhabit  the  ducts  into  which  the  bile  is 
poured  from  the  smaller  vessels  of  the  liver — they  are  swimming  in  the 
bile,  and  said  to  be  generally  found  working  their  way  against  the  course 
of  that  fluid. 

There  is  no  case  on  record  in  which  it  has  been  proved  by  examination 
after  death  that  the  fluke-worm  has  mechanically  obstructed  the  passage 
of  the  bile,  and  thus  caused  both  the  yellowness  and  the  spasm,  yet  it  can 
easily  be  imagined  that  this  will  sometimes  occur.  There  are  no  peculiar 
symptoms  to  indicate  the  existence  of  these  worms,  for  they  have  never 
been  voided  from  the  mouth  or  the  anus: — to  the  firsts  there  would  be  a 
mechanical  i»ipediment  from  the  construction  of  both  the  lower  and  upper 
orifices  of  the  stomach;  and  the  digestive  process  going  on  through  the 
whole  of  the  intestinal  canal  would  render  the  latter  improbable,  if  not 
impossible.  Their  presence  could  only  be  guessed  at  from  the  nature  of 
the  pasture,  or  from  their  having  been  found  in  other  beasts  of  the  same 
herd. 

The  same  means  would  be  adopted  as  in  supposed  obstruction  by  a 
calculus,  but  with  this  probable  difl'erence,  that  the  obstruction  would  be 
more  easily  and  quickly  removed. 

Of  the  other  species  of  jaundice  in  which  the  attack  is  more  gradual,  and 
apparently  unconnected  with  pain,  and  in  which  the  symptoms  are  weak- 
ness, listlessness,  cedematous  swellings,  high-coloured  urine,  hardened  ex- 
crement, declining  condition,  and  occasional  death,  anatomical  observation 
has  discovered  various  causes.  The  state  of  the  liver  itself  will  some- 
limes  account  for  every  symptom.  It  may  labour  under  chronic  inflamma- 
tion, without  disorganization,  and  the  secretion  of  bile  will  be  considerably 
increased,  and  produced  more  rapidly  than  the  ducts  can  carry  it  off,  or 
than  it  cm  be  disposed  of  in  the  process  of  digestion,  and  it  would  lurk  in 
the  intestines,  and  be  taken  up  by  the  absorbents  and  carried  into  the  cir- 
culation. At  other  times  the  diseased  state  of  the  liver  prevents  the  escape 
of  the  bile,  whether  in  its  natural  or  even  diminished  quantity;  thus,  gene- 
ral enlargement  of  the  substance  of  the  liver  will  press  upon  and  partially 
close  the  biliary  ducts — tubercles,  or  other  tumours  in  the  liver  will  effect 
the  same  thing.  Inflammation  may  exist  in  the  ducts  themselves.  They 
may  become  thickened  or  ulcerated,  and  thus  cease  to  give  passage  to  the 
bile,  which  will  then  be  taken  up  by  the  absorbents  of  the  liver,  or 
mechanically  forced  back  upon  the  vessels  whence  it  was  secreted.  These 
are  occasional  causes  of  jaundice;  and  when  they  exist  it  will  not  be 
wondered  at  that  the  complaint  is  obstinate,  and  too  often  fatal. 

Sometimes  the  source  of  the  evil  may  exist  in  the  duodenum.  It  may 
be  inflamed  or  ulcerated,  or  thickened,  and  so  the  opening  from  the  biliary 
duct  into  the  intestine  may  be  closed:  or  the  mucus  which  may  be  se- 
creted in  the  duodenum  may  be  too  abundant,  or  of  too  viscid  a  character, 
and  thus  also  the  orifice  may  be  mechanically  obstructed. 

What  symptom  will  indicate  to  the  practitioner  which  of  these  morbid 


JAUNDICE,  OR  THE  YELLOWS.  465 

states  of  the  liver  or  its  ducts,  or  if  the  first  intestine,  is  the  cause  of  the 
disease?  of  if  it  did,  what  means  could  he  adopt  in  such  a  case  with  the 
hope  of  ultimate  success?  The  treatment  of  confirmed  jaundice  is  a 
thankless  and  disheartening  business.  The  practitioner,  however,  must 
look  carefully  and  anxiously  to  the  symptoms,  and  be  guided  by  them. 
There  is  no  general  rule  to  direct  him  here.  If  there  is  evident  fever,  he 
must  bleed,  and  regulate  his  abstraction  of  blood  by  the  apparent  degree 
of  fever.  In  every  case  but  that  of  diarrhoea;  and  at  the  commencement  of 
that,  he  must  administer  purgatives — in  large  doses  when  fever  is  present, 
or  in  somewhat  smaller  quantities,  but  more  frequently  repeated,  when 
constipation  is  observed;  and  in  doses  still  smaller,  but  yet  sufficient  to 
excite  a  moderate  and  yet  continued  purgative  action,  when  neither  fever 
nor  constipation  exists.  Considering,  however,  the  natural  temperament 
of  cattle,  the  purgative  should  be  accompanied  by  a  more  than  usual 
quantity  of  the  aromatic,  unless  the  degree  of  fever  should  plainly  forbid 
it.  There  are  few  things  respecting  which  veterinary  practitioners  differ 
more  than  the  kind  of  purgative  that  should  be  administersd  in  this  case. 
Some,  who  are  usually  partial  to  the  Epsom  or  Glauber's  salts,  here  prefer 
the  aloes.  Mr.  Leigh,  of  Bristol,  in  a  letter  with  which  he  favoured  the 
writer  of  this  treatise,  says,  that  'jaundice  is  soon  checked  at  the  begin- 
ning, by  administering  Barbadoes  aloes,  Castile  soap,  and  Venice  turpen- 
tine;" Mr.  Baker,  of  Reigate,  as  easily  eflects  a  cure  by  the  adminis- 
tration of  Epsom  or  Glauber's  salts  in  doses  according  to  the  size  of  the 
beast;  while  the  author  of  '  the  Survey  of  Somersetshire'  gives  us  a 
remedy  for  yellows,  which  seldom  or  never  fails;  '  flower  of  mustard, 
mixed  with  any  liquid,  and  in  doses  of  two  ounces,  repeated  two  or  three 
limes  in  the  course  of  twenty-four  hours.'* 

It  may  not,  perhaps,  be  quite  a  matter  of  indifference  what  purgative  is 
administered.  The  Epsom  salts  here,  as  in  other  cases,  is  the  safest,  the 
most  to  be  depended  upon,  and  the  most  effective;  but  the  secret  of  treating 
jaundice,  not  with  the  almost  invariable  success  of  which  some  speak,  but 
with  the  best  prospect  of  doing  good,  is  by  the  repetition  of  mild  purga- 
tives, accompanied,  and  their  power  increased,  and  the  digestive  powers  of 
the  animal  roused,  and  his  strength  supported  by  the  addition  of  aromatics 
and  stomacliics  in  such  doses  as  the  slight  degree,  or  the  absence,  of  fever 
may  indicate.  The  writer  of  this  ariicie  certainly  cannot  confirm  by  his 
testimony  the  opinion  of  the  comparative  ease  with  which  the  complaint  may 
be  removed:  he  has  not  only  found  it  to  be  one  of  the  most  common  affec- 
tions of  the  liver,  but  one  of  the  most  untractable  and  fatal;  and  this  from 
the  insidious  manner  in  which  it  proceeds  until  it  has  fixed  itself  on  the 
constitution  beyond  the  power  of  medicine  to  remove  it.     The  following 

*  Some  boil  8oz.  of  saffron  in  a  quart  of  milk,  and  esteem  it  to  be  a  never-fuiling 
cure  of  j,:unc!ice.  Tlie  drink  will  certainly  be  expensive,  but  wliat  good  effect  can  be 
produced  by  the  employment  of  this  inert  yellow  drug  for  the  cure  of  the  yellow  dis- 
ease yet  remains  to  be  proved.  Every  one  v,l;o  is  in  tlie  sliglitcst  degree  acquainted 
with  cattle  medicine  would  pronounce  such  a  decoction  to  be  altogether  ineffective. 
It  was  tliiri  superstitious  notion  of  getting  rid  of  one  yellow  by  the  application  of  an- 
other, that  gradually  made  the  powerless  and  useless  turmeric  an  indispensable  ingre- 
dient in  cattle  medicine,  since  jaundice  is  more  or  less  mixed  up  witli  the  various 
diseases  to  which  cattle  are  subject. 

The  use  of  saffron,  however,  is  of  no  recent  date  in  horse  as  well  as  cattle  practice. 
The  following  recipe  is  extracted  from  the  Harleian  MSS.  No.  507,  as  arranged  in  the 
library  of  the  British  Museum. 

'Take  three  pennyworth  of  English  saffron,  two  pennyworth  of  treacle,  one  penny, 
wortli  of  sallad  oyle,  three  of  sugar  candy,  tv,  o  of  turniericke,  and  a  quarte  of  milkc. 
Seethe  all  this  together,  and  then  let  it  stand  until  it  is  cool,  and  give  it  to  the  horse 
fasting  and  ride  him  a  little  upon  it,  and  set  him  up  warm,  but  he  must  be  blooded 
first;  and  three  howers  afterwards  give  him  a  mash.' 


466  CATTLE. 

short  directions  comprise  all  that  can  be  done: — subdue  the  inflammation 
or  fever  by  bleeding  and  physick; — keep  the  bowels  after\vards  under  the 
mild  but  evident  influence  of  purgative  medicine; — add  aromatics  and 
stomachics  to  the  medicine  almost  from  the  beginning;  to  these,  if  the 
strength  and  condition  of  the  animal  should  appear  to  be  wasting,  add 
tonics — the  gentian  root  will  stand  at  the  head  of  them  ; — and  lasdy, 
when  the  disease  has  been  apparenUy  subdued,  a  few  tonic  drinks  will 
restore  the  appetite,  prepare  for  the  regaining  of  condition,  and  re-establish 
the  secretion  of  milk. 

THE  PANCREAS. 

This  is  a  long,  irregularly  formed,  flattened  gland,  considerably  smaller 
in  cattle  than  in  the  horse,  and  confined  in  them  to  the  left  side  of  the  ab- 
domen, in  the  neighbourhood  of,  but  not  adhering  to,  the  fourth  stomach, 
and  mostly  connected  with  the  duodenum  and  colon,  by  mesenteric  attach- 
ments. It  is  of  a  pale  red  colour,  and  evidently  composed  of  an  accumu- 
lation of  small  glands  resembling  salivary  ones  :  each  of  them  is  a 
secreting  gland,  and  a  duct  proceeds  from  each; — these  unite  and  form 
one  common  canal,  which  takes  its  course  towards  the  duodenum,  unites 
itself  with  the  biliary  duct,  already  described,  and  enters  with  it  into  the 
duodenum,  as  represented  at  /t,  in  the  cut  in  p.  426.  The  nature  of  the 
fluid  thus  conveyed  will  be  presently  considered. 

This  gland  appears  to  be  subject  to  very  few  diseases,  and  the  symptoms 
of  these  diseases  are,  in  the  present  state  of  knowledge  of  the  patho- 
logy of  cattle  very  imperfectly  known.  In  a  few  instances,  enlarge- 
ment of  the  pancreas  has  been  found  after  death;  (in  one  case,  this 
conglomerate  gland  was  more  than  treble  its  natural  size;)  at  other  times, 
there  have  been  inflammation,  tubercles,  a  schirrous  induration,  and  con- 
siderable abscess;  but  there  were  no  previous  symptoms  to  lead  to  the  sus- 
picion that  this  gland  was  the  principal  seat  of  disease,  and  there  were 
other  morbid  appearances  in  the  stomachs  or  intestines,  to  indicate 
sufficient  cause  of  death  without  reference  to  the  state  of  the  pancreas. 
This  is  a  subject  which  deserves  the  attention  of  the  veterinary  surgeon, 
and  on  which  no  one  has  yet  ventured  to  write.* 

We  are  now  prepared  to  follow  the  passage  of  the  food  from  the  fourth 
stomach  into  the  intestinal  canal. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  ANATOMY  AND  DISEASES  OF  THE  INTESTINES. 

If  the  reader  will  refer  to  the  cut  of  the  Intestines  of  the  Horse,  in 
page  202  of  the  Treatise  on  that  animal  in  the  Farmer's  Series,  he  will 
perceive  a  considerable  difference  in  their  appearance  and  structure  in  the 
horse  and  in  cattle.  There  is  in  cattle  comparatively  little  of  the  irregu- 
larity of  size  which  is  seen  in  the  intestiues  of  the  horse.  The  colon 
and  the  caecum,  although  larger  than  the  small  intestines  in  catUe,  are 
diminutive  compared  with  those  viscera  in  the  horse.     The  reason  of  this  is 

*  As  some  guide  to  the  researches  of  the  veterinarian,  the  following  extract  from 
Dr.  Abercrombie's  valuable  '  Pathological  and  Practical  Researches'  is  introduced. 

'  Many  cases  are  on  record  of  clironic  disease  of  the  pancreas,  exhibiting  much 
diversity  of  symptoms,  and  nearly  in  the  following  proportion: — Of  twenty -seven  cases 
wliich  1  find  mentioned  by  various  writers,  six  were  fatal  with  gradual  wasting  and 
dyspeptic  symptoms,  and  withont  any  urgent  symptoms.  In  eight,  there  were  frequent 
vomitings,  with  more  or  less  pain  in  the  epigastric  region;  and  thirteen  were  fatal,  with 
long-continued  pain  without  vomiting;  in  some  of  these,  the  pain  extended  to  the 
back,  and  in  otliers  it  was  much  increased  by  taking  food.  In  several  there  were 
dropsical  symptoms,  and  in  three  or  fonr  there  was  jaundice  from  the  tumour  com- 
pressing the  biliary  ducts.     In  the  morbid  appearances  aslo  there  was  great  variety.' 


THE  DUODENUM. 


467 


sufficiently  evident.  The  enormous  development  of  the  rumen,  occupy- 
ing nearly  three^ourths  of  the  abdominal  cavity,  leaves  no  room  for  an 
intestine  so  bulky  as  the  caecum  of  the  horse:  the  bowels  are  therefore 
diminished  in  size,  in  order  that  they  may  be  more  readily  packed  wher- 
ever room  can  be  found  for  them. 

The  larger  intestines,  particularly  the  colon  and  the  caecum,  have  not 
the  cellated  structure  in  catde,  which  the  slightest  inspection  of  their  ex- 
ternal covering  shows  that  they  possess  in  the  horse;  and,  consequently, 
the  food  will  pass  through  them  with  considerably  greater  rapidity.  Lest 
this  however,  should  prevent  the  abstraction  of  all  the  nutriment  which 
it  contains,  and  thus  interfere  with  the  destiny  of  cattle — the  furnishing 
of  the  human  being  with  food  while  they  are  living  and  after  they  are 
dead — the  intestinal  canal  is  greatly  prolonged.  The  intestines  of  the 
horse  are  ten  times  as  long  as  the  body  of  that  animal;  the  intestines  of 
the  ox  are  twenty-two  times  as  long  as  his  body. 

Each  intestine  shall  be  briefly  described. 


1.  The  Duodenum. 

2.  The  Jejunum. 
3  The  Ileum. 


4.  The  Csecum. 

5.  The  Colon. 

6.  The  Rectum. 


7.  The  Mesentery. 

8.  Mesenteric  Glands. 

9.  Blood-vessels. 


THE  DUODENUM. 

This,  as  will  be  observed  at  a,  p.  20.3,  in  the  Treatise  on  the  Horse,  is  of 
considerable  size  in  that  animal  compared  with  the  small  intestines;  but  it 
will  be  remarked  (g,  p.  426,  and  Jig.  1.  in  this  cut)  that  the  duodenum  is, 
at  its  commencement  from  the  stomach,  little  larger  than  the  jejunum  and 


468  CATTLE. 

ileum,  which  are  prolongations  from  it.  The  stomach  of  the  horse  is  an 
exceedingly  small  one;  the  food  necessarily  passes  quicliiy  out  of  it,  and 
the  work  of  digestion,  so  far  as  the  stomach  is  concerned,  namely,  the  dis- 
solving of  the  food,  and  the  conversion  of  it  into  one  homogeneous  mass,  is 
imperfectly  performed:  therefore  it  is  detained  in  the  upper  portion  of  the 
duodenum  for  this  solution  to  be  completed,  or  as  much  so  as  the  nature  of 
the  food  will  admit,  before  the  true  function  of  this  intestine  commences.  In 
consequence,  however,  of  the  maceration  of  the  food  in  the  rumen,  the  dou- 
ble mastication,  and  the  mechanism  of  the  manyplus,  by  means  of  which 
every  tibrous  particle  is  seized  and  ground  down,  the  food  is  nearly  dissolv- 
ed before  it  enters  the  fourth  stomach;  it  is  easily  completed  there,  and  the 
duodenum  has  nothing  to  do  of  this  natuie.  On  this  account,  the  duode- 
num of  the  horse  is  a  capacious  one;  it  is  a  kind  of  second  stomach:  while 
the  duodenum  of  cattle  is  little  larger  than  the  small  intestines  which 
succeed  to  it. 

The  duodenum  and  all  the  intestines  have,  like  the  stomachs,  three 
coats.  The  outer  one  is  the  peritoneum,  or  the  membrane  by  which  all 
the  contents  of  the  belly  are  invested;  by  which  also  they  are  all  confined 
in  their  natural  situations,  and  by  the  smoothness  and  moisture  of 
which,  all  injurious  friction  and  concussion  are  avoided.  The  second  is 
the  muscular  coat,  supplied  by  the  motor  organic  nerves,  and  by  means  of 
the  contraction  of  which  the  food  is  propelled  along  the  intestinal  canal 
in  the  process  of  healthy  digestion,  or  hastened  when  those  muscles  are 
made  to  contract  more  rapidly  and  violently  under  the  influence  of  irrita- 
tion, whether  referrible  to  disease  or  to  some  purgative  drug.  The  inner 
coat  is  a  mucous  one,  thickly  studded  with  minute  glands,  which,  in  a 
state  of  health,  secrete  sufficient  raucous  fluid  to  lubricate  the  passage; 
and,  under  the  stimidus  of  a  purgative,  throw  out  a  fluid  increased  in 
quantity,  and  of  a  more  aqueous  character,  and  in  which  the  contents  of 
the  intestines  are  softened  and  involved  and  carried  away. 

On  this  coat  likewise  open  the  mouths  of  innumerable  vessels — the  lac- 
teal absorbents — which  imbibe  or  take  up  the  nutritive  portion  of  the 
food.  These  vessels  ramify  across  llie  mesentery,  and  convey  this  nutri- 
ment to  a  common  duct  that  passes  along  it,  and  by  means  of  which  it 
is  carried  into  tlie  great  veins  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  heart,  wl;ere  it 
is  mixed  with  the  venous  blood  returned  from  cverv  part.  Bv  the  power 
of  the  heart  it  is  propelled  through  the  lungs,  where  it  is  purified  and  vita- 
lized; and  having  been  returned  to  this  organ  it  is  driven  through  other 
vessels  all  over  the  frame,  and  bestows  nutriment  and  life  on  every  part. 

The  food,  in  a  state  of  perfect  solution,  atid  under  the  name  of  chyme,  is 
forced  on  by  the  muscular  coat  of  the  fourth  stomach  into  the  duodenum, 
where  another  change  immediately  commences.  The  food  is  separated 
into  two  distinct  portions  or  principles — that  which  is  nutritive  or  capable 
of  being  imbibed  by  the  lacteals — a  white  fluid  called  chyle — and  that 
which  is  either  innutritive,  or  wliich  they  reject,  and  which  is  propelled 
along  the  intestines  and  finally  evacuated. 

There  has  been  much  dispute  as  to  the  manner  in  which  this  separation 
is  eflected.  The  chyme  that  has  been  formed  by  the  agency  of  the  gastric 
juice  may  contain  in  itself  a  tendency  to  this  sepiu-ation,  or  precipitation 
of  the  excrementitious  part;  or  this  may  be  eflected  by  some  fluid  secreted 
from  the  mucous  coat  of  the  duodenum;  or  the  bile  and  pancreatic  juice 
may  be  the  main  agents  in  producing  the  change. 

Ten  or  twelve  inches  down  the  duodenum,  as  may  l)e  seen  at  //,  p.  426, 
two  ducts  penetrate  the  coats  of  that  intestine,  and  pour  into  it  the  fluid 
secreted  by  the  pancreas  and  liver.     It  would  seem  likely,  from  llie  dis- 


THE  CECUM.  469 

taiice  from  the  stomach  at  which  these  fluids  enter,  that  some  change  had 
already  taken  place  in  the  contents  of  the  duodenum,  which  was  to  be  per- 
fected by  means  of  these  auxiliaries.  The  separation  or  precipitation  is 
more  rapidly  and  effectually  made ;  while  the  bile  also  has  some  stimula- 
ting- effect  on  the  coats  of  the  stomach,  urging  the  exhalents  and  the  ab- 
sorbents, and  the  muscles  of  the  intestines,  to  stronger  and  more  efiectual 
action;  and  the  pancreatic  juice  may  dilute  the  biliary  secretion,  and 
shield  the  intestine  from  its  occasional  too  great  acrimony. 

While,  however,  the  bile  is  thus  acting  in  promoting  healthy  digestion, 
(and  no  animals  afford  more  frequent  illustration  of  the  connection  between 
the  biliary  secretion  and  the  digestive  process  than  cattle  do,)  the  true 
notion  of  it  is  perhaps,  that  it  is  an  excrementitious  substance,  containing 
properties  that  would  be  noxious  to  the  constitution,  but,  as  in  most  of  the 
contrivances  of  nature,  the  mode  of  its  evacuation  answers  another  and  a 
salutary  purpose.* 

The  length  of  the  duodenum  varies  according  to  the  fancy  of  different 
writers.  It  terminates  in  the  jejunum,  but  there  is  no  assignable  point 
where  the  one  can  be  said  to  terminate  and  the  other  begin. 

THE    JEJUNUM    AND    ILEUM. 

These  intestines,  together  with  the  duodenum,  the  caecum,  and  a  por- 
tion of  the  colon,  will  be  seen  (in  the  cut  p.  467,  at  Jigs.  2  and  3,)  to  be 
united  together,  and  enfolded  in  one  common  expansion  of  the  mesentery. 
They  lie  on  the  right  side  of  the  belly,  occupying  the  flank,  and  resting 
upon  the  right  portion  of  the  rumen.  The  jejunum  and  the  ileum  con- 
stitute the  border  of  this  mesenteric  expansion,  and  are  disposed  in  the 
form  of  numerous  spiral  convolutions.  If  they  were  unfolded,  the  length 
of  these  intestines  would,  in  an  ox  of  common  size,  amount  to  more  than 
100  feet.  This  length  of  small  intestine  is  designed  to  compensate  for  the 
want  of  development  and  of  cancelli  in  the  larger  ones.  The  food  is  de- 
tained by  the  length  of  the  passage,  and  also  by  the  construction  of  the 
convolutions.  They  may  be  considered  as  discharging  the  function  of  the 
caecum  and  colon  in  the  horse,  and  the  principal  absorption  of  chyle  takes 
place  in  them. 

THE    C^CUM 

Is  a  very  different  viscus  from  that  which  bears  the  same  name  in  the 

*  The  gall  of  the  ox  is  applied  to  various  uses;  it  was  formerly  used  medicinally,  as 
readily  combining  with  the  hardened  wax  of  the  ear,  and  contfibuting  to  its  easier  re- 
moval, and  also  as  a  mild  and  beneficial  external  stimulant  in  cases  of  inflammation  of 
the  ear,  and  particularly  those  of  a  chronic  character,  and  connected  with  partial  deaf- 
ness. It  has  also  been  adopted  as  a  stimulant  in  some  cases  of  ophthalmia,  and  old 
people  used  to  think  that  it  was  beneficial  in  difficult  menstruation,  and  also  in  difficult 
labour. 

In  commerce  its  value  is  of  a  more  decided  character.  It  is  boiled  and  skimmed; 
one  ounce  of  alum  is  then  added  to  each  pint  of  the  gall ;  to  another  pint  of  the  gall 
one  ounce  of  common  salt  is  added  ;  the  liquids  are  placed  in  separate  bottles,  corked 
down,  and  kept  close  for  three  months ;  the  clear  portion  is  then  poured  off  from  each, 
and  the  contents  of  the  two  bottles  being  mixed  together,  a  precipitation  or  coagulum 
is  rapidly  formed,  leaving  a  portion  of  the  liquid  above  clear  and  colourless.  This  is 
called  refined  ox-gall.  It  is  considered  by  some  to  possess  a  cosmetic  quality ;  it  cer- 
tainly combines  with  the  greasy  matter  with  which  old  paintings  may  be  stained;  a,nd 
also  with  that  which  may  have  been  mixed  with  various  colours ;  it  gives  a  coating  to 
ivory,  and  even  to  tracing  paper  and  to  satin,  wliicli  enables  the  artist  to  paint  with  wa- 
ter colours  upon  them,  and  to  lay  successive  coats  of  colours  when  drawing,  and  to  fix 
chalk  and  pencil  drawings  so  that  they  may  he  tinted.  An  extract  of  ox-gall  has  also 
been  used  instead  of  soap,  more  readily  and  effectually  to  clean  greasy  cloths,— ^Crat.' 
and  Rennie^s  Supplements  to  the  Pharmacopeia. 
41 


470  CATTLE. 

horse.  It  describes  a  considerable  arch  (see  Jig.  4,  p.  467,)  the  superior 
extremity  of  which  is  fixed  to  the  portion  of  mesentery  common  to  it  and 
the  small  intestines,  while  the  inferior  portion  floats  loose  in  the  abdomen, 
and  is  prolonged  into  the  pelvic  cavity,  where  it  has  a  rounded  termination. 
The  portion  of  food  that  can  enter  into  it  is  smaller  than  in  tlie  horse,  and 
cannot  be  detained  long  there,  because  there  are  no  longitudinal  bands  to 
pucker  the  intestine  into  numerous  and  deep  cells;  but  the  contents  of  the 
caecum  have  the  same  character  of  being  more  fluid  than  in  any  other  part 
of  the  intestinal  canal.  The  length  of  the  csecum  difters  little  from  that  of 
the  horse,  seldom  exceeding  a  yard. 

THE    COLON. 

This  intestine  is  evidently  divisible  into  two  parts,  {see  Jig.  5,  p.  467;) 
the  one  smaller  than  the  caecum  is  supported  by  the  common  mesentery, 
the  other  floats  loose  in  the  belly,  and  forms  part  of  the  second  mass  of  in- 
testines. It  has  somewhat  the  same  convolutions  as  in  the  horse,  but  is 
destitute  of  its  muscular  bands.  It  is  also  less  than  the  caecum,  but,  com- 
bined with  the  next  and  the  last  intestine,  the  rectum,  it  measures  more 
than  thirty-three  feet,  being  almost  double  the  length  of  those  intestines  in 
the  horse.  The  want  of  mechanical  obstruction  to  the  passage  of  the  food 
is  thus  made  up  by  the  increased  length  of  the  viscera.  In  the  colon,  the 
process  of  digestion  may  be  considered  to  be  in  a  manner  terminated,  and 
all  that  remains  is  faeculent  matter,  that  continues  to  be  urged  on  in  order 
to  be  expelled. 

THE    RECTUM. 

This  intestine,  so  called  from  the  straight  course  which  it  runs,  termi- 
nates the  digestive  canal.  It  also  has  no  longitudinal  bands,  for  it  con- 
tains little  beside  the  excrement  that  is  to  be  discharged,  or  that  should  least 
of  all  be  detained.  The  lacteal  absorbents  may  still  be  traced  in  this  intes- 
tine, but  it  is  probable  that  very  little  nutritive  matter  is  taken  up,  although, 
from  the  occasional  hardened  state  of  the  dung,  it  is  possible  that  much 
fluid  may  be  carried  off. 

A  circular  muscle,  always  in  action,  is  placed  at  the  termination  of  the 
rectum,  in  order  to  prevent  its  contents  from  being  involuntarily  dis- 
charged. Its  power  is  just  sufficient  for  the  purpose;  and  it  readily  yields, 
when,  by  the  pressure  of  the  abdominal  muscles  and  the  diaphragm,  the 
excrement  is  forced  against  it,  in  the  voluntary  efforts  of  the  animal. 

The  contents  of  the  rectum  in  catde  are  essentially  different  from  those 
that  occupy  the  same  intestine  in  the  horse.  They  are  semi-fluid — their 
nutritive  qualities  are  nearly  exhausted,  and  they  are  of  very  inferior  value 
for  agricultural  purposes. 

The  scientific  author  of  the  treatise  on  '  British  Husbandry,'  in  the 
Farmer's  Series,  p.  227,  says,  that  '  when  used  alone,  cow-dung  has  been 
considered,  in  most  cases,  as  nearly  worthless.  It  has  also  been  thought 
that  the  dung  of  milch-cows  is  inferior  lo  that  of  oxen;  but  this  can  only 
be  attributed  to  their  yielding  milk,  which  probably  deprives  the  dung 
of  some  portion  of  its  richness,  for  when  they  are  dried  off"  and  fattened, 
there  is  no  perceptible  difference.'  He  makes  two  quotations  in  illustration 
of  the  inferior  quality  of  the  cow-dung — one  from  the  Essex  Report, 
-vol.  ii.  p.  238,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  '  fifteen  acres  having  been  manured 
for  beans,  six  with  horse-dung,  and  nine  with  dung  from  the  cow-yard,  the 
six  acres  produced  far  more  than  the  nine,'  and  that  '  in  an  experiment 
made  near  Grantham,  in  Lincolnshire,  on  a  poor  dry  soil,  the  manure  from 
a  horse-yard,  and  that  from  a  yard  where  neat  cattle  were  wintered,  were 


ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  MESENTERIC  GLANDS.  471 

used  separately  for  turnips,  and  the  former  was  found  to  have  greatly  the 
advantage.'  He  adds,  however,  that  '  mixed  Avith  other  kinds  of  ma- 
nure, it  is  exceedingly  valuable;  that  although  its  effect  upon  the  soil  is 
slower  and  less  powerful  than  that  of  horse  dung,  it  is  more  durable,  and 
that  upon  sand  and  gravel,  and  a  dry  and  warm  soil,  its  cooling  q^ualities  ren- 
der it  of  much  service."  The  comparison  which  he  draws  in  other  res- 
pects, between  the  two  kinds  of  dung  will  be  found  to  be  interesting  and 
instructive. 

THE  DISEASES  OF  THE  INTESTINES. 

These,  with  the  exception  of  diarrhoea,  are  seldom  so  acute  or  fatal  as 
in  the  horse,  but  they  are  too  numerous,  and  destroy  too  many  of  our 
cattle.  Those  which  belong  to  the  membranes  that  invest  or  line  the 
intestines,  and  that  are  referrible  to  the  greater  part,  or  the  whole,  of  their 
extent,  will  with  most  convenience  first  come  under  consideration.  Those 
which  affect  only  particular  viscera,  or  parts  of  them,  will  naturally  follow. 

ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  MESENTERIC  GLANDS. 

It  has  been  stated  that  there  are  numerous  vessels,  termed  lacteals,  open- 
ing on  the  inner  coat  of  the  intestines,  in  order  to  convey  the  chyle  to  the 
thoracic  duct,  so  that  it  may  mingle  with  and  supply  the  waste  of  the 
blood.  These  little  vessels,  ere  they  reach  the  main  trunk,  pass  through 
a  glandular  body,  in  which  some  unknown  change  is  probably  effected  in 
the  chyle.  Some  of  these  mesenteric  glands  are  represented  at  fig.  8, 
page  467.  These  glands  occasionally  become  unnaturally  enlarged,  and 
then,  whether  from  the  abstraction  of  so  much  nutriment,  in  order  to  con- 
tribute to  this  enlargement,  or  from  the  unknown  change  not  taking  place 
in  the  chyle  before  it  mingles  with  the  blood,  or  from  the  constitutional  dis- 
turbance which  the  presence  of  such  a  body  in  the  abdomen  must  produce, 
the  animal  ceases  to  thrive,  his  belly  becomes  enlarged,  cough  and  con- 
sumption appear,  and  he  gradually  wastes  away  and  dies.  On  examination 
after  death,  some  of  the  mesenteric  glands  are  of  unusual  bulk,  and  occa- 
sionally have  grown  to  an  enormous  size. 

Mr.  Brown,  of  Melton,  has  recorded  a  case  of  singular  enlargement  of 
one  of  these  glands.*  He  was  sent  for  to  examine  a  cow  with  con- 
siderable depression  of  countenance,  the  eyes  shrunk  in  their  orbits,  the 
membrane  of  the  nose  and  the  mouth  of  a  pale  yellow  colour,  and  the  skin 
around  the  eyes,  nose  and  mouth  also  presenting  the  same  tinge.  The 
pulse  was  quick,  the  breathing  difficult,  the  belly  swelled,  and  she  could 
scarcely  be  induced  to  move.  When  the  hand  was  passed  along  the  right 
side,  a  large  tumour  could  be  distincdy  felt,  and  which  would  not  yield  to 
pressure. 

Mr.  Brown  very  properly  decided  that  the  case  was  hopeless,  and  ad- 
vised that  she  should  be  destroyed.  She  was,  however,  given  up  to  him 
for  experiment.  He  determined  first  to  try  the  effect  of  mercury,  and  he 
gave  her  every  night  two  scruples  of  calomel,  with  a  drachm  of  hemlock, 
and  half  a  drachm  of  opium;  he  also  administered  four  ounces  of  Epsom 
salts  every  morning,  in  eight  ounces  of  infusion  of  cascarilla.  A  more 
judicious  plan  of  treatment  he  could  scarcely  have  adopted.  As  soon  as 
purging  commenced,  he  omitted  the  internal  medicine,  shaved  the  hair 
from  the  right  side,  and  well  rubbed  in  daily  an  ounce  of  strong  mercurial 
ointment  with  a  drachm  of  camphor.  This  was  continued  for  six  days; 
but  the  patient  continuing  to  lose  flesh,  and  becoming  so  weak  as  not  to  be 

*  Veterinarian,  Feb,  1830. 


4:2  CATTLE. 

able  to  raise  herself  up  when  down,  and  the  tumour  not  diminishing,  he 
ordered  her  to  be  destroyed. 

On  opening  the  abdomen,  the  first  thing  that  presented  itself  filling  the 
iliac  region  was  a  large  mesenteric  gland,  of  irregular  form,  weighing 
1601b.  On  making  a  section  through  it,  its  appearance  was  chiefly  that  of 
a  schirrous  deposit.  The  mesenteric  glands  generally  were  unhealthy,  and 
many  of  them  were  schirrous.  This  case  is  a  valuable  one;  it  is  the  only 
one  on  record  of  schirrous  enlargement  of  the  mesenteric  glands  of  the  ox; 
but  the  recollection  of  every  practitioner  will  furnish  him  with  not  a  few 
instances  of  these  tumours  unexpectedly  presenting  themselves  on  exami- 
nation of  the  abdomen.  They  have  been  found  chiefly  in  young  beasts 
that  had  been  bred  too  much  in  and  in,  or  that  had  been  weakly  from  other 
causes,  and  particularly  in  those  that  had  been  subject  to  chronic  cough, 
associated  with  tubercles  in  the  lungs.  In  low  and  damp  situations  these 
tumours  have  been  found  on  the  mesentery  of  cattle  that  have  been  long 
unthrifty  and  out  of  condition,  and  that  have  at  length  died  apparently  in 
consequence  of  some  other  disease. 

The  association,  however,  with  these  diseases  has  differed  so  materially 
in  diflerent  cases,  and  the  symptoms  have  been  so  obscure,  or  so  much  re- 
sembling those  of  various  and  almost  opposite  complaints,  that  they  have 
not  yet  been  satisfactorily  classed  and  arranged.  This  also  must  be  the 
work  of  future  veterinarians,  and  when  cattle  medicine  begins  to  receive 
that  attention  which  it  deserves. 

The  treatment  of  these  mesenteric  enlargements,  when  they  are  sus- 
pected and  pretty  well  ascertained,  would  be  a  course  of  mild  purgatives, 
mingled  with  tonics  (the  Epsom  salts  with  gentian  and  ginger,  a  dose 
suflScient  to  keep  the  bowels  gently  open  being  administered  every  morn- 
ing,) with  the  exhibition  of  from  six  to  ten  grains  of  the  hydriodate  of 
potash,  at  noon  and  night,  and  the  removal  of  the  animal  to  good  and  dry 
pasture. 

INFLAMMATION  OF  THE  BOWELS. 

Of  this  malady,  as  in  the  horse,  there  are  two  species:  the  first  is  inflam- 
mation of  the  external  coat  of  the  intestines,  accompanied  by  considerable 
fever,  and  usually  by  costiveness;  the  second  is  that  of  the  internal  or 
mucous  coat,  and  generally  attended  by  violent  purging. 

The  first  of  these,  designated  by  the  term  Eeteritis,  is,  in  most  cases, 
sudden  in  its  attack.  Beasts  of  middle  age — strong — in  good  condition, 
and  particularly  working  cattle,  are  most  subject  to  it.  Calves,  old  beasts, 
and  milch  cows  are  comparatively  exempt  from  it.  The  disease  is  most 
frequent  in  hot  weather,  and  after  long-continued  drought. 

The  beast,  that  on  the  preceding  day  seemed  to  be  in  perfect  health,  is 
observed  to  be  dull — depressed — his  muzzle  dry — his  hair  rough; — he 
shrinks  when  his  loins  are  pressed  upon,  and  his  belly  seems  to  be  enlarged 
on  the  left  side.  To  these  symptoms  speedily  succeed  disinclination  to 
move — weakness  of  the  hind  Imibs — trembling  of  them — staggering — 
heaving  of  the  flanks — protrusion  of  the  head — redness  of  the  eyes — heat 
of  the  mouth  and  ears  and  roots  of  the  horns,  and  a  small,  but  rapid  pulse, 
generally  varing  from  60  to  80  beats  in  a  minute.  Rumination  has  now 
ceased;  the  appetite  is  lost;  the  freces  are  rarely  voided,  and  are  hard  and 
covered  with  a  glazy  mucus,  and  that  mucus  is  sometimes  streaked  with 
blood; — the  animal  also  moans  with  intensity  of  pain. 

These  symptoms  rapidly  increase;  the  patient  becomes  more  depressed; 
the  pulse  more  feeble;  the  moaning  incessant,  and  the  beast  is  conti- 
nually down.     He  becomes  half  unconscious,  and  is  evidently  half-blind; 


INFLAMMATION  OP  THE  BOWELS.  473 

the  mouth  is  filled  with  foam,  and  the  tongue  is  covered  with  a  brownish 
yellow  deposit.  There  is  grinding  of  the  teeth,  and  difficulty  in  the  swal- 
lowing of  liquids  ;  a  tucked  up  appearance  of  the  belly,  mingling  with  the 
enlargement  of  the  left  flank — and  the  whole  of  the  belly  is  exceedingly 
tender.  Until  he  is  too  weak  to  raise  himself,  he  is  exceedingly  restless, 
lying  down,  and  immediately  getting  up  again,  and  with  convulsive  move- 
ments of  the  muscles  of  the  neck  and  extremities.  The  evacuation  of  the 
faeces  is  entirely  suppressed,  or  a  little  stream  of  liquid  excrement  forces  a 
passage  through  the  hardened  mass  by  which  the  rectum  is  distended,  and 
that  which  is  voided  has  an  exceedingly  foetid  and  putrid  smell.  This 
symptom  is  characteristic.  The  person  who  is  accustomed  to  cattle  says, 
that  the  beast  is  fardel-bound  or  sapped,  but  he  often  mistakes  the  nature 
of  the  case,  and  fancies  that  diarrhoea  instead  of  costiveness  exists.  The 
urine  becomes  thick  and  oily  and  brown,  and  has  a  peculiarly  disagreeable 
and  penetrating  smell.  As  the  disease  proceeds,  the  weakness  and  suffering 
increase,  until  the  animal  dies,  sometimes  exhausted,  but  mostly  in  con- 
vulsions, and  frequently  discharging  a  bloody  fcstid  fluid  from  the  mouth, 
the  nose,  and  the  anus. 

Sometimes,  when  the  disease  has  not  been  attacked  with  sufiicient  en- 
ergy, and  oftener  in  despite  of  the  most  skilful  treatment,  other  symptoms 
appear.  The  animal  seems  to  amend ;  the  pulse  is  slower  and  more  de- 
veloped— rumination  returns — the  patient  eats  a  little — the  enlargement 
of  the  flanks  subsides — the  excrement,  whether  hard  or  fluid,  is  more 
abundantly  discharged  :  but  the  beast  is  sadly  thin — he  is  daily  losing 
ground — his  coat  stares — the  hair  is  easily  detached — the  skin  clings  to 
the  bones — he  is  sometimes  better,  and  sometimes  worse,  until  violent 
inflammation  again  suddenly  comes  on,  and  he  is  speedily  carried  off".* 

On  examination  after  death  the  first  thing  that  presents  itself  is  the 
engorgement  of  the  sub-cutaneous  vessels  with  black  and  coagulated  blood, 
and  tlie  discoloration  of  the  muscles,  softened  in  their  consistence  and  be- 
coming putrid.  The  abdomen  exhibits  the  eff'usion  of  a  great  quantity  of 
bloody  fluid;  eight,  ten,  and  twelve  gallons  have  been  taken  from  it.  The 
peritoneum  is  inflamed — almost  universally  so  ; — there  are  black  and  gan- 
grenous patches  in  various  parts,  and  on  others  there  are  deposits  of  flaky 
matter,  curiously  formed,  and  often  curiously  spotted.  The  liver  is  en- 
larged and  its  substance  easily  torn  ;  the  rumen  is  distended  with  food, 
generally  dry,  and  its  lining  membrane  inflamed  and  injected,  and  of  a 
purple  or  blue  tint ;  the  reticulum  does  not  escape  the  inflammatory  action ; 
the  manyplus  is  filled  with  dry  and  hard  layers  which  cannot  be  detached 
without  difficulty  from  the  mucous  membrane  of  that  stomach ;  the  fourth 
stomach  is  highly  inflamed,  with  patches  of  a  more  intense  character,  and 
its  contents  are  liquid  and  bloody,  particularly  towards  the  pyloric  orifice. 
The  small  intestines  contain  many  spots  of  ulceration,  the  lining  membrane 
is  every  where  inflamed,  and  they  are  filled  with  an  adhesive  or  bloody- 
mucous  fluid ;  the  larger  intestines  are  even  more  inflamed,  they  exhibit 
more  extensive  ulceration,  and  contain  many  clots  of  efiused  blood.  The 
rectum  is  ulcerated  and  gangrenous  from  end  to  end. 

*  Hurtrel  D'Arboval,  in  his  '  Dictionary  of  Veterinary  Medicine  and  Surgery,'  thus 
describes  some  of  the  symptoms  in  a  more  than  usually  aggravated  case.  '  The  con- 
vulsive movements  were  exceedingly  violent.  The  animal,  seemingly  afraid  of  every 
thing  around  him,  dragged  himself  along,  and  beat  himself  about  in  every  direction, 
uttering  the  most  frightful  lowings.  His  tongue,  red  and  swelled,  hung  from  his 
mouth ;  the  nostrils  were  dilated ;  the  eyes  haggard  and  full  of  tears ;  all  the  mucous 
membranes  were  of  a  scarlet  red ;  the  ears  and  horns  were  burning,  as  also  was  the 
whole  surface  of  the  body.  The  beatings  of  the  heart  were  violent  and  rapid,  yet  the 
pulse  was  scarcely  perceptible,  and  no  blood  could  be  obtained  from  the  jugular.' 
41* 


474  CATTLE. 

There  is  usually  considerable  effusion  in  the  chest ;  the  coverings  of  the 
lungs  are  inflamed ;  the  bag  of  the  heart  more  so ;  the  substance  of  the 
lungs  is  sometimes  emphysematous,  and  at  other  times  gorged  with  blood, 
and  the  heart  is  marked  with  black  spots  outwardly,  and  in  its  cavities. 
The  lining  membrane  of  all  the  air-passages  is  of  a  red  brown  colour;  the 
larynx  and  the  pharynx  are  intensely  red,  and  so  is  the  membrane  of  the 
gullet. 

Of  the  causes  of  this  disease  it  is  difficult  to  speak.  It  seems  occasionally 
to  be  epidemic,  for  several  instances  of  it  occur  of  the  same  character,  and 
in  the  same  district.  M.  Creuzel  gives  an  illustration  of  this  in  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  disease  that  destroyed  so  many  cattle  in  the  years  1826  and 
1827,  in  the  department  de  la  Nievre.  Out  of  218  cattle  belonging  to 
three  farmers,  113  were  attacked  by  the  disease,  and  83  of  them  died. 
One  farmer,  in  a  neighbouring  district,  had  19  head  of  cattle,  all  of  whom 
sickened,  but  only  three  of  them  were  lost.  These  were  unusually  hot 
summers.  The  upland  pasture  was  burnt  up,  or  what  remained  of  it  was 
rendered  unusually  stimulating ;  and  the  acrid  plants  of  the  marshes  and 
low  grounds  acquired  additional  deleterious  agency.* 

When  isolated  cases  occur,  they  may  generally  be  attributed  to  mis- 
management. Exposure  to  cold,  or  the  drinking  of  cold  water  when 
heated  with  work ;  too  hard  work  in  sultry  weather ;  the  use  of  water 
stagnant,  impure,  or  containing  any  considerable  quantity  of  metallic  salts  ; 
the  sudden  revulsion  of  some  cutaneous  eruption  ;  the  crowding  of  animals 
into  a  confined  place  ;  too  luxuriant  and  stimulating  food  generally  ;  and 
the  mildewed  and  unwholesome  food  on  which  cattle  are  too  often  kept, 
are  fruitful  sources  of  this  complaint. 

WOOD-EVIL,  MOOR   ILL,  PANTAS. 

These  are  but  varieties  of  the  same  disease,  frequently  produced,  as  the 
first  name  would  import,  by  browsing  on  the  young  buds  of  trees,  and 
particularly  on  those  of  the  ash  and  the  oak.  These  buds  are  tempting  to 
catde  at  the  commencement  of  the  spring,  but  they  are  of  too  acrid  and 
stimulating  a  character  to  be  eaten  with  impunity  in  any  considerable  quan- 
tities. Heat  of  the  mouth  and  skin — redness  of  the  membranes — thirst — 
obstinate  constipation — hardness  of  the  little  fasces  that  are  expelled — the 
covering  of  them  with  mucus  and  blood — difficulty  of  voiding  urine,  and 
its  red  colour  and  penetrating  odour — colicky  pains — depression — are  the 
characteristic  symptoms  of  this  disease. 

Some  veterinarians  give  the  name  of  wood-evil  to  complaints  allied  to 
rheumatism,  or  being  essentially  rheumatic  ;  others  consider  it  to  be  a 
disease  of  debility,  looking  to  the  consequence  of  inflammation,  and  not  to 
the  inflammation  itself.  If  any  distinction  were  drawn  between  wood-evil 
and  enteritis  in  cattle,  it  would  be,  that  although  in  Avood-evil  there  seems 
to  be  more  affection  of  the  head,  and  the  animal  appears  now  and  then  as 
if  it  were  rabid,  there  is  not  so  much  intestinal  inflammation,  and  the 
disease  does  not  so  speedily  run  its  course.f  Wood-evil  may  last  from 
twelve  to  twenty  days. 

*  Reo.  de  Med.,  Oct.  1828,  p.  243. 

tM.  Girard  observed  in  1816,  a  similar  disease  among  the  cows  in  a  village  near 
Brie.  At  the  conimencement  the  animals  were  dull,  disinclined  to  eat,  spume  dropped 
from  the  mouth,  and  the  spine  was  tender.  There  ran  from  the  vagina  of  the  cow  a 
bloody  matter,  of  a  peculiar  smell,  which  the  urine  also  possessed.  The  constipation 
was  obstinate ;  the  dung  was  hard  and  in  pellets,  and  covered  with  streaks  of  blood. 
The  animal  remained  in  this  state  twenty-four  hours,  alter  which  the  bloody  evacuations 
ceased ;  the  patient  became  palsied  behind ;  violent  diarrhoea  followed,  foetid,  and  in- 
fectious, and  the  patient  was  presently  lost. — D^Arboval,  Diet,  de  Vet,  Med. 


DIARRHCEA  AND  DYSENTERY.  475 

The  prognosis,  or  expectation  of  the  termination  of  the  disease  is  always 
Unfavourable  when  after  a  certain  time  much  fever  comes  on,  or  the  cos- 
tiveness  will  not  give  way,  or  the  urine  is  thick  or  bloody,  or  the  disease 
attains  its  full  intensity  in  the  space  of  a  few  days.  Then,  instead  of  ter- 
minating in  resolution,  the  inflammation  runs  on  to  gangrene;  all  the  acute 
sy-mptoms  suddenly  disappear,  and  death  is  not  far  distant.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  result  will  be  favourable  when  the  disease  does  not  reach  that 
degree  of  intensity  of  which  it  is  capable;  when,  after  a  few  days,  the 
symptoms  gradually  disappear,  and  the  animal  regains  his  former  habits, 
and  the  excrement  resumes  its  natural  form  and  consistence.* 

The  history  that  has  been  given  of  this  disease  will  leave  little  doubt 
respecting  the  course  of  treatment  that  should  be  pursued.  A  malady  of  so 
intensely  an  inflammatory  character  should  be  met  by  prompt  and  decisive 
measures:  and  to  them  it  Avill,  in  its  early  stage,  generally  yield.  Nothing 
is  so  easy  as  to  give  relief  to  a  sapped  or  fardel-bound  beast,  before  he 
begins  to  heave  at  the  flanks  or  ceases  to  ruminate;  but  quickness  of 
breathing,  and  heat  of  the  mouth,  and  evident  fever,  being  once  establish- 
ed, the  animal  will  probably  be  lost. 

The  patient  should  be  bled.  If  it  is  simple  costiveness  without  fever 
the  abstration  of  six  or  eight  quarts  of  blood  may  suffice;  but  if  the  symp- 
toms of  inflammation  cannot  be  misunderstood,  the  measure  of  the  bleed- 
ing will  be  the  quantity  that  the  animal  will  lose  before  he  staggers  or 
falls.  Purgatives  should  follow — the  first  dose  being  of  the  full  strength, 
and  assisted  by  quickly  repeated  ones,  until  brisk  purging  is  produced. 
Hot  water,  or  blisters,  should  be  applied  to  the  belly,  and  the  food  of  the 
beast  should  be  restricted  to  gruel  and  mashes.  This  will,  in  most  cases, 
include  the  whole  of  the  treatment. 

If  other  symptoms  should  arise,  or  other  parts  appear  to  be  involved, 
the  practitioner  will  change  his  mode  of  proceeding  accordingly;  but  he 
will  be  cautious  how  he  gives  aromatics  or  tonics,  until  he  is  convinced 
that  the  state  of  fever  has  passed  over,  and  circumstances  indicate  the  ap- 
proach of  debility  and  of  typhus  fever. 

DIARRHCEA  AND  DYSENTERY.! 

The  frequent  and  abundant  evacuation  of  faecal  matter,  whether  with  or 
without  mucus,  may  be  considered  either  as  simple,  or  connected  with 
other  diseases.  In  its  former  state  it  will  be  the  subject  of  present  consi- 
deration, and  may  be  regarded  as  acute  or  chronic.  Acute  diarrhoea  may 
be  produced  by  various  causes; — the  abuse  of  purgatives,  by  their  being 
administered  in  too  active  a  form — feeding  on  certain  poisonous  plants — 
sudden  change  of  food,  generally  from  dry  to  green  aliment,  but  occasion- 
ally from  green  to  dry — excess  of  food — the  drinking  of  bad  water — or 
by  some  humid  and  unhealthy  state  of  the  atmosphere.  From  the  last 
cause  it  usually  assumes  an  epizootic  character,  particularly  in  autumn. 
A  great  many  cows  in  a  certain  district  are  suddenly  attacked  by  it,  al- 
though there  is  no  reason  to  suspect  that  it  is  in  the  slightest  degree  conta- 
gious. 

Calves  and  milch  cows  are  far  more  subject  to  this  species  of  intestinal 
inflammation  than  are  full  grown  or  working  oxen. 

The  proper  treatment  of  acute  diarrhoea  will  consist  in  the  adminstra- 

*  D'  Arboval,  Diet.,  Article  Entente. 

t  Tlie  distinction  between  these  two  diseases,  and  it  is  of  essential  importance  to  ob- 
serve it  in  the  treatment  of  cattle,  is,  that  diarrhoea  consists  in  the  evacuation  of  ftecal 
matter,  in  an  undue  quantity,  and  more  than  naturally  liquid  form.  In  dysentery, 
more  or  less  mucus,  or  mucus  and  blood  combined,  mingles  with  faeces. 


476  CATTLE. 

tion  of  a  mild  purgative,  in  order  to  carry  off  any  source  of  irritation  in 
the  intestinal  canal;  the  abstraction  of  blood,  if  there  is  any  degree  of  fe- 
ver, and  in  proportion  to  ihat  fever;  and  tlien  the  exhibition  of  alkalies 
and  astringents.  The  most  effectual  medicines  are  prepared  chalk,  opium, 
catechu,  and  ginger,  in  the  proportions  of  one  ounce  of  the  first,  one 
drachm  of  the  second,  four  drachms  of  the  third,  and  two  of  the  last  in 
each  dose,  and  to  be  administered  in  thick  gruel. 

This  will  generally  be  successful:  but,  occasionally,  these  acute  cases  of 
diarrhoea  are  obstinate  and  fatal;  and  too  often  it  happens  that  what  has 
been  represented  to  the  practitioner  as  a  sudden  attack  turns  out  lo  be  the 
winding  up  of  some  chronic  disease,  and  he  does  not  discover  the  mistake 
untd  it  is  too  late. 

Diarrhoea  is  not  always  to  be  considered  as  a  disease.  It  is  often  a  sa- 
lutary effort  of  nature  to  get  rid  of  that  which  would  be  injurious;  or  it  is 
a  somewhat  too  great  action  of  certain  of  the  digestive  organs,  which  soon 
quiet  down  again  to  their  natural  and  healthy  function.  An  occasional  lax 
state  of  the  bowels  in  calves  is  known  to  be  favourable  to  the  acquirement 
of  fat;  and  a  beast  that  is  well  purged  on  being  first  turned  on  spring-grass 
or  turnips  thrives  far  more  rapidly  than  another  that  is  litde,  or  not  at  all, 
affected  by  the  change.  Diarrhcea,  in  some  critical  stages  of  disease,  is  to 
be  hailed  as  the  precursor  of  health,  rather  than  feared  as  the  attack  of  a 
new  malady;  it  should  be  so  in  pneumonia,  red  water,  and  puerperal  fe- 
ver. All  that  is  tllfen  to  be  done  is  to  prevent  its  becoming  so  violent  as  to 
depress  the  vital  energies.  Diarrhoea  may  assume  a  chronic  form,  with 
greater  or  less  severity,  and  producing  loss  of  condition  and  debility;  it 
may  be  prolonged  for  many  a  month,  and  even  for  years,  and  at  length 
terminate  fatally.  This  is  often  the  case  with  cows  that  have  been  drained 
of  their  milk  and  badly  kept.  The  diarrhoea  of  calves  will  be  considered 
when  the  disease  of  those  animals  come  under  notice. 

The  treatment  of  chronic  diarrhoea  is  difficult  and  unsatisfactory.  Pur- 
gatives cannot  be  dispensed  with,  but  they  must  be  administered  with  con- 
siderable caution.  Both  the  medicine  and  the  quantity  should  be  well  con- 
sidered, for  if  the  aperient  is  not  strong  enough,  the  disorder  will  be 
increased  and  prolonged;  and  if  it  is  too  strong,  both  these  effects  will  be 
produced  to  a  greater  extent,  and  fatal  inflammation  and  superpurgation 
may  ensue.  Castor  oil  will  be  the  safest,  and  the  most  effectual  medi- 
cine, in  doses  from  a  pint  to  a  bottle;  and  a  small  quantity,  ten  grains,  of 
powdered  opium,  will  not  interfere  with  the  aperient  quality  of  the  oil, 
while  it  may  allay  irritation.  After  two  doses  of  the  oil  have  been  given, 
the  powder  already  recommended  may  be  tried,  but  with  a  double  quantity 
of  ginger,  and  half  a  drachm  of  powdered  gentian.  After  a  while,  a 
drachm  of  the  Dover's  powder  may  be  given,  morning  and  night;  and, 
that  also  ceasing  to  have  effect,  the  first  powder  may  again  be  administer- 
ed. Alum  whey  is  often  of  considerable  service.  If  the  animal  is  turned 
out,  it  should  be  on  the  driest  pasture,  but  it  will  be  belter  for  her  to  be 
kept  up  with  plenty  of  hay,  and  gruel  to  drink. 

It  is,  however,  with  dysentery  that  the  practitioner  is  most  loth  to 
cope,  a  disease  that  destroys  thousands  of  our  cattle.  This  also  may  be 
either  acute  or  chronic.  Its  causes  are  too  often  buried  in  obscurity,  and 
its  premonitory  symptoms  are  disregarded  or  unknown.  There  appears 
to  be  a  strong  predisposition  in  cattle  to  take  on  this  disease.  It  seems  to 
be  the  winding  up  of  many  serious  complaints,  and  the  foundation  of  it  is 
sometimes  laid  by  those  that  appear  to  be  of  the  most  trifling  nature.  It 
is  that  in  cattle  which  glanders  and  farcy  are  in  the  horse — the  breaking 
up  of  the  constitution. 


DIARRHCEA  AND  DYvSENTERY.  477 

Dysentery  may  be  a  symptom  and  a  concomitant  of  other  diseases.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  fearful  characteristics  of  murrain;  it  is  the  destructive 
accompaniment  or  consequence  of  phthisis.  It  is  produced  by  the  sudden 
disappearance  of  a  cutaneous  eruption;  it  follows  the  cessation  of  chronic 
hoose;  it  is  the  consequence  of  the  natural  or  artificial  suspension  of  every 
secretion.  Were  any  secretion  to  be  particularly  selected,  the  repression 
of  which  would  produce  dysentery,  it  would  be  that  of  the  milk.  How 
often  does  the  farmer  observe  that  no  sooner  does  a  milch  cow  cease  her 
usual  supply  of  milk  than  she  begins  to  purge  !  There  may  not  appear  to 
be  any  thing  else  the  matter  with  her,  but  she  purges,  and  in  the  majority 
of  cases  that  purging  is  fatal. 

It  may,  sometimes,  however,  be  traced  to  sufficient  causes,  exclusive  of 
previous  disease.  Unwholesome  food — exposure  to  cold — neglect  at  the 
time  of  calving — low  and  marshy  situations — the  feeding  on  meadows 
that  have  been  flooded  (here  it  is  peculiarly  fatal) — the  grazing  (according 
to  Mr.  Leigh,  and  our  experience  confirms  his  statement)  upon  the  clays 
lying  over  the  blue  liefs  rock — the  neighbourhood  of  woods,  and  of  half 
stagnant  rivers — the  continuation  of  unusually  sultry  weather — over- 
work, and  all  the  causes  of  acute  dysentery  may  produce  that  of  a  chronic 
nature — or  acute  dysentery  neglected,  or  badly,  or  even  most  skilfully 
treated,  may  degenerate  into  an  incurable  chronic  affection.  Half  starve  a 
cow,  or  overfeed  her;  milk  her  to  exhaustion,  or  dry  her^iiilk  too  rapidly, 
dysentery  may  follow. 

The  following  may  probably  be  the  order  of  the  symptoms,  if  they  are 
carefully  observed.  There  will  be  a  little  dulness  or  anxiety  of  counte- 
nance, the  muzzle  becoming  short  and  contracted — a  slight  shrinking 
when  the  loins  are  pressed  upon — the  skin  a  little  harsh  and  dry — the 
hair  a  little  rough — there  will  be  a  slight  degree  of  uneasiness,  and 
shivering,  that  scarcely  attracts  attention — then  (except  it  be  the  dege- 
neracy of  acute  into  chronic  dysentery)  constipation  maybe  perceived — it 
will  be  to  a  certain  degree  obstinate — the  excrement  will  be  voided  with 
pain — it  will  be  dry,  hard,  and  expelled  in  small  quantities.  In  other 
cases,  perhaps,  purging  will  be  present  from  the  beginning;  the  animal 
will  be  tormented  with  tenesmus,  or  frequent  desire  to  void  its  excrement, 
and  that  act  attended  by  straming  and  pain,  by  soreness  about  the  anus 
and  protrusion  of  the  rectum;  and  sometimes  by  severe  colicky  spasms. 
In  many  cases,  however,  and  in  those  of  a  chronic  form,  few  of  these  dis- 
tressing symptoms  are  oljserved  even  at  the  commencement  of  the  disease, 
but  the  animal  voids  her  faeces  oftener  than  it  is  natural  that  she  should, 
and  they  are  more  fluid  than  in  a  state  of  health;  but  at  the  same  time, 
she  loses  her  appetite  and  spirits  and  condition,  and  is  evidently  wasting 
away. 

In  acute  cases,  if  the  disease  does  not  at  once  destroy  the  animal,  the 
painful  symptoms  disappear,  and  little  remains  but  a  greater  or  less 
degree  of  dulness,  disinclination  to  food,  rapid  decrease  of  condition,  and 
frequent  purging.  The  faeces  are  often  voided  in  a  peculiar  manner; 
they  are  ejected  with  much  force,  and  to  a  considerable  distance,  and  the 
process  of  shooting  has  commenced.  The  faeces,  too,  have  altered  their 
character;  a  greater  quantity  of  mucus  mingles  with  them;  sometimes  it 
forms  a  great  proportion  of  the  matter  evacuated,  or  it  hangs  in  strings, 
or  accumulates  layer  after  layer  under  the  tail.  The  farmer  and  the  prac- 
titioner anxiously  examine  the  evacuation.  As  the  thin  mass  falls  on  the 
ground,  bubbles  are  formed  upon  it?  They  calculate  the  time  that  these 
vesicles  remain  unbroken.  If  they  burst  and  disappear  immediately,  the 
observer  does  not  quite  despair:  but  if  they  remain  several  minutes  on  the 


478  CATTLE. 

surfiiee  of  the  dung,  he  forms  an  unfavourable  opinion  of  the  case,  for 
he  knows  that  these  bladders  are  composed  of  the  mucus  that  lined  the 
intestines,  and  which  is  not  separated  from  them  except  under  circum- 
stances of  great  irritation;  or  which  being  thrown  off,  the  denuded  mem- 
brane is  exposed  to  fatal  irritation.  In  this  state  the  beast  may  remain 
many  weeks,  or  months;  sometimes  better,  and  sometimes  worse;  and 
even  promising  to  those  who  know  little  about  the  matter  that  the  disease 
will  gradually  subside.  The  farmer,  however,  has  a  term  for  this  malady, 
too  expressive  of  the  result,  although  not  strictly  applicable  to  what  is  ac- 
tually taking  place  within  the  animal.  She  is  rotten,  he  says,  and  she  dies 
as  if  she  were  so. 

The  writer  of  this  treatise  will  not  say,  with  one  well-informed  and 
skilful  practitioner,  that  '  chronic  diarrhoea  invariably  wears  the  animal 
down,  sooner  or  later,  in  spite  of  all  means,'*  nor  with  another,  that  '  the 
animal  loses  its  flesh,  becomes  exceedingly  thin,  and  ultimately  dies  in 
despite  of  any  treatment;  and  in  this  stage  the  cow-leeches  have  each 
their  favourite  specific,  the  only  good  of  which  consists  in  the  money  they 
can  obtain  for  it.'f  There  are  cases  of  recovery,  but  they  are  few  and  far 
between. 

In  most  cases  the  tragedy  gradually  draws  to  a  close.  The  beast  is  sadly 
wasted — vermin  accumulate  on  him — his  teeth  become  loose — swellings 
appear  under  the  jaw,  and  he  dies  from  absolute  exhaustion;  or  the  dejec- 
tions gradually  change  their  character — blood  mingles  with  the  mucus — 
purulent  matter  succeeds  to  that — it  is  almost  insupportably  foetid — it  is 
discharged  involuntarily  gangrenous — ulcers  about  the  anus  sometimes  tell 
of  the  process  that  is  going  on  within;  and,  at  length,  the  eyes  grow  dim 
and  sunk  in  their  orbits,  the  body  is  covered  with  cold  perspiration,  and 
the  animal  dies. 

In  some  cases  the  emaciation  is  frightful;  the  skin  cleaves  to  the  bones, 
and  the  animal  has  become  a  living  skeleton;  in  others  there  have  been 
swellings  about  the  joints,  spreading  over  the  legs  generally,  occasionally 
ulcerated;  and  in  all,  the  leaden  colour  of  the  membranes,  the  rapid  loss 
of  strength,  the  stench  of  the  excrement,  and  the  unpleasant  odour  arising 
from  the  animal  himself,  announce  the  approach  of  death. 

The  appearances  after  death  are  extraordinarily  uniform,  considering  of 
how  many  diseases  this  is  the  accompaniment  or  the  consequence,  and  the 
length  of  time  that  it  takes  to  run  its  course,  and  during  which  so  many 
other  organs,  might  have  been  readily  involved.  The  liver  is  rarely  in  any 
considerable  state  of  disease.  The  first  and  second  stomachs  are  seldom 
much  affected;  the  third  stomach  presents  a  variable  appearance  with 
regard  to  the  state  of  the  food  that  it  contains,  and  which  is  sometimes 
exceedingly  hard,  and  sometimes  almost  pultaceous,  but  there  is  no  inflam- 
mation about  the  stomach  it'^elf.  The  fourth  stomach  exhibits  a  peculiar 
change:  there  is  an  infiltration  or  collection  of  serous  fluid  in  the  cellular 
substance  between  the  mucous  and  muscular  coat,  showing  some,  but  no 
very  acute  degree  of  inflammation  in  the  submucous  tissue.  The  small 
intestines  are  frequently  without  a  single  trace  of  inflammation,  but  some- 
times, however,  they  are  thickened  and  corrugated,  but  not  injected.  It  is 
in  the  cfecum,  colon,  and  rectum,  that  the  character  of  the  disease  is  to  be 
distinctly  and  satisfactorily  traced. 

Mr.  Cartwright,  describing  the  morbid  appearances  in  a  beast  that  had 
died  of  dysentery,  says  '  that  the  colon  and  ca3cum  were  inwardly  of  a 
dirty  colour,  with  blackish  streaks  running  over  them  in  every  direction. 

*  Mr.  Farrow. —  Veterinarian,  June,  1831,  p.  316. 
Mr.  Hales.— Ibid.^  August,  1831,  p.  438. 


DIARRHCEA  AND  DYSENTERY.  479 

The  parietes  were  very  thin,  without  the  least  covering  of  mucus.  The 
liver  was  the  smallest  I  ever  saw.  It  was  perfectly  sound,  of  a  uniform 
clear  light-blue  colour,  and  firm  in  texture.'*  In  a  subsequent  communi- 
cation,! he  narrates  the  lesions  of  some  other  beasts  that  had  been  upder 
his  treatment.  He  thus  speaks  of  the  first  case — '  The  plaits  upon  the 
fourth  stomach  were  about  an  inch  thick,  and  underneath  the  secreting 
coats  theie  was  contained  a  quantity  of  serum  and  lymph,  which  had  the 
appearance  of  jelly.:}:  The  caecum  had  two  or  three  small  abscesses  just 
under  the  inner  coat,  but  which  had  not  burst,  and  many  places  of  it  were 
marked  with  black  streaks.  The  whole  of  the  abdominal  cavity  was  very 
white,  and  infiltrated  with  serum.'  In  the  second  case,  he  states,  that 
'  the  plates  on  its  internal  surface  were  much  filled  with  serum,  and  which 
would  gravitate  when  held  in  different  positions.  On  the  villous  coat  of 
the  large  intestines,  and  throughout  them,  were  a  great  many  reddish  spots, 
and  in  other  places  there  were  whole  patches  of  the  same;  and  on  wiping 
this  red  secretion  off,  the  coat  was  found  to  be  abraded  or  ulcerated,  and 
the  intestines  between  those  spots  were  thickened, '§ 

*  Veterinarian,  Feb.  1829,  p.  71.     t  Ibid.  Dec.  1831,  p.  669. 

%  Mr.  Farrow  also  has  noticed  these  serous  depositions  between  the  coats  of  the  sto- 
mach.—  Veterinarian,  June,  1831,  p.  316. 

§  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  give  a  short  sketch  of  the  symptoms  and  appear- 
ances after  death,  of  dysentery  in  the  human  subject.  Its  identity  with  the  rottenness 
of  cattle  will  not  be  for  a  moment  doubted.  The  quotation  is  selected  from  that  mosi 
valuable  work  '  The  Cyclopsedia  of  Practical  Medicine,'  article  Dysentery,  by  Dr,  Jo- 
seph Brown. 

'  A  case  of  this  description  may  commence  with  feculent  and  liquid  stools,  and  they 
may  subsequently  become  mucous,  with  occasionally  a  slight  admixture  of  blood,  or 
they  may  be  of  the  latter  character  from  the  beginning.  There  is  little,  if  any,  fixed 
pain  in  the  abdomen,  but  considerable  griping  during  the  evacuation,  and  heat  of  the 
anus,  with  distressing  straining.  The  dejections,  however,  do  not  exceed  seven  or 
eight  times  in  the  day.  Difficulty  of  breathing  and  of  voiding  the  urine  attend  severe 
cases  of  tiie  disease.  The  appetite  is  generally  impaired — the  thirst  considerable,  and 
the  tongue  is  sometimes  furred.  The  mean  duration  of  this  slight  form  of  the  disease 
is  from  seven  to  eight  days:  it  may  be  said  to  be  never  fatal,  but  it  not  unfrequently 
lays  the  foundations  of  chronic  dysentery,  and  often  leaves  such  a  tenderness  of  the 
bowels,  as  renders  them  more  prone  than  before  to  morbid  action,  from  cold  or  other 
causes, 

'  A  more  intense  form  of  the  disease  will  be  found  of  frequent  occurrence  when 
dysentery  is  prevailingly  epidemic.  Occasionally  a  well-marked  rigor  (shivering  fit,) 
followed  speedily  by  febrile  heat,  introduces  the  disease,  while  in  other  cases  the  first 
symptom  is  pain  in  the  bowels,  to  which  the  mucous  stools,  characteristic  of  dysentery, 
in  a  short  time  succeed.  In  many  instances,  some  slight  derangement  of  the  stomach 
or  bowels,  indicated  by  flatulency,  costiveness,  inappetency,  and  nausea,  is  experienced. 
When  the  disease  is  fully  formed,  the  characteristic  mucous,  or  muco-sanguinolent 
stools  are  passed  very  frequently,  with  great  pain,  and  an  extreme  degree  of  straining. 
There  is  a  warm  skin — a  hard,  generally  frequent  and  small  pulse — the  tongue  is  either 
covered  with  a  white  mucous  coat,  or  it  is  dark  and  dry — there  is  great  prostration  of 
strength,  and  the  urine  is  scanty  and  high-coloured,  and  is  passed  with  pain  and  diffi- 
culty.    The  griping  which  precedes  each  evacuation  is  very  distressing. 

'  Should  no  relief  be  afforded  by  the  remedies  employed,  the  prostration  of  strength 
becomes  great,  the  pulse  feeble,  with  coldness  of  the  extremities,  the  tongue  either 
furred  and  brown,  or  glazed  and  red;  the  discharges  from  the  intestines  are  dark  and 
offensive;  the  mind  is  low  and  desponding,  and  death  sometimes  takes  place  in  a  period 
varying  from  a  fortnight  to  three  weeks  from  the  commencement  of  the  attack:  but 
much  more  frequentl}^  even  in  bad  cases,  some  mitigation  of  the  symptoms  is  obtained, 
and  the  disease  degenerates  into  a  chronic  form. 

'  Restoration  to  health  may  be  expected  when  there  is  diminution  of  pain  in  the  ab- 
domen, of  straining,  and  of  the  frequency  of  discharges,  and  especially,  if,  instead  of 
the  mucous  or  muco-sanguinolcnt  dejections,  the  stools  became  natural.  An  abateme/it 
of  the  febrile  symptoms,  and  thirst,  and  a  return  of  appetite,  are  all  favourable  symp. 
toms:  but  all  favourable  symptoms  arc  to  a  certain  extent  fallacious,  for,  after  a  truce  of 
a  k\v  days,  we  may  discover  that  we  have  that  insidious  and  slowly  wasting  disease, 
chronic  dysentery  to  combat.     Chronic  dysentery  may  be  considered  as  almost  a  mors 


480  CATTLE. 

Hurtrel  D'Arboval,  when  describing  the  disease  nnder  the  names  of 
diarrhoea  and  dysenteric  enteritis,  thus  writes  of  the  first  variety:  '  The 
mucous  membrane  of  the  large  intestines  is  more  or  less  red  and  thickened, 
offering  sometimes  erosions,  and  at  other  times  characters  of  extravasation 
of  blood,  or  being  black,  without  consistence,  and  diffusing  a  noisome 
odour.'  Of  the  second  he  says,  '  there  was  more  considerable  thickening 
of  the  mucous  membrane,  with  different  shades  of  redness,  and  frequent 
deep  ulceiations.  The  muscular  coat  of  the  intestine  was  untouched,  and 
presented  a  sort  of  floor  for  the  ulcerations.  These  ulcers  were  more  nu- 
merous in  the  rectum,  and  towards  the  curvature  of  the  colon,  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  large  intestines;  many  other  organs  presented  some  mor- 
bid change,  in  proportion  as  they  had  participated  more  or  less  in  the  in- 
flammation, but  they  were  only  secondary  changes,  and  deserved  litde  at- 
tention.' 

The  account  of  these  post  mortem  appearances  is  given  at  considerable 
length,  because  they  clearly  indicate  the  hitherto  unsuspected  nature  of  the 
disease — unsuspected  at  least  among  veterinarians;  and  they  will  probably 
lead  to  a  mode  of  treatment  that  promises  a  litde  more  success  than  has 
hitherto  attended  the  efforts  of  practitioners.  It  is  plainly  injiammution 
(at  first  acute,  but  gradually  assuming  a  chronic,  a  more  insidious  and 

distressing  termination  of  the  acute  form  than  death  itself,  for  recoveries  from  it  are 
rare.  The  fever  which  attends  the  acute  form  subsides,  and  a  temporary  recruiting  of 
strength  and  appetite  is  experienced,  but  this  truce  from  distress  proves  deceptive.  The 
patient  occasionally  feels  sliarp  pains  of  the  bowels,  with  frequent  stools,  consisting  of 
food  apparently  little  changed  by  the  process  of  digestion,  mixed  with  slight  streaks 
of  blood:  these  symptoms  may  subside  and  continue  to  occur  at  intervals,  either  from 
some  manifest  Imprudence  in  regimen,  or  without  any  assignable  cause,  until  extensive 
disorganization  of  the  intestine  takes  place.  The  stools  are  then  mucous  and  bloody, 
Bometimcs  mixed  with  purulent  matter,  varying  from  three  or  four,  to  seven  or  eight 
times  in  the  day — the  abdomen  feels  full  and  hard,  and  without  being  very  painful  on 
pressure — the  urine  is  high-coloured,  and  is  passed  with  pain.  The  patient  when  in 
bed  lies  on  his  side,  with  his  body  much  curved,  so  as  to  relax  the  muscles  of  the  abdo- 
men as  much  as  possible.  The  pulse  is  feeble,  intermitting,  and  generally  slow;  the 
skin  is  cold,  sallow,  dry,  and  rougli;  emaciation  proceeds  rapidly,  the  feet  and  legs  be- 
come oedematous,  and  ascites  occasionally  takes  place;  the  patient  sometimes  becomes 
jaundiced,  and  finally,  after  the  lapse  of  weeks  or  months,  he  sinks  from  irritation  and 
exhaustion. 

'The  pathological  appearances  vary  according  to  the  period  of  death,  and  the  nature 
of  the  case.  If  dysentery  prove  fatal  in  an  early  stage,  the  appearances  are  those  of 
inflammation  simply,  or  of  inflammation  and  gangrene  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  tlie 
large  intestines,  with  few  or  no  traces  of  inflammation.  If  at  a  more  advanced  period, 
the  other  coats  of  the  bowels  are  found  to  participate  in  the  disease,  and  numerous  and 
extensive  ulcers  are  discovered.  The  external  appearance  of  the  bowel  is  healthy,  but 
on  opening  it,  portions  of  its  mucous  membrane  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the 
colon  and  rectum,  and  occasionally  some  part  of  the  small  intestines,  are  found  of  a 
bright  red  and  brownish  colour,  and  sensibly  elevated  above  the  level  of  the  more 
healthy  parts.  These  inflamed  portions  are  sometimes  covered  with  a  puriform,  san- 
guineous, or  sanious  secretion,  which  gives  them  the  appearance  of  ulceration,  but  if 
Siis  is  scraped  off"  with  the  back  of  a  scalpel,  the  surface  is  found  unbroken. 

'  In  cases  which  have  terminated  fatally  in  a  more  chronic  way,  there  is  thickening 
of  the  tunics  of  the  intestine,  and  the  bowel  is  contracted  in  diameter  and  ulcerated. 
The  ulcers  are  diffuse  or  follicular.  The  former  may  be  of  the  size  of  a  sixpence  or 
a  shilling,  or  an  extensive  portion  of  the  membrane  may  be  in  a  state  of  almost  con- 
tinued ulceriition,  the  diseased  surface  being  varied  by  portions  in  a  state  of  red  fungous 
elevation  running  irregularly  over  it.  The  ulceration  occasionally  perforates  the  coat 
of  the  intestine  so  as  to  allow  its  contents  to  escape  into  tlie  cavity  of  the  abdomen. 
Adhesion  to  the  neighbouring  viscera  and  serous  eff'usion  into  the  cavity  of  the  abdo- 
men arc  not  unusual  occurrences. 

'  The  mesenteric  glands  are  sometimes  enlarged — the  liver  is  occasionally  found  small 
and  indurated,  or  enlarged  and  at  the  same  time  of  a  firmer  consistence  than  natural, 
or  an  abscess  lias  been  formed  in  it,  but  changes  in  its  structure  are  much  less  frequent 
than  was  imagined,  and  by  no  means  essential  to  dysentery.' 


DIARRH(EA  AND  DYSENTERY.  481 

dangerous  form)  of  the  large  intestines,  the  colon,  caecum,  and  rectum ;  it 
is  the  dysentery  of  the  human  being;  it  is  that  which  was  once  the 
scourge  of  the  human  race,  but  thousands  of  whose  victims  are  now  res- 
cued from  its  grasp  by  the  discovery  of  its  real  seat  and  character,  and  the 
adoption  of  those  measures  which  such  a  disease  plainly  indicates. 

If  this  malady  is  of  an  inflammatory  type,  the  first,  and  most  obvious, 
and  most  beneficial  measure  to  be  adopted  is  bleeding  ;  and  this  regulated 
by  the  age,  size,  and  condtion  of  the  beast,  the  suddenness  and  violence 
of  the  attack,  and  the  degree  of  fever.  From  two  to  five  or  six  quarts  of 
blood  should  be  abstracted.  There  must  be  very  great  debility— the 
disease  must  in  a  manner  have  run  its  course,  or  the  practitioner  will  be 
without  excuse  who,  in  a  case  of  inflammation  of  the  large  intestines, 
neglects  the  abstraction  of  blood.  General  bleeding — bleeding  from  the 
jugular — will  be  of  service,  as  lessening  the  general  irritation,  and  the 
determination  of  blood  to  the  part ;  but  in  this  case  the  practitioner  can  in 
some  measure  avail  himself  of  the  advantage  of  local  bleeding,  for  by 
opening  the  subcutaneous  or  milk  vein  he  takes  blood  from  the  parietes  of 
the  abdomen,  and  from  that  portion  of  them  which  is  nearest  to  the 
inflamed  part. 

The  repetition  of  the  bleeding  must  depend  on  circumstances,  of  which 
the  practitioner  will  be  the  best  judge. 

If  this  has  not  been  the  common  practice  in  the  treatment  of  dysentery, 
it  must  be  attributed  to  the  disgraceful  state  of  veterinary  education  so  far  as 
cattle  are  concerned,  in  consequence  of  which  so  few  persons  have  been 
aware  of  the  nature  of  the  disease.  The  author,  however,  is  happy  to  be 
enabled  to  refer  to  Mr.  Sorby,  (with  whose  present  residence  he  is  un- 
acquainted,) to  Mr.  Storry,  of  Pickering,  to  Mr.  Baker,  of  Reigate,  and  to 
his  friend  Mr.  Dickens,  of  Kimbolton,  as  having  long,  and  with  evident 
advantage,  had  recourse  to  this  best  antagonist  of  inflammation. 

As  another  abater  of  inflammation,  the  veterinary  surgeon  will  next 
administer  a  mild  aperient.  A  little  consideration  will  show  that  this  is 
not  contra-indicated  even  by  the  degree  of  purging  which  then  exists;  for 
the  retention  of  matter,  such  as  that  discharged  in  dysentery,  must  be  a 
far  greater  source  of  irritation  than  the  stimulus  of  a  mere  laxative. 

The  kind  of  medicine  is  a  consideration  of  far  more  consequence  than 
seems  to  be  generally  imagined.  There  would  be  a  decided  objection  to 
the  aloes  so  frequently  resorted  to  in  these  cases :  there  would  be  some 
degree  of  doubt  respecting  that  excellent  and  best  medicine  for  general 
purposes,  the  Epsom  salts.  Both  of  them  might  add  to  the  excessive 
irritation  which  the  practitioner  is  so  anxious  to  allay.  Castor  oil  will 
here,  as  in  acute  diarrhoea,  be  decidedly  preferred,  and  in  the  same  doses. 
Some  judgment  will  be  required  as  to  the  repetition  of  the  purgative.  Its 
object  is  the  simple  evacuation  of  morbid  faecal  matter,  and  not  the  setting 
up  of  any  permanently  increased  action  of  the  bowels :  therefore,  if  instead 
of  the  comparatively  scanty  and  mucous  discharges  of  dysentery,  a  fair  quan- 
tity of  actual  feeces  has  been  brought  away,  there  can  be  no  occasion  for, 
or,  rather,  there  would  be  objection  to,  the  continuance  of  the  purgative. 
The  author  could  refer  to  many  a  practitioner,  justly  held  in  estimation  by 
the  agriculturist  and  by  his  brethren,  for  testimony  to  the  beneficial  eflfect  of 
mild  aperients  in  the  early  treatment  of  dysentery.  They  may  difler,  they 
may  a  little  err  in  the  choice  of  the  purgative,  but  they  unite  in  the  prin- 
ciple. The  names  of  his  friend  Mr.  Sewell,  of  Brighton,  Mr.  Baker,  of 
Reigate,  Mr.  Nobbs,  of  Cattistock,  and  Mr.  Sorby,  immediately  occur  to 
him.  Mr.  Baker  gives  linseed  oil,  which  certainly  stands  next  in  value  to 
the  castor  oil  as  an  aperient,  when  the  bowels  are  in  an  irritable  state. 
42 


482  CATTLE. 

This  being  inflammation  of  the  large  or  lower  intestines,  there  will  be 
evident  propriety  in  the  administration  of  emollient  injections.  These  in- 
testines, although  longer  than  in  the  horse,  are  not  so  capacious  as  in  that 
animal ;  and  they  have  not  that  irregular  and  celated  stmcture,  which  pre- 
vents the  injected  fluid  from  filling,  or  even  reaching  them  to  any  extent. 
By  means  of  the  newly  invented  enema-pump,  the  intestines  in  the  ox, 
which  are  the  seat  of  this  disease,  may  be  completely  filled  with  some 
emollient  fluid ;  and  that  which  is  most  of  all  indicated  here,  and  especially 
in  the  early  stage  of  treatment,  is  gruel,  wcU-boilcd  and  thick ;  a  pailful 
of  it  may  be  thrown  up  with  advantage  two  or  three  times  every  day. 

Let  it  now  be  supposed  that  this  treatment  has  been  pursued  two  or 
three  days  ; — if  the  discharges  are  more  ftecal,  a  little  greater  in  quantity, 
and  attended  by  less  pain  or  less  effon  in  the  expulsion  of  them,  that  pur- 
pose has  been  eflected  which  the  practitioner  was  anxious  to  accomplish, 
and  he  must  look  about  for  other  measures  ;  or,  if  the  state  of  the  animal 
remains  the  same,  it  will  be  useless  longer  to  pursue  this  plan.  Then  the 
surgeon  refers  once  more  to  the  character  of  the  malady — inflammation  of 
the  mucous  membrane  of  the  large  intestines — and  he  asks  what  he  can 
bring  in  direct  contact  with  the  diseased  surface,  that  is  likely  to  allay 
irritation  or  to  abate  inflammation.  He  does  not  long  hesitate  here.  Opium 
immediately  presents  itself,  at  once  an  astringent  and  an  anodyne — an 
astringent,  because  it  is  an  anodyne — and  he  determines  to  give  it  in  doses 
of  half  a  drachm,  and  in  the  best  form  in  which  it  can  be  administered, 
namely,  in  that  of  powder,  mixed  with  thick  gruel.  He  likewise  adds 
it  to  the  gi-uel  of  the  injection,  either  under  the  form  of  powder,  or  he 
boils  a  few  poppy-heads  in  water,  and  then  causes  the  gruel  to  be  made 
with  the  decoction. 

Here  all  practitioners  seem  to  agree.  Whether  they  prepare  the  way 
for  the  opium  by  the  administration  of  an  aperient,  or  whether,  deceived 
by  the  state  of  purging.,  they  give  it  at  once,  they  are  all  anxious  to  try 
the  power  of  this  drug  ;  but  too  many  of  them,  either  forgetting  or  not 
knowing  the  nature  of  the  disease,  add  medicines  of  an  opposite  character, 
and  that  cannot  fail  of  being  injurious.  They  administer  astringents  and 
tonics,  which  are  useful  and  indispensable  in  a  later  stage  of  the  treatment, 
but,  while  the  inflammation  remains  unsubdued,  are  only  adding  fuel  to 
fire.  There  are  too  many  practitioners  who  scruple  not  to  give  alum  and 
sulphate  of  zinc  as  soon  as  they  are  called  in  to  such  a  case ;  and  before 
the  lining  membrane  of  the  intestines  is  prepared  for  their  action.  These 
drugs  are  acrid — they  are  caustic  as  well  as  astringent — they  are  astringent 
because  they  are  caustic,  and  they  too  frequently  set  up  another  and  de- 
structive inflammation.  No  better  illustration  than  this  would  be  required 
of  the  lamentable  consequence  of  the  utter  neglect  of  the  diseases  of  cattle 
in  the  system  of  veterinary  instruction  south  of  the  Tweed.  When 
will  agriculturists  and  agricultural  societies  awake  to  a  sense  of  their  true 
interest? 

It  is  usual,  however,  to  add  something  to  the  opium,  in  order  to  increase 
or  to  regulate,  or  to  modify  its  power ;  and  that  which  is  without  compari- 
son the  most  serviceable  is  o)ie  of  the  mild  preparations  of  mercury,  viz. 
calomel,  or  the  blue  pill,  or  mercury  triturated  with  chalk.  IMere  theory 
might  induce  the  fear  that  mercury  would  add  to  the  irritation  already  too 
unmanageable,  and  so  it  would,  if  given  alone  ;  but,  combined  with  and 
guarded  by  the  opium,  it  has  the  most  beneficial  efiect :  the  opium  does 
not  produce  costiveness — the  calomel  does  not  gripe  and  purge,  but  irrita- 
tion is  allayed,  whfle  the  natural  action  of  the  bowels  is  promoted. 

Mr.  Dickens  gives  calomel  and  opium.     In  a  letter  with  which  he 


DIARRHCEA  AND  DYSENTERY.  483 

favoured  the  author,  in  1831,  he  says,  '  Tliis  disease  has  been  very  pre- 
valent in  our  neighbourhood  this  spring,  and  I  have  been  tolerably  suc- 
cessful in  the  treatment  of  it.  I  at  first  administered  tlie  various  astrin- 
gents, as  chalk,  kino,  opium — but  much  to  my  disappointment,  I  found 
little  or  no  good  effect  from  them.  I  then  administered  one  drachm  each 
of  calomel  and  opium  in  some  good  thick  gruel,  which  I  consider  of  the 
greatest  importance,  acting  as  a  sheath  to  the  intestines,  already  under  a 
state  of  excitement.  I  repeat  this  according  to  the  size  of  the  animal,  and 
the  violence  of  the  disease,  but  I  have  rarely  had  occasion  to  repeat  the 
dose  more  than  twice  in  the  course  of  three  or  four  days,  continuing  to  give 
the  gruel  in  tlie  interval,-  but  I  ought  to  state,  that  if  the  disease  is  of  recent 
date,  or  what  Mr.  Blaine  calls  acute,  I  always  bleed.' 

Mr.  Sewell  also  gives  calomel,  but  without  the  opium.  He,  with  his 
usual  openness  and  humour,  thus  describes  his  practice,  and  at  the  same 
time  shows  the  injurious  and  undeservedly  low  estimation  in  which  veteri- 
nary surgeons  are  held  by  many  farmers,  and  in  which  they  will  be  held 
until  the  public  are  assured  that  they  are  competently  instructed  in  the 
treatment  of  neat  cattle: — 'I  have  frequently  seen  bullocks  at  farm- 
houses, (when  I  have  been  attending  a  horse  for  the  owner,)  that  have 
been  a  long  time  ill  with  diseased  liver  and  constipated  bowels,  and  been 
under  the  treatment  of  what  they  call  a  skilful  cow-leech,  who  has  atlength 
given  them  up  as  incurable,  and  the  animals  have  been,  comparatively 
speaking,  wasted  to  skin  and  bone.  I  have  now  and  then  asked  the  farmer 
to  allow  me  to  undertake  the  case;  I  have  given  calomel,  aloes,  and  sul- 
phate of  soda;  I  have  brought  the  liver  into  action  by  repeating  my  doses 
at  intervals,  and  keeping  the  animal  upon  bran-mashes  and  linseed;  and  he 
has  recovered,  returned  to  his  work,  and  afterwards  grazed  and  fotted  as  well 
as  any  other  beast.  Yet  the  very  men  for  whom  I  have  done  these  things, 
when  they  have  fresh  cases,  send  for  the  cowleech  in  preference  to  me.'* 

The  author  will  not  again  contest  with  his  scientific  friends  the  question 
on  which  his  opinion  has  been  already  freely  stated,  respecting  the  nature 
and  seat  of  this  disease — inflammation  of  the  large  intestines,  and  no  neces- 
sary affection  of  the  liver — but  he  is  happy  in  being  enabled  to  add  his  de- 
cided experience  of  the  efficacy  of  mercurial  preparations  in  this  malady. 

Mr.  Meyer  gives  a  favourable  report  of  the  blue  pill,  combined  with 
Dover's  powder  (a  preparation  of  opium  with  ipecacuanha:)  but  the  author 
very  much  doubts  whether  either  of  these  medicines,  although  excellent  in 
human  dysentery,  is  sufficiently  powerful  for  cattle;  and  acknowledges  that 
he  gives  the  preference  to  calomel  and  simple  opium. 

In  order  that  this  mode  of  treatment  may  have  a  fair  chance,  the  beast 
should  be  housed  and  fed  on  bran-mashes,  a  little  hay,  and  plenty  of  well- 
boiled  gruel.  While  the  patient  conthuies  at  grass  the  practitioner  has 
no  chance,  however  skilful  in  other  respects  his  treatment  may  be.  So 
much  depends  on  the  avoidance  of  all  green  and  succulent  food,  that  many 
a  beast,  from  whom  every  symptom  of  dysentery  had  disappeared,  has 
relapsed,  and  been  lost,  from  having  been  turned  out  too  soon.  The  green 
food  of  one  day  has  produced  irreparable  mischief. 

There  are  other  auxiliary  measures  which  deserve  consideration.  Setons 
in  the  dewlap  have  been  strongly  recommended.  They  may  be  useful 
when  much  fever  accompanies  the  early  stage  of  dysentery,  for  they  will, 
in  some  measure,  divert  the  current  of  blood  from  the  inflamed  and  irri- 
tated part,  and  thus  lessen  the  local  inflammation  and  discharge,  and  also 
the  general  fever;  but  no  very  material  degree  of  benefit  can  be  expected 

*  Veterinarian,  Sept.  1831,  p.  511. 


484  CATTLE. 

from  them;  and  there  certainly  cannot  be  that  importance  which  is  some- 
times attached  to  the  substance,  or  the  root  that  is  inserted.  There  is  no 
peculiar  virtue  in  the  bearsfoot,  on  which  so  much  superstitious  confidence 
has  been  placed;  the  common  cord,  or  hair-rope,  will  answer  every  pur- 
pose: the  black  hellebore  root,  however,  produces  the  speediest  inflamma- 
tion and  the  most  copious  discharge. 

Fomentation  of  the  right  flank  and  the  right  side  of  the  belly  with  hot 
water,  or,  in  acute  cases,  the  blistering  of  those  pans  will  be  far  more  ser- 
viceable than  any  seton  in  the  dewlap  can  possibly  be. 

That  admirable  disinfectant,  the  chloride  of  lime,  promises  to  be  of 
essential  service  in  the  treatment  of  dysentery;  not  only  in  changing  the 
nature  of  the  intestinal  discharge,  and  depriving  it  of  all  its  putridity, 
but  in  disposing  the  surface  of  the  intestine,  with  which  it  may  be  brought 
into  contact,  to  assume  a  more  healthy  character.  When  applied  exter- 
nally to  wounds  and  ulcers  of  every  kind,  it  effects  wonders  in  both  of 
these  respects;  and,  being  properly  diluted,  it  has  not  been  found  to  give 
any  great  pain,  or  dangerously  to  increase  inflammation  in  the  most  irri- 
table ulcer.  It  may  be  administered  either  by  the  mouth,  or  in  the  form 
of  clyster.  The  practitioner  will  probably  avail  himself  of  its  aid  in  both 
forms.  It  should  not  be  mingled  with  any  other  drug;  but  half  an  ounce 
of  the  solution,  or  a  drachm  of  the  powder,  may  be  mixed  with  a  quart  of 
water,  and  given  between  the  regular  periods  for  the  administration  of  the 
other  remedies. 

The  reader  will  forgive  a  repetition  of  the  caution  as  to  the  mode  of 
administering  liquid  medicine  to  cattle;  for  in  a  disease  so  serious  and  so 
fatal  as  dysentery  it  cannot  be  too  deeply  impressed  on  the  mind  of  the 
practitioner.  Whether  the  medicine  is  given  by  means  of  the  horn  or  the 
pump,  it  shovdd  flow  as  gend)'  as  possible  down  the  gullet,  that  it  may  not 
break  through  the  floor  of  the  cesophagean  canal,  but  have  a  better  chance 
of  passing  on  to  the  fourth  stomach  and  the  Intestines. 

In  this,  as  well  as  in  the  chronic  stage  of  dysentery,  a  great  deal  more 
depends  upon  attending  to  the  comfort  of  the  animal  than  too  many  seem 
to  believe.  The  patient  should  be  housed,  and  well  littered  down,  and,  in 
some  cases,  moderately  clothed.  Of  his  food,  little  portions  at  a  time 
should  be  culled  for  him  and  offered  to  him;  and  warm  gruel  and  warm 
mashes  should  be  frequenUy  put  within  his  reach.  The  author  will  not 
go  so  far  as  J.  E.  (EUman)  in  the  Survey  of  Sussex,  who,  perhaps  dis- 
gusted with  the  ignorance  of  the  cowleech,  and  the  recklessness  with 
which  he  pours  in  his  drugs,  says,  '  If  any  of  my  catde  get  into  a  low, 
weak  state,  I  generally  recommend  nursing,  which,  in  most  cases,  is  much 
better  than  a  doctor;  having  often  seen  the  beast  much  weakened,  and  the 
stomach  relaxed,  by  throwing  in  a  quantity  of  medicine  injudiciously,  and 
the  animal  lost;  when,  with  good  nursing,  in  all  probability,  it  might  have 
been  otherwise;'  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  more  benefit  is  connected 
with  that  one  word  comfort.,  than  can  be  procured  from  half  the  drugs 
which  the  veterinary  pharmacopoeia  contains. 

In  many  cases,  and  in  every  case  that  can  be  brought  to  a  successful 
termination,  it  will  be  observed,  after  the  perseverance  of  ten  days  or  a 
fortnight  in  this  mode  of  treatment,  that  the  pain  preceding  and  accom- 
panying the  evacuations,  is  materially  lessened,  and  that  the  nature  of 
the  matter  evacuated  is  changed.  The  stools  will  probably  be  as  frequent; 
they  will  be  more  copious;  but  less  mucus  will  be  found  in  them,  and 
they  will  have  become  more  decidedly  facal  and  not  so  offensive.  The 
belly  will  be  less  tender;  the  countenance  less  anxious;  the  general  ap- 
pearance improved.     The  inflammation  of  the  inner  surface  of  the  large 


DIARRHCEA  AND  DYSENTERY.  485 

intestines  will  have  materially  subsided,  but  the  habit  of  purgation  will 
continue  for  a  while,  and  will  be  increased  by  the  state  of  relaxation  and 
debility  in  which  the  vessels  are  left.  Then,  but  not  until  then,  astrin- 
gents will  be  admissible  and  highly  beneficial. 

Catechu  stands  at  the  head  of  this  class  of  medicines  in  such  a  case;  and 
its  power  may  be  increased  by  the  addition  of  oak  bark,  or  it  may  be  given 
in  a  decoction  of  oak  bark.'  The  opium  must  not,  however,  be  omitted; 
for  although  direct  inflammation  may  have  been  subdued,  and  relaxation 
and  debility  have  followed,  much  irritability  may  remain,  to  control  which 
the  soothing  power  of  opium  will  be  required. 

To  catechu  and  opium  it  has  been  usual  to  add  chalk;  for  in  all  these 
diseases  there  is  a  tendency  in  the  stomach,  and  probal^ly  in  the  intestiiial 
canal,  to  generate  a  considerable  quantity  of  acid.  A  greater  source  of  ir- 
ritation can  scarcely  be  imagined  when  the  state  of  the  lining  membrane 
of  the  large  intestine  is  taken  into  consideration.  The  chalk,  or  the  car- 
bonic acid  of  the  chalk,  will  unite  with  and  neutralize  this  acid,  and  render 
it  harmless.  Theoretic  chemistry  would  lead  to  the  substitution  of  mag- 
nesia for  the  chalk,  for  the  carbonic  acid  being  withdrawn,  it  might  be 
feared  vhat  the  caustic  lime  would  be  injurious;  but  experience  has  proved 
that  magnesia  is  not  so  efficacious  in  cattle:  that,  in  fact,  it  seems  to  be  al- 
most inert,  while  chalk  has  usually  answered  the  purpose  intended,  and 
no  inconvenience  has  resulted  from  it.* 

Some  practitioners  strangely  mingle  vegetable  and  mineral  tonics  toge- 
ther, forgetful  of  the  decomposition  which  frequently,  or  almost  constantly 
ensues,  and  the  impairment  or  total  loss  of  medicinal  power.  Vegetable 
astringents  agree  best  with  the  constitution  of  cattle,  and  they  will  not 
often  deceive. 

The  nature  of  the  disease,  however,  being  considered,  will  the  practition- 
er confine  himself  to  the  astringents?  He  has  now  to  struggle  with  the 
consequences  of  inflammation — the  weakness  and  want  of  tone  which  in- 

*  The  author  of  the  'Survey  of  Dumfries'  recornnieiids  'ad  infusion  of  water  trefoil,, 
or  the  juice  of  the  sloe.'  Mr.  Daniell  speaks  of  '  a  pint  of  dried  box-leaves,  rubbed; 
small,  and  four  ounces  of  madder,  in  a  quart  of  milk.'  In  Nairn,  some  fanners  give' 
raw  potatoes,  mashed!  and  others  give  undried  oats  and  barley,  made  into  a  kind  of 
mash,  with  a  handful  of  salt,  and  a  portion  of  potatoes.  Mr.  Parkinson,  in  his  'Trea« 
tise  on  Live  Stock,'  (vol.  i.  p.  246,)  says,  '  I  iiad  a  cow  reduced  so  low  by  the  flux  in 
cattle  called  the  skit,  or  rottenness,  as  scarcely  to  afford  any  milk,  and  I  had  had  an 
eminent  cow-doctor  to  her,  who  gave  her  up,  and  persuaded  me  tliat  she  must  die,  and 
advised  we  to  send  her  to  Smithfield,  where  she  would  sell  for  forty  or  fifty  shillings, 
that  being  more  than  she  would  fetch  when  dead;  and  this  doctor  was  recommended  to 
me  as  one  being  particularly  famous  for  curing  this  disorder;  but  I  never  knew  a  beast 
cured  that  was  as  bad  as  this  cow.  Knowing  that  almost  all  complaints  arise  from  the 
stomach  being  in  an  improper  state,  I  considered  the  case,  and  took  the  following  me. 
thod  for  cure: — I  put  about  four  ounces  of  chalk,  beaten  to  a  very  fine  powder,  in  one 
quart  of  the  lees  of  red  port,  which  I  prefer,  when  they  can  be  obtained:  having  mixed 
them  well  together,  I  gave  it  to  the  cow;  and  three  doses,  one  every  other  day,  effected 
the  cure;  for  she  came  to  her  milk,  calved,  milked  well,  and  afterwards  made  a  good  fat 
cow.  I  have  since  given  it  to  two  other  cows,  and  it  has  had  the  desired  effect.'  There 
are  worse  prescriptions  than  tliis,  yet  a  much  better  astringent  might  have  been  admin- 
istered than  the  port  wine  lees,  with  the  quantity  of  ardent  spirit  which  thej'  contain: 
besides,  if  port  wine  is  to  be  given  at  all,  it  should  be  in  its  pure  state,  and  not  the  accu- 
mulation of  all  the  tartaric  acid  and  extractive  matter  vvliich  it  contains  deposited  in  the 
lees. 

Mr.  Knowles  improves  upon  Mr.  Parkinson.  Afler  recommending  a  strange  mixture 
of  tormentil  root,  and  bole  armenian,  and  grains  of  paradise,  and  turmeric,  and  madder, 
and  these  to  be  given  in  oak-bark  tea,  for  the  cure  of  dysentery,  he  says,  that  '  red  wine 
would  be  much  better,  or  a  pint  of  common  brandy  and  a  pint  of  water.'  This  for  in- 
flammation of  the  bowels — and  shown  to  be  of  the  most  intense  character  by  the  mu- 
cus being  discharged  so  abundantly,  that,  in  his  elegant  language,  the  beast  is  'parting 
with  his  puddings !' 

43* 


486  CATTLE. 

flammation  has  produced,  not  only  in  the  part  itself  but  in  the  whole 
system.  He  will  also  take  into  consideration  the  natural  temperament  and 
constitution  of  horned  cattle.  Some  physiologists  speak  rather  unintelli- 
gibly of  the  prevalence  of  the  lymphatic  system  in  certain  persons  and 
animals;  but  the  fact  is  that  cattle  will  not  bear  disease,  nor  the  treatment 
of  disease  like  some  other  animals,  and  particularly  as  the  horse  will. 
Diseases  speedily  run  their  course  in  cattle,  and  the  patients  often  sink 
under  the  prompt  and  vigorous  and  scientific  treatment  of  the  malady.  An 
ox  may  bear  one  copious  bleeding  well;  but  he  cannot  be  bled  again  and 
again  as  the  horse  may.  He  will  derive  the  usual  advantage  from  purga- 
tion to  a  certain  extent,  but  care  must  be  taken  lest  it  degenerate  into  the 
disease  which  is  now  under  consideration.  The  practitioner  will  there- 
fore mingle  stomachics,  and  probably  tonics,  with  his  astringents  in  this 
case.  Here  also  he  will  find  the  best  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Not  only 
custom  but  experience  of  its  beneficial  effect  has  made  ginger  a  necessary 
ingredient  in  almost  every  medicine,  unless  the  animal  evidently  labours 
under  fever.  Gentian  is  an  admirable  tonic  and  stomachic;  and  if  to  these 
are  added  calumba  and  cascarilla,  the  veterinary  surgeon  has  sufficient 
choice.  The  proportions  of  the  different  medicines  will  necessarily  vary 
with  the  age  and  strength  of  the  animal,  and  the  character,  duration,  and 
ravages  of  the  disease. 

Vegetable  astringents  and  tonics  having  been  fairly  tried,  and  either  not 
producing  the  desired  effect,  or  beginning  to  lose  their  power,  the  mineral 
ones  may  be  resorted  to.  The  preference  should  undoubtedly  be  given  to 
alum,  and  that  in  the  common  and  very  convenient  form  of  alum  whey. 
(See  List  of  Medicines.)  To  this  the  usual  quantity  of  ginger  may  be 
added  without  producing  decomposition;  and,  if  it  should  be  deemed  ad- 
visable, the  opium  may  be  continued.  Should  this  not  succeed,  or  not  to 
the  full  extent  that  the  practitioner  wishes,  blue  vitriol  (sulphate  of  copper) 
may  be  substituted;  and  to  this  the  opium  will  be  a  necessary  auxiliary. 
The  dose  should  be  about  one  drachm  of  the  former  and  half  a  drachm  of 
the  latter.  There  is  no  other  mineral  astringent  or  tonic  that  can  be  de- 
pended on  or  safely  given. 

Clysters  should  not  be  neglected  in  this  stage  of  the  disease.  With  the 
assistance  of  the  injection  pump  they  promise  to  be  as  efficacious  as  any 
medicines  that  can  be  administered  by  the  mouth,  for  they  may  be  brought 
into  immediate  contact  with  the  inflamed  or  ulcerated  surface.  Gruel 
may  be  made  with  a  decoction  of  poppy-heads,  as  already  recommended. 
To  this  may  succeed  an  infusion  of  catechu,  decoction  of  oak-bark,  and 
with  or  without  opium;  and  possibly  a  weak  solution  of  alum  or  blue  vi- 
triol. The  practitioner  will  here,  however,  proceed  with  considerable 
caution. 

The  malady  being  apparently  subdued,  there  will  be  need  for  much  cau- 
tion in  the  after-treatment  of  the  animal.  He  must  not  soon  return  alto- 
gether to  green  meat,  and  more  especially  not  to  luxuriant  pasture.  J.  E., 
in  the  Survey  of  Sussex,  speaking  of  the  prevention  of  the  first  attack  of 
diarrhoea  and  dysentery  in  working  oxen,  gives  some  excellent  advice, 
which  is  applicable  to  all  cattle,  in  order  to  guard  against  a  recurrence  of 
the  disease.  '  The  best  way  to  prevent  this  (diarrhoea)  is  to  continue  to 
give  a  small  quantity  of  hay  for  some  time  after  turning  to  grass,  and  not  to 
keep  them  too  many  hours  at  a  time  from  water.  When  I  see  it  coming 
on  I  keep  the  ox  as  much  as  possible  on  hay  and  bran,  and  let  him  have 
water  ofien  in  small  quantities.' 

For  a  long  period  after  a  severe  attack  of  this  complaint  the  animal  will 
be  subject  to  occasional  diarrhoea,  and  will  require  careful  management. 
The  best  thing  to  be  done  is  to  get  him,  as  quickly  as  the  state  of  his 


INFLAMMATION  OF  THE  DUODENUM.  487 

constitution  will  admit,  into  fair  condition  and  sell  him ;  but  there  will  be 
some  difficulty  in  accomplishing  this,  for  abundance  even  of  the  most 
wholesome  food  will  often  be  more  than  his  debilitated  powers  of  digestion 
can  manage,  and  hoove,  or  diarrhoea,  or  dysentery  will  ensue.  At  the 
best,  he  will  rarely  be  got  beyond  fair  condition,  and  with  that  the  farmer 
must  be  content.  While  the  experience  of  the  writer  of  this  treatise  fur- 
nishes him  wuth  various  instances  of  permanent  recovery  from  dysentery, 
it  supplies  him  with  but  few  cases  in  which  the  patient  has  '  afterwards 
grazed  and  fatted  as  well  as  any  other  beast.' 

However  perfect  may  seem  to  be  the  cure,  the  animal  that  has  once 
been  a  decided  shooter  should  never  be  bred  from.  There  is  a  taint  about 
him  which  will  almost  certainly  be  communicated  to  his  stock.  Dysentery 
is  not  only  the  pest  of  certain  districts,  and  especially  of  cold  and  wet 
ones,  but  of  certain  breeds.  The  beautiful  Dishly  breed  of  long-horned 
cattle  was  swept  away  by  it,  when  the  master-mind  of  Bakewell  no  longer 
regulated  the  admirable,  but  (to  the  inexperienced  agriculturist)  dangerous 
system  of  breeding  from  near  affinities ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
many  of  the  yet  more  valuable  short-horned  stock  have  been  destroyed  by 
it.  The  breeding  too  far,  and  too  incautiously  in  and  in,  will  produce 
a  weakness  of  constitution  that  predisposes  to  dysentery;  but,  without 
insisting  on  this,  the  experience  of  many  a  farmer  and  many  a  dairyman 
will  convince  him,  that  the  sooner  he  gets  rid  of  a  beast  that  has  been  a 
scanterer  the  better  it  will  be  for  his  stock. 

One  point  more  should,  perhaps,  be  adverted  to  before  this  subject  is 
dismissed — the  supposed  contagiousness  of  dysentery.  There  is  a  great 
deal  of  contradictory  evidence  with  regard  to  the  contagiousness  of  this 
complaint  in  the  human  being,  and  it  would  probably  be  deemed  presump- 
tion in  a  veterinary  surgeon  to  give  an  opinion  on  the  subject;  but  of  his 
own  patients  he  may  speak,  and  he  would  say  that  there  is  not  the  slightest 
reason  for  believing  that  the  dysentery  of  cattle  is  contagious. 

As  the  large  intestines  are  the  principal,  and,  in  most  cases,  the  only 
seat  of  that  inflammation  which  is  characterised  by  the  term  dysentery, 
other  intestines  are  occasionally  subject  to  maladies  either  peculiar  to 
them,  or  in  which  the  neighbouring  viscera  participate  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent. 

INFLAMMATION  OF  THE  DUODENUM. 

Examination  after  death  has  occasionally  discovered  an  inflammatory 
afl!ection  almost  confined  to  the  duodenum,  or  first  intestine.  This  oc- 
curred to  the  author  in  two  varieties  of  jaundice.  In  the  one  there  appeared 
to  have  been  an  undue  secretion  of  bile ;  and  this  being  received  into  the 
duodenum  in  its  undiluted  state,  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  whole  of 
that  viscus  was  inflamed.  There  were  also  spots  of  effused  blood,  and  a 
small  ulcer  that  seemed  to  have  penetrated  the  mucous  coat  alone.  In  the 
other  case  there  was  considerable  inflammation  of  the  thickened  substance 
that  surrounds  the  orifice  through  which  the  bile  enters  this  intestine,  and 
which  was  probably  produced  by  the  continued  presence  and  irritation  of 
a  gall-stone  that  had  been  here  arrested  in  its  progress.  There  were 
numerous  red  lines  radiating  in  every  direction.  In  both  cases  there  was 
slight  inflammation  of  the  upper  part  of  the  jejunum. 

In  neither  of  these  instances  were  there  any  peculiar  or  characteristic 
symptoms  that  would  at  once  direct  the  attention  of  the  practitioner  to  the 
duodenum  as  the  chief  or  the  only  seat  of  disease  ;  but  in  both  there  was 
a  yellow  skin — evident  pain — fever  and  purging. 

A  history  of  this  disease  must  be  left  to  future  observers. 


CATTLE. 


Of  this  disease  there  are  two  varieties.  The  one  is  flatulent  CoLlC, 
arising  from  the  distension  of  certain  portions  of  the  intestines,  occasioned 
by  the  food  contained  in  them  undergoing  a  process  of  fermentation.  The 
pain  which  the  animal  evidently  suffers,  his  moanings,  his  striking  at  his 
belly  with  his  hind  feet,  a  swelling  on  the  right  side  of  the  belly,  the 
occasional  discharge  of  gas  from  the  mouth  and  anus,  constant  restless- 
ness, continual  getting  up  and  lying  down  again  immediately,  and  all  this 
accompanied  by  fever,  would  induce  the  suspicion  that  the  animal  was 
labouring  under  flatulent  colic. 

There  are  various  reasons,  however,  why  cattle  should  seldom  be  sub- 
ject to  this  complaint.  By  the  maceration  which  the  food  undergoes  in 
the  paunch,  and  the  second  mastication  to  which  it  is  subjected  in  rumina- 
tion, it  is  prepared  for  speedy  and  perfect  digestion ;  and  little  of  the 
mechanism  that  has  been  admired  in  the  horse  for  the  detention  of  the  food 
is  to  be  found  in  catde.  There  is  neither  time  nor  disposition  in  the  sub- 
stances contained  in  the  intestinal  canal  for  this  process  of  fermentation  to 
be  set  up  ;  and  if  there  were,  there  are  no  labyrinthian  irregidarities  to  detain 
the  gas,  but  it  would  be  readily  pressed  on  by  the  common  peristaltic 
motion  of  the  bowels,  and  expelled.  Spasmodic  colic  has  sometimes  been 
mistaken  for  that  which  has  been  occasioned  by  the  distension  of  the 
bowels ;  or,  more  frequently,  inflammation  of  the  outer  coat  of  the  intes- 
tines (the  red  colic  of  the  horse)  has  been  confounded  \v'\\h  flatulent  colic. 

This  species  of  colic  will  generally  be  relieved  by  the  administration  of 
almost  any  aromatic  drink ;  but  the  chloride  of  lime,  as  in  hoove,  is  most 
to  be  depended  upon.  Two  drachms  of  the  chloride  dissolved  in  a  quart 
of  warm  water,  to  which  an  ounce  of  the  tincture  of  ginger,  (or  two 
drachms  of  the  powdered  ginger,)  and  twenty  drops  of  essence  of  pepper- 
mint have  been  added,  will  form  one  of  the  most  effectual  colic  drinks 
that  can  be  administered.  The  chlorine  unites  with  the  extricated  hydro- 
gen gas,  and  causes  it,  or  the  greater  part  of  it,  to  disappear ;  while  the 
aromatic  stimulates  the  intestine  to  contract  upon  and  force  forward  and 
expel  any  small  portion  that  may  remain. 

The  beast  should  be  walked  about :  exercise  alone  will  sometimes  cause 
the  gas  to  be  expelled ;  but  the  owner  must  not  adopt  the  dangerous 
expedient  of  driving  or  worrying  the  beast  with  dogs,  otherwise  he  may 
produce  strangulation,  or  netting,  or  rupture  of  the  intestines. 

Should  the  first  dose,  and  gentle  excercise  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  not 
produce  relief,  a  purgative  drink  should  be  given,  and  that  of  an  aloetic 
nature  as  more  likely  to  operate  speedily.  The  mode  of  preparing  this 
drink  will  be  found  in  a  note.*  Clysters  of  warm  water,  or  thin  gruel, 
should  not  be  neglected,  and  with  each  clyster  two  ounces  of  the  aloetic 
tincture  should  be  administered.  Friction  on  the  belly  and  flanks  is  occa- 
sionally useful,  and,  in  obstinate  cases,  it  Avill  be  advisable  to  stimulate  the 
whole  of  the  belly  with  spirit  of  turpentine  well  rubbed  in.  In  very  bad 
cases,  but  not  until  other  remedies  have  been  applied,  it  will  be  useful  to 
bleed.  Warm  mashes,  warm  gruel,  and  good  old  hay,  should  constitute 
the  food  of  the  beast  for  some  time  afterwards. 

*  Take  of  Barbadoes  aloes  four  ounces,  pimento  powdered  two  ounces,  and  gum 
arable  two  ounces  ;  pour  on  them  a  quart  of  boiling  water ;  stir  the  mixture  well,  and 
often;  when  it  is  cold  add  half  a  pint  of  spirit  of  wine,  and  bottle  the  whole  for  use: 
shake  the  bottle  well  before  the  requisite  quantity  is  poured  out. 


STRANGULATION  OF  THE  INTESTINES.  489 

A  more  prevalent  species  of  colic,  yet  not  so  frequent  in  cattle  as  in  the 
horse,  is  the  spasmodic.  It  is  spasm,  or  contraction  of  a  portion  or  por- 
tions of  the  small  intestines,  and  accompanied  by  more  excruciating  pain 
than  the  former.  The  animal  is  exceedingly  uneasy,  lowing,  pawing, 
striking  at  his  belly  with  his  hind  legs,  or  his  horns;  continually  lying  down 
and  getting  up,  becoming  very  irritable,  and  sometimes  being  dangerous  to 
handle.  It  is  distinguished  from  flatulent  colic  by  the  smaller  quantity  of 
gas  that  is  expelled,  the  comparative  absence  of  tension  or  enlargement  of 
the  belly,  the  more  evident  spasms  relaxing  for  a  little  while,  and  then  re- 
turning with  increased  violence,  and  the  freedom  with  which  the  animal 
moves  during  the  remissions. 

The  feeding  on  acrid  plants,  or  even  on  healthy  food  too  great  in  quan- 
tity or  too  nutritive,  the  commencement  of  feeding  on  grains,  exposure  to 
cold  after  work,  the  drinking  of  too  cold  water,  and  especially  after  exer- 
cise, or  of  water  impregnated  with  metallic  salts,  are  occasional  causes. 
More  dangerous  ones  are  the  long  continuance  of  purging,  and  also  the 
long  continuance  of  costiveness.  The  treatment  will  be  the  same,  except 
that  as  this  proceeds  from  irritation  in  the  intestinal  canal  generally,  or  in 
particular  portions  of  it,  which  is  apt  to  run  on  to  inflammation,  bleeding 
will  be  earlier  resorted  to;  and  the  practitioner  will  not  suffer  the  first 
symptom  of  inflammation  to  appear  without  adopting  the  best  method  of 
subduing  it.  After  every  case  of  colic,  whether  flatulent  or  spasmodic,  the 
animal  will  require  some  attention  and  nursing,  for  in  both  of  them  the  intes- 
tines are  considerably  weakened  and  predisposed  to  a  repetition  of  the 
attack,  and  there  are  few  maladies,  the  liabit  of  the  recurrence  of  which  is 
so  soon  formed. 


STRANGULATION    OF    THE    INTESTINES. 

Spasmodic  colic,  if  neglected,  or  bidding  defiance  to  medical  treatment, 
occasionally  leads  to  such  an  entanglement  of  different  parts  of  the  bowels 
with  each  other  that  they  become  tied  into  a  kind  of  knot,  and  the  passage 
of  food  along  them  is  obstructed.  This  is  no  unfrequent  consequence  of 
colic  in  the  horse,  and  when  the  small  intestines  of  cattle  are  observed 
hanging  loose,  as  it  vi^ere,  at  the  end  of  the  mesentery,  (see  fig.  2, 
p,  451,)  it  is  not  to  be.  wondered  at,  if,  in  the  disturbed,  increased,  hurried, 
and  sometimes  inverted  peristaltic  motion  which  takes  place  in  consequence 
of  colic,  one  portion  of  the  intestine  should  be  entangled  among  the  rest, 
and  the  fatal  knot  sliould  be  tied.  Occasionally  a  small  piece  of  fatty  mat- 
ter disengages  itself  from  the  mesentery  and  hangs  floating  in  the  belly, 
and  then,  either  in  the  changes  of  situation  which  the  bowels  undergo  in 
natural  exercise,  or  more  particularly  in  the  commotion  of  colic,  it  en- 
twines itself  round  a  portion  of  the  intestine,  and  obstructs  the  passage. 
These  twists,  and  loops,  and  knots,  are  sometimes  strangely  intricate. 
AVhen  the  dead  animal  lies  before  the  practitioner  it  is  almost  impossible^ 
to  unravel  them.  This  is  the  true  net  or  knot  so  dreaded  in  some  parts  of 
the  country.  It  is  the  result  of  those  colicky  pains  which  have  been  mis- 
taken for  strangulation,  and  which  have  been  increased  and  hurried  on  to 
the  production  of  this  involved  state  by  the  absurd  and  brutal  measures 
that  have  been  adopted.  Strangulation  having  once  taken  place,  there  is 
and  can  be  no  remedy.  All  that  can  be  done  is  to  attack  every  case  of  colic 
in  good  earnest,  as  soon  as  it  is  perceived,  for  no  one  can  tell  how  soon 
the  displacement,  twist,  knot,  or  whatever  it  be,  will  occur  in  consequence 
of  the  perverted  action  of  the  intestines,  or  the  violent  struggles  of  the  ani- 
mal, caused  by  the  torture  which  he  endures. 


490  CATTLE. 


THE    CORDS    OR    GUT    TIE. 


This  is  another  singular  and  fatal  species  of  intestinal  strangulation 
that  has  lately  been  brought  under  notice  by  Mr.  Corbet,  of  Sinionborn.* 
It  is  not  of  unfrequent  occurrence  in  some  districts,  and  especially  in  wet 
and  marshy  situations:  it  is  peculiar  to  the  ox,  and  is  rarely  observed  in 
him  after  the  second  or  third  year.  The  beast  shows  disinclination  to 
food — rumination  is  suspended,  or  performed  in  a  listless,  interrupted  man- 
ner— the  animal  appears  to  be  griped — he  strikes  at  his  belly  with  his  hind 
legs — he  lies  down,  and  as  he  gets  up  again  bows  his  back  in  an  extraor- 
dinary way,  and  then,  all  at  once,  stretching  out  every  limb,  he  gives  the 
spinal  column  a  somewhat  concave  form.  Small  quantities  of  fncces  are 
voided,  mingled  with  mucus,  and  sometimes  with  blood;  and  if  the  animal 
is  examined,  by  introducing  the  hand  into  the  rectum,  he  evidently  suffers 
extreme  pain. 

By  degrees  the  ailment  is  referrible  to  one  side  more  than  the  other,  and 
generally  to  the  left  side.  The  hind  leg  on  that  side  is  frequently  advanced 
and  then  retracted,  and,  in  some  cases,  becomes  partially  paralysed. 

These  symptoms  are  more  and  more  alarming — if  the  ox  can  be  in- 
duced to  eat,  the  griping  pains  are  immediately  increased — the  belly 
swells — the  countenance  becomes  anxious — the  ears,  the  horns,  the  nose, 
and  the  thighs  become  cold — the  pulse  is  small  and  accelerated,  and 
scarcely  to  be  felt — the  breathing  is  laborious  and  heard  at  a  distance — the 
mouth  and  nostrils  are  pale.  The  disease  continues  during  six,  seven,  or 
eight  days:  it  yields  to  no  medicine — it  is  aggravated  by  most  of  the  mea- 
sures adopted — it  is  especially  so  if  the  beast  is  moved  about — and  at 
length  death  terminates  the  period  of  suffering. 

On  examination,  strangulation  of  some  part  of  the  intestine  is  found,  and 
generally  of  the  small  intestine.  It  is  tied  by  a  distinct  and  evident  cord — 
m  some  cases  it  is  the  spermatic  cord,  which,  after  castration  unskilfully 
performed,  or  now  and  then  by  mere  accident,  has  been  retracted  into  the 
belly,  and  has  become  enlarged,  and  has  had  tumours  forming  on  it,  and 
particularly  at  its  extremity.  Oftener  it  is  an  adventitious  or  unnaturally 
formed  membrane,  wliich  becomes  entangled  round  the  intestine  and 
assumes  the  appearance  of  a  cord. 

The  mode  of  operation,  in  castrating  bullocks,  is  often  very  absurd. 
Some  practitioners  pride  themselves  on  performing  it  with  scarcely  the 
loss  of  anj^  blood.  They  open  the  scrotum,  and  lay  bare  the  spermatic 
cord,  and  then,  by  mere  dint  of  pulling  and  twisting,  they  tear  it  out. 
There  is,  certainly,  no  bleeding,  and  the  portion  that  remains  immediately 
retracts  into  the  belly;  but  the  consequence  of  all  this  violence  is  that  in- 
flammation ensues — tumours,  false  membrane,  are  formed,  and  the  founda- 
tion is  laid  for  this  complaint.  Others  draw  the  cord  out  as  far  as  they  can 
without  tearing  it,  and  then  cut  it  off  close  to  the  pelvis.  There  is  no  ex- 
ternal bleeding  in  this  case;  but  there  is  bleeding  within  the  cavity  of  the 
belly,  and  a  source  of  irritation  is  set  up  by  the  presence  of  this  blood,  and 
various  abdominal  diseases  ensue,  and,  among  the  rest,  the  cords  or  gut  tic. 

Mr.  Dick,  the  talented  professor  of  veterinary  medicine  at  Edinburgh, 
to  whom  his  own  profession,  and  agriculturists  in  general,  are  deeply 
indebted,  as  a  teacher  of  cattle  medicine,  gives  a  similar  account  of 
the  cause  of  this  disease.     He  says,    '  This  seems  to  be  the  effect  of  cas- 

*  An  account  of  this  disease  was  published  in  the  Repertory  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 
1795,  by  Mr.  Harris,  a  well-informed  fai-mcr  in  Herefordshire.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
very  common  in  that  county. 


THE  CORDS  OR  GUT-TIE.  491 

trating  the  ox,  by  drawing  out  the  cord  or  spermatic  artery.  The  vessel, 
when  torn  asunder,  recedes  into  tlie  scrotum  and  up  into  the  abdomen,  and 
there  producing  inflammation,  the  formation  of  a  new  membrane  is  the 
consequence.'* 

It  is  not,  however,  to  be  uniformly  traced  to  this  cause  alone.  It  seems, 
especially,  to  prevail  in  low  and  damp  situations — it  has  followed  the  use 
of  half  mouldy  and  unwholesome  fodder — it  has  seemed  to  be  connected 
with  hard  work,  and  that  on  an  irregnlar  or  steep  surface;  and  some  have 
imagined  that  it  is  most  prevalent  where  the  floor  of  the  ox  stables  is  too 
much  inclined,  on  account  of  the  great  pressure  on  this  part  of  the  abdo- 
men, and  especially  in  the  act  of  rising.  It  can  be  readily  believed  that 
any  source  of  irritation,  whether  of  the  spermatic  cord,  or  of  the  intestines 
lying  in  the  neighbourhood  of  it,  or  of  the  intestinal  canal  generally — in 
fact,  that  any,  or  all  of  the  sources  of  common  colic  may  be  the  predis- 
posing, or  immediate  causes  of  this  species  of  strangulattofi.  If  any  cir- 
cumstance, however,  were  to  ba-selected  as  that  to  which  the  disease  might 
be  oftenest  traced,  it  would  be  this  unskilful  mode  of  castration.! 

Although  it  has  been  stated  that  no  medicine  seems  to  be  of  avail,  the 
patient  should  not  be  abandoned.  There  is  an  operation,  apparently  diffi- 
cult and  dangerous,  but  really  simple,  easy  to  be  performed,  and  generally 
efiectual. 

This  operation  is  described,  but  somewhat  unsatisfactorily,  both  by  Mr. 
Harris  and  Mr.  Corbet.  The  former  had  performed  it  on  cattle  from 
three  months  to  nine  years  old.  The  following  is  the  account  of  Mr. 
Corbet: — '  The  operation  is  begun  by  making  an  opening  into  the  inside 
of  the  ox,  beginning  a  little  before  the  ileum.  The  arm  is  introduced,  and, 
in  general,  the  cord  or  ligament  is  easily  felt,  commencing  a  little  behind 
the  kidneys  at  the  origin  of  the  spermatic  vessels,  and  attached  to  some 
part  of  die  pelvis,  and  which  appears  to  strangulate  a  portion  of  intestine. 
In  some  cases,  I  have  found  two  ligaments,  varying  in  size  from  a  small 
quill  to  three  times  that  magnitude.  If  operated  upon  early,  the  animal 
generally  recovers  without  the  aid  of  medicine. — I  have  known  an  animal 
remain  five  days,  and  I  have  then  operated  upon  him,  and  the  case  has 
turned  out  successful. ';}: 

It  will  be  evident  that  this  operation  should  be  performed,  the  side  line 
being  used,  and  the  beast  remaining  standing  close  to  a  wall,  and  fastened 
to  it  as  well  as  circumstances  will  permit.  The  incision  should  be  made 
on  the  left  side,  and  taking,  as  the  centre  of  it,  the  spot  at  which  the  flank 

*  Veterinarian,  May,  1834,  p.  266.  Mr.  Harris's  account  of  this  entanjrlement  is 
drawn  too  much  from  imagination,  and  is  deficient  in  correctness  of  anatomical  detail. 
He  says,  '  TJiis  stricture  or  gut-tie  is  occasioned  by  an  erroneous  method  of  castrating- 
the  calves,  which  the  breeders  practise  througliout  Herefordshire.  Tiiey  open  the  scro- 
tum take  hold  of  the  testicles  with  their  teeth,  and  tear  them  out  with  violence,  by 
which  means  all  the  vessels  belonging  to  the  part  are  ruptured.  The  vasa  deferentia, 
entering  by  the  holes  of  the  transverse  and  oblique  muscles,  pass  over  the  ureters  at 
acute  angles,  and  turning,  by  their  great  length  and  elastic  force  W.ie  peritoneum  is  rup- 
tured.  Tlic  vas  deferens  is  severed^irom  the  testicles,  and,  springing  back,  forms  a  kind 
of  bur.  Tlie  part  of  the  gut  that  is  tied  by  it  is  the  jejunum,  at  its  turning  from  the 
right  side  to  the  left,  and  the  entanglement  is  generally  effected  by  some  sudden  motion 
of  the  beast.'   Rep.  of  Arts,  1795. 

t  A  disease  of  tliis  kind  is  very  prevalent  in  Switzerland,  and  particularly  in  the  can- 
ton of  Bern.  M.  Anker,  professor  at  the  Veterinary  School  at  Bern,  has  published  a 
very  satisfactory  account  of  the  symptoms  and  treatment  of  it,  as  furnished  by  his  bro- 
ther, a  veterinary  practitioner  at  Ins.  (See  Practische  Ahhandlung  des  Veherwufes, 
&c.)  He  attributes  this  entanglement  to  the  spermatic  cord,  but  he  says  little  of  the 
mode  of  castration,  and  dwells  mostly  on  situation,  and  food,  and  stabling,  and  work 
among  the  steep  mountains  of  Switzerland. 

t  Veterinarian,  May,  1834,  p.  265. 


493  CATTLE. 

is  generally  punctured  in  cases  of  hoove,  and  where  a  small  portion  of  the 
jejunum,  and  that  which  is  the  most  likely  to  be  entangled  is  protruded 
over  the  rumen,  and  floats  by  itself  at  the  extremity  of  the  mesentery. 
It  should  be  a  vertical  incision,  or  a  little  oblique  in  a  direction  from  be- 
hind forwards.  A  small  opennig  should  first  be  made,  through  the  in- 
tegument and  muscle,  avoiding,  if  possible,  the  peritoneum.  Into  this  the 
first  and  second  fingers  of  the  left  hand  should  be  introduced,  and  thus,  by 
means  of  a  probe-pointed  bistoury,  guarded  and  guided  by  these  fingers, 
the  wound  may  be  enlarged  so  as  to  permit  the  introduction  of  the  hand  of 
the  operator.  There  will  probably  be  a  considerable  gush  of  blood  when 
the  external  oblique  is  first  divided,  but  that  will  speedily  cease  by  the  re- 
traction of  the  artery. 

The  peritoneum  should  next  be  divided,  if  it  has  not  been  so  already, 
and  the  hand  of  the  surgeon,  the  arm  having  been  bared  and  well  oiled, 
should  be  introduced  into  the  wound;  the  epiploon  or  cawl  gently  torn; 
and  the  hand  passed  among  the  intestines  in  a  direction  upwards  and  back- 
wards, or  as  Mr.  Corbet  describes  it  '  a  little  behind  the  kidneys.'  The 
operator  will  soon  feel  the  strangulated  part,  and  the  cord  by  which  it  is 
suspended  or  tied,  and  usually  '  attached  to  some  part  of  the  pelvis.' 
Having  satisfied  himself  with  regard  to  the  situation  of  the  cord,  he  will 
withdraw  his  hand,  and,  taking  another  shorter  and  more  curved  and  probe- 
pointed  bistoury,*  and  having  it  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  and  guarding 
the  cutting  edge  with  his  finger  and  thumb,  he  Avill  introduce  it  into  the 
abdomen,  find  out  the  cord  again,  and  cautiously  divide  it.  The  hand  will 
once  more  be  removed,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  bistoury,  and  then  re- 
introduced to  ascertain  whether  the  whole  of  the  strangulated  part  has  been 
liberated,  which  is  easily  eflfected  by  tracing  all  the  neighbouring  circum- 
volutions and  passing  them  through  the  hand. 

The  operator  being  satisfied  as  to  the  state  of  the  bowels,  brings  the 
edges  of  the  wound  together,  and  confines  them  by  a  sufficient  number  of 
stitches,  including  the  peritoneum,  muscle,  and  integument,  in  the  same 
stitch.  A  pledget  of  tow  is  placed  over  the  wound,  and  a  broad  bandage 
passed  tighdy  several  times  round  the  belly,  which  must  not  be  removed 
during  the  first  six  or  eight  days. 

The  decided  majority  of  cattle  thus  operated  upon  are  saved,  and  the 
wound  is  usually  healed  in  somewhat  less  than  a  month.  It  may,  how- 
ever, be  supposed  that  after  the  extensive  opening  into  the  abdominal 
cavity,  and  this  laceration  of  the  cawl,  and  groping  and  cutting  among  the 
intestines,  some  alarming  symptoms  will  occasionally  supervene.  The 
belly  will  swell,  and  sometimes  to  a  considerable  extent.  Fomentations, 
and  if  necessary,  scarifications  may  be  resorted  to.  There  may  be  manifest 
symptoms  of  fever,  as  shiverings,  heaving  at  the  flanks,  and  cessation  of 
rumination.  Blood  should  then  be  abstracted,  according  to  the  state  of  the 
patient;  half-pound  doses  of  Epsom  salts  should  be  given  morning  and 
night,  until  the  bowels  are  moderately  opened,  and  the  beast  should  have 
little  besides  mashes  and  gruel,  and  should  be  kept  as  quiet  as  possible. 

INTROSUSCEPTION    OF    THE    BOWELS. 

This  is  another  fatal  consequence  of  colic.  While  certain  portions  of 
the  ileum  or  jejunum  generally,  but  occasionally  of  the  larger  bowels,  are 
distended  by  gas,  other  parts  are  spasmodically  contracted,  and  then,  by 
the  increased  peristaltic  motion  which  is  going  on,  the  collapsed  part  of 

*  Mr.  Harris  describes  the  knife  as  being  of  the  form  of  a  large  fish-hook,  with  a  cut- 
ting edge  on  the  concave  side. 


INTROSUSCEPTION  OF  THE  BOWELS.  493 

the  superior  or  anterior  intestine  slides,  or  is  forced  down,  into  the  dis- 
tended part  behind;  or,  by  that  inverted  action  which  takes  place  in  the 
intestine  commotion  of  colic,  a  contracted  portion  of  the  bowel  slides  or 
is  forced  into  the  distended  part  before,  and  thus  one  intestine  is  strangely 
contained  within  anotlier,  and  that  occasionally  reaching  to  a  considerable 
extent.  The  mesentery  is  usually  torn  in  this  unnatural  procedure,  for 
otherwise  that  too  must  be  taken  up  or  carried  down  into  the  distended  in- 
testine above  or  below. 

It  will  be  easily  conceived  that  this  will  inflict  great  torture  on  the  beast, 
and  an  examination  after  death  will  sufficiently  prove  the  intensity  of  the 
suffering;  for  there  will  be  much  inflammation,  and  generally  gangrene  of 
the  involved  part;  and  sometimes  of  both  portions  of  the  intestine.  The 
symptoms  by  which  the  practitioner  may  be  induced  to  suspect,  or  may 
know  that  colic  has  run  on  to  introsusception,  are  not  yet  determined. 
Increase  of  pain,  attended  by  obstinate  constipation,  rapid  prostration  of 
strength,  and  comparatively  little  fever,  may  be  obscure  indications.  It  is 
evident  that  this  case  must  be  beyond  the  reach  of  medical  skill.  The 
most  powerful  purgatives,  the  crude  mercury,  the  shot,  the  living  trout  of 
some  practitioners,*  must  be  useless;  a  knowledge  of  the  anatomy  of  the 
stomachs,  however,  should  have  taught  these  men,  tliat  the  shot,  and  the 
mercury,  and  the  trout  would  necessarily  have  found  their  way  into  the 
rumen,  where  they  could  not  possibly  have  produced  any  good  efl^ect. 

Mr.  Cartwright  furnishes  the  only  case  on  record  of  the  occurrence  of 
introsusception  in  cattle.  He  saw  a  bull-calf  six  days  old,  that  appeared 
to  be  in  pain.  It  was  continually  lifting  its  head  towards  its  belly;  it  dis- 
charged some  blood  from  the  anus,  and  it  would  not  suck.  Being  at  some 
distance  from  home,  he  gave  it  two  ounces  of  Glauber's  salts,  and  two 
table-spoonsful  of  common  gin  in  a  pint  of  the  cow's  milk.  In  the  evening 
it  was  worse;  it  was  almost  continually  down;  it  shifted  its  legs  towards 
its  belly;  it  continued  to  discharge  blood  in  small  quantities;  and  the  pulse 
was  quickened.     He  ordered  it  to  be  drenched  with  new  milk. 

On  the  following  day,  it  was  weaker;  it  could  not  stand;  it  breathed 
very  quickly  and  laboriously;  but  the  discliarge  of  blood  had  ceased.  The 
pulse  could  scarcely  be  felt,  and  no  vein  could  be  raised  in  order  to  abstract 
blood.  Six  ounces  of  Glauber's  salts  were  given,  but  the  calf  died  in  the 
afternoon. 

On  examination  after  death,  the  rectum  was  found  to  be  hard  and  dis- 
tended; it  presented  both  strangulation  and  introsusception,  for  one  por- 
tion of  intestine  was  contained  within  another,  with  its  coats  much  thick- 
ened and  black,  and  in  a  completely  gangrenous  state.t 

The  case-book  of  the  writer  of  tliis  treatise  furnishes  him  with  a  more 
extraordinary  and  decisive  case.  It  was  an  old  and  rather  overworked  ox. 
The  beast  had  performed  its  task  well  three  days  before.  That  day  was 
cold  and  wet,  but  the  animal  fed  as  usual  on  his  return,  and  there  was  no 
indication  of  illness.     On  the  following  morning,   however,  there  were 

*  A  pupil  of  Mr.  D.  was  consulted  respecting  an  ox  labourina;-  under  constipation  of 
the  bowels.  The  disease  proved  obstinate;  it  resisted  every  remedy  adopted,  and  the 
case  was  abandoned  as  utterly  hopeless.  At  this  stage  of  the  business  the  old-esta- 
blished leech  of  the  district  stepped  in,  and  confidently  engaged  to  set  mattisrs  to  rights. 
He  commenced  with  no  less  active  a  remedy  than  a  lively  trout,  transferred  from  the 
river  to  the  stomach  of  the  patient,  with  the  conviction  that  his  agent  would  thread  his 
way  through  all  the  mazes  of  the  intestines;  and  he  ascribed  the  failure  of  so  notable  a 
dose  to  the  previous  mismanagement  of  the  Edinburgh  student. — Quarterly  Journal  of 
Agriculture. 

t  Veterinarian,  February,  1829,  p.  71. 
43 


494  CATTLE. 

evident  symptoms  of  colic;  the  ox  was  in  great  agony.  AntispasmodicSf 
stimulants,  and  purgatives  were  freely  administered,  and  twelve  pounds  of 
blood  were  abstracted.  The  animal  at  length  obtained  some  relief;  he  lay 
down;  he  occasionally  looked  at  his  right  flank;  he  struck  it  with  his 
horn;  he  moaned;  but  there  was  not  so  much  expression  of  intense  ago- 
ny. The  bowels  were  obstinately  costive,  although  four  pounds  of  Ep- 
som salts  had  been  given  and  a<lrachm  of  the  farina  of  the  croton  nut, 
and  numerous  injections  had  been  administered.  At  length  purging  came 
on,  and  was  exceedingly  violent;  the  beast  then  got  up;  it  staggered  list- 
lessly along;  it  now  and  then  looked  at  its  side;  it  began  at  long  inten'als 
and  half  unconsciously  to  ruminate;  and  it  drunk  some  gruel.  On  the 
second  day  of  the  purging,  the  animal  strained  considerably,  and  a  black 
substance  was  observed  to  protrude  and  hang  from  the  anus.  It  was  evi- 
dently a  portion  of  intestine.  There  had  been  introsusception,  and  this 
was  the  involved  part,  which  had  become  gangrenous,  and  had  separated 
and  passed  away. 

It  was  some  time  before  the  ox  fully  recovered  his  usual  health  and 
appetite,  but  he  was  sent  to  the  maVket,  six  months  afterwards,  in  fair  con- 
dition. 

INVERSION  OF  THE  RECTUM. 

It  has  occasionally  happened  in  the  straining  of  diarrhoea,  and  in  the 
still  more  violent  efforts  with  which  the  faeces  are  expelled  in  dysentery, 
that  a  portion  of  the  rectum  is  protruded  from  the  anus;  the  sphincter 
muscle  of  the  anus  then  contracts  violently  upon  it,  and  no  effort  of  the 
animal  can  draw  it  back,  nor  will  it  readily  yield  to  any  external  force  em- 
ployed. The  blood  is  necessarily  congested  in  the  protruded  intestine, 
from  the  situation  of  the  part;  the  gut  is  intensely  red,  and  it  gradually 
becomes  livid,  black,  gangrenous.  The  animal  all  the  while  is  making 
frequent  and  violent  efforts,  during  which  small  quantities  of  excrement, 
or  mucus,  or  blood,  or  gas,  are  extricated;  the  protrusion  of  the  gut  in- 
creases; irritative  fever  ensues;  and  death  speedily  follows. 

Internally,  in  order  to  allay  irritation,  and  in  some  measure  lessen  these 
efforts  by  which  more  of  the  intestine  is  expelled  or  its  return  prevented, 
a  pint  of  castor  oil  with  two  drachms  of  opium  should  be  administered; 
and  a  quantity  of  blood,  varying  with  the  size  and  condition  of  the  animal, 
abstracted.  The  protruded  part  should  be  thoroughly  cleaned,  and  dili- 
gently fomented,  during  the  space  of  an  hour  with  a  decoction  of  poppy- 
heads,  lukewarm.  Gentle,  but  long-continued  efforts  should  then  be  made 
to  return  the  intestine,  which  will  be  accomplished  much  oftener  than 
would  be  imagined  if  the  operator  will  have  patience  enough.  The  gut 
having  been  returned,  cold  water  should  be  applied  around  the  anus,  and 
for  a  considerable  time,  in  order  that  the  sphincter  muscle  may  more 
powerfully  close,  and  confine  the  intestine  in  its  proper  situation.  It  may, 
however,  again  protrude,  but  it  should  be  immediately  returned,  and,  care 
having  been  taken  to  allay  the  irritation  of  the  bowels  and  of  the  system 
generally,  the  straining  will  gradually  cease,  and  the  intestine  will  no  long- 
er be  forced  out. 

If  the  protrusion  continues  in  despite  of  every  effort,  and  the  part  begins 
to  swell,  and  to  become  black,  and  foetid,  and  mortified,  and  tlie  pulse  is 
ismall,  and  the  mouth  hot,  and  the  ears  cold,  and  the  muzzle  dry,  and  the 
eyes  red,  and  the  appetite  and  rumination  are  suspended,  and  the  animal 
is  rapidly  becoming  weak,  the  practitioner  must  have  recourse  to  a  bold 
and  dangerous  operation,  but  which  will  succeed  much  oftener  than  it  will 
fail;  he  must  cut  off  the  protruded  intestine  close  to  the  anus.    There  will 


CONSTIPATION.  495 

probably  be  considerable  hfemorrhage,  but  he  must  not  be  alarmed  at  that; 
it  will  be  beneficial  rather  than  injurious  ;  it  will  prevent  or  abate  inflam- 
mation, and  it  will  cease  long  before  the  strength  of  the  patient  is  ex- 
hausted. The  little  portion  of  intestine  half  protruded  at  the  anus  will 
gradually  return  ;  the  sphincter  muscle  will  contract ;  union  of  the  divided 
portion  of  the  intestine  will  take  place,  and  the  animal  will  perfectly  re- 
cover. 

CONSTIPATION. 

The  immediate  cause  of  many  of  these  affections  of  the  bowels  is  con- 
stipation. The  beast  is  sapped  or  bound.  This  constipation  is  often  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  remove,  not,  perhaps,  from  any  want  of  power  in  the 
intestinal  canal  to  be  acted  upon  by  purgative  medicines,  but  from  the 
impossibility  of  getting  any  considerable  proportion  of  the  purgative  into 
contact  with  the  internal  surface  of  the  bowels.  It  has  already  been 
observed  that  in  a  state  of  health  much  of  the  fluid  swallowed  by  cattle 
enters  into  the  rumen,  and  is  detained  there  for  the  purpose  of  macerating 
the  food  and  preparing  it  for  rumination;  and  we  have  proof,  and  that  suffi- 
ciently annoying,  that  in  some  circumstances  of  disease,  all  the  fluid  swal- 
lowed goes  into  the  rumen,  and  is  lost  so  far  as  the  purpose  for  which  it 
was  administered  is  concerned. 

Mr.  Simonds  relates  a  case  in  which  a  heifer  had  been  feverish,  and  had 
refused  all  food  during  five  days  ;  and  four  pounds  of  Epsom  salts,  and 
the  same  quantity  of  treacle,  and  three-fourths  of  a  pint  of  castor  oil,  and 
numerous  injections  had  been  administered  before  any  purgative  effect 
could  be  produced.*  It  has  not  unfrequently  happened  that  six,  seven, 
and  eight  days  have  passed,  and  the  bowels  have  remained  in  a  consti- 
pated state. 

This  must  of  necessity  aggravate  the  symptoms  of  many  diseases,  and 
lay  the  foundation  for  others,  and  among  the  rest,  for  those  to  the  con- 
sideration of  which  the  few  last  pages  have  been  devoted. 

The  method  of  proceeding  in  such  cases  is  sufficiendy  evident.  When 
the  state  of  the  animal  indicates  the  administration  of  the  Epsom  salts, 
they  should  be  accompanied  by  the  usual  quantity  of  some  aromatic, 
(half  an  ounce  of  ginger,)  and  be  given  in  as  gentle  a  way  as  possible. 
There  can  scarcely  be  a  better  way  than  suffering  it  to  run  from  a  long 
narrow-necked  bottle  introduced  into  the  mouth.  Should  not  this  operate 
at  the  expected  time,  a  second  dose  should  be  given,  and  probably,  with 
the  same  quantity  of  the  aromatic  ;  certainly  so  if  little  fever  is  present.  If 
this,  however,  should  have  no  efi'ect,  it  is  very  probable  that  from  some 
sympathetic  influence  extending  over  the  whole  of  the  digestive  organs,  the 
roof  of  the  rumen  is  open,  or  the  pillars  of  which  that  roof  is  composed 
are  in  a  relaxed  state,  and  yield  even  to  the  pressure  of  a  fluid  gently 
poured  down  the  gullet.  Then  the  next  dose  (for  the  purgative  must  be 
continued  until  it  does  operate,  and  the  nature  of  that  purgative,  and  the 
knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  the  quantity  already  given  has  been 
disposed  of,  remove  all  fear  of  inflammation  or  superpurgation  being  pro- 
duced) must  have  an  increased  proportion  of  aromatic,  increased  in  defi- 
ance of  existing  fever,  and  increased  to  the  full  extent  to  which  the  practi- 
tioner dares  to  go.  Probably,  a  cordial-drink  (an  ounce  of  ginger  and  the 
same  quantity  of  carraway  powder)  would  be  given  with  advantage ;  for 
the  rumen  might  be  roused  to  its  natural  action  by  the  stimulus,  and  the 
pillars  of  its  roof  might  be  closed,  and  the  next  dose  might  run  on  through 
the  manyplus  into  the  aboraasum.  The  rumen  may  possibly  be  roused 
*  Veterinarian,  Sept.  1829,  p.  357. 


496  CATTLE. 

to  act  in  another  way  ;  a  portion  of  the  fluid  that  it  contains  may  be  in- 
jected into  the  oesophagean  canal  by  a  process  somewhat  resembling  that 
by  which  the  pellet  of  food  is  thrown  there  for  remastication ;  and  the 
muscles  of  that  canal,  and  of  the  base  of  the  gullet,  not  being  able  to  grasp 
it  because  it  is  a  fluid,  it  will  necessarily  pass  on  through  the  manyplus 
into  the  fourth  stomach  and  intestines.  It  has  been  stated  that  there  are 
other  ways  in  which  the  rumen  may  be  excited  to  act,  viz.  when,  although 
comparatively  rarely,  the  contents  of  that  stomach,  instead  of  being  re- 
turned, pellet  after  pellet,  are  thrown  in  great  quantities  into  the  oesophagean 
canal,  and  conveyed  to  the  moutli  by  a  process  similar  to  that  of  vomiting; 
and,  more  frequently,  when,  although  they  are  still  ejected  from  the  stomach 
in  considerable  quantities,  the  muscles  of  the  oesophagean  canal,  and  of 
the  gullet,  do  not  lend  their  aid  to  effect  their  expulsion  through  the  mouth ; 
and,  consequently,  a  passage  being  denied  them  through  the  gullet,  they  are 
driven  through  the  base  of  the  manyplus,  and  are  recognised  in  the  dung 
by  their  fibrous  character. 

It  is  by  some  mechanism  of  one  of  these  kinds  that  purging  is  at  length 
established  after  obstinate  cases  of  constipation ;  or,  when  the  animal  dies 
and  almost  all  the  purgative  medicine  that  has  been  given  is  found  in  the 
rumen,  it  is  because  that  stomach  has  not  been  sufficiently  stimulated. 
There  is  something  in  the  structure  of  cattle  which  renders  certain  medical 
rules  and  principles  altogether  inapplicable,  and  which,  in  defiance  of  all 
fever,  occasionally  compels  us  to  mingle  strange  doses  of  aromatics  and 
stimulants  with  the  very  means  by  which  Ave  are  endeavouring  to  subdue 
inflammation.  This  is  a  very  important  consideration  in  the  treatment  of 
disease,  and  the  profession  owes  much  to  Mr.  Friend  for  having  first  di- 
rected their  attention  to  it:  although  it  should  be  stated,  in  justice  to  the 
lecturer  on  veterinary  medicine  in  the  University  of  London,  that  it  was  a 
doctrine  which  he  had  long  inculcated  on  his  pupils. 


It  has  been  stated  (pp.  434  and  435)  that  various  concretions  are  found 
in  the  rumen  of  cattle.  It  is  the  natural  situation  for  them,  for  there 
the  food  is  longest  detained,  and  there  they  have  time  to  form,  as  in  the 
colon  and  caecum  of  the  horse.  A  few,  but  much  smaller  calculi,  are 
occasionally  found  in  the  reticulum  ;  others,  composed  of  thin  and  friable 
concentric  layers,  occupy,  yet  comparatively  rarely  the  large  intestines  of 
cattle ;  but  they  also  are  not  of  great  size,  for.  the  food  passes  too  rapidly 
over  the  smooth  surface  of  these  portions  of  the  digestive  canal.  There 
are  no  symptoms  by  which  their  presence  can  be  recognised,  nor  is  there 
any  evidence  of  their  being  the  cause  of  disease,  although  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  the  presence  and  pressure  of  these  bodies,  and  the  irritation 
produced  by  them,  may  in  some  instances  be  the  cause  of  colic,  stran- 
gulation, and  other  serious  aftections. 


These  occasionally  are  found  in  the  intestines  of  cattle,  but  in  no  great 
quantities ;  nor  are  there  any  authenticated  accounts  of  their  being  the 
cause  of  irritation  or  disease.  The  food  is  so  perfectly  prepared  for  diges- 
tion, and  that  process  is  so  rapidly  accomplished,  and  the  nutriment  is  so 
completely  extracted,  that  there  is  little  left  for  the  support  of  worms  ;  nor, 
if  they  are  received  into  the  intestines  in  the  state  of  ova,  or  eggs,  would 
they  be  likely  to  escape  the  processes  of  digestion  which  take  place  in 
cattle. 

The  Amphistoma  conicum,  a  worm  with  a  mouth,  or  the  appearance  o  f 


DROPSY.  497 

one,  at  each  end,  and  often  found  plentifully  in  the  intestines  of  birds,  fre- 
quently inhabits  the  rumen  and  reticulum  of  cattle.  It  is  here  of  considera- 
bly larger  size,  and  swells  into  a  somewhat  conical  form. 

The  Txnia  denticulata,  the  denticulated  tape-worm,  small  in  size,  and 
the  neck  becoming  fine,  and  sometimes  almost  thread-like,  is  found  in  the 
fourth  stomach,  and  in  the  small  intestines. 

The  Lumbricufi  teres,  the  common  intestinal  round  worm,  and  fully  as 
large, 'as  in  the  horse,  lives  in  the  small  intestines. 

■^  A  small  species  of  the  Strongylus  is  a  frequent  companion  of  the  lastj 
and  another  small  long  worm,  the  Tricocephalus  ajffinis,  with  its  minute 
head  attached  to  its  lengthened  and  thread-like  neck,  has  been  discovered 
in  the  caecum. 

The  presence  of  these  worms  is  rarely  taken  into  account  by  the 
practitioner,  and  few  means  are  taken  for  their  expulsion. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  hydatid  {Ccenurus  cerebralis,) 
inhabiting  the  brain;  and  others  (Cysticerci  tenuicolles)  found  in  the 
liver,  the  lungs,  the  spleen,  and  in  the  peritoneum  and  the  pleura;  the 
Strongylus  Jilaris,  occupying  the  bronchial  tubes  of  caitle,  and  the 
Distoma  hepaticum,  the  Jluke  worm,  swimming  in  the  biliary  ducts. 


This  is  an  accumulation  of  fluid  in  the  cavity  of  the  belly.  The  whole 
of  that  cavity  is  lined  with,  and  every  viscus  which  it  contains  is  covered 
by,  a  polished,  glistening  membrane,  so  that  the  contents  of  the  abdomen 
may  glide  over  and  move  easily  among  each  other,  and  the  injurious 
effects  of  friction  be  as  much  as  possible  avoided.  In  a  state  of  health 
there  are  certain  vessels  which  continually  secrete  or  pour  out  the  fluid 
that  is  requisite  for  this  purpose,  and  which  are  called  exhalent  vessels;  and 
there  are  others  that  take  this  fluid  up  and  carry  it  into  the  circulation 
when  it  has  discharged  its  duty,  or  when  it  is  secreted  in  undue  quanti- 
ties, and  Avhich  are  denominated  absorbent  vessels.  Dropsy,  then,  is  the 
consequence  of  the  pouring  out  of  an  undue  quantity  of  fluid,  and  faster 
than  the  absorbents  can  carry  it  away;  or  it  is  the  pouring  out  of  the  natu- 
ral quantity  while  the  absorbents  are  paralysed,  or  do  not  do  their  duty  in 
removing  it;  and  in  either  way  it  accumulates  in  the  abdomen.  It  is  easy, 
therefore,  to  suppose,  that  when  the  lining  membrane  generally,  or  a  por- 
tion of  it,  is  inflamed,  and  a  greater  quantity  of  blood  than  usual  is  deter- 
mined to  that  part,  the  secretion  from  the  exhalent  vessels  will  be  increased; 
and  in  consequence  of  this  there  will  be  accumulation  of  fluid  in  the  bag  of 
the  heart,  when  that  organ,  or  its  investing  membrane,  is  inflamed;  dropsy 
in  the  chest  will  be  the  consequence  of  pleurisy,  and  dropsy  of  the  abdo- 
men that  of  inflammation  of  the  pe^-itoneal  membrane  generally,  or  of  any 
part  of  it.  Chronic  inflammation  of  the  liver  or  spleen,  or  of  any  particular 
portion  of  the  intestinal  canal,  will  have  the  same  termination  from  in- 
creased action  of  the  exhalents;  a  similar  effect  will  occasionally  be  produced 
by  the  sudden  stopping  of  any  long-continued  evacuation;  or  acute  or 
chronic  eruption;  and  on  the  other  hand,  feeding  in  low,  marshy  situations; 
the  privation  of  wholesome  aliment,  and  every  cause  of  general  debility, 
will  produce  an  accumulation  of  fluid  from  loss  of  power  in  the  absorbents.* 

*  The  luminous  description  of  the  cause  of  dropsy  given  by  Mr.  Knowlson  is  here 
subjoined.  When  a  person  who  has  '  been  fifty-seven  years  in  full  business'  can  write 
so  nonsensically,  the  knowledge  of  cattle  medicine  must  be  at  a  low  ebb. 

'  It  is  a  stoppage  in  the  gall-pipes  which  lead  from  the  gall  to  the  bladder,  and  enter 
the  neck  of  the  bladder,  from  whence  tliere  is  a  passage  between  two  skins  to  the  bottom, 
43* 


498  CATTLE. 

Of  acute  dropsy  the  practitioner  has  occasional  examples.  A  beast,  ap 
parently  well  on  the  preceding  day,  suddenly  exhibits  manifest  symptoms 
of  inflammation  of  the  bowels.  The  disease  proceeds  in  defiance  of  all 
medical  treatment,  and  in  two  or  three  days  the  patient  is  lost.  On  exami- 
nation after  death,  the  traces  of  inflammation  of  the  peritoneum  are  suffi- 
ciently evident;  there  is  deposition  of  flocculent  matter;  there  are  atlhesions, 
hut,  most  important  of  all,  the  belly  is  filled  with  clear,  or  turbid.  Or  bloody 
fluid,  and  the  death  of  the  animal  was  as  much  occasioned  by  the  irritation 
produced  by  the  pressure  of  this  fluid,  and  the  labour  of  breathing  which 
it  occasioned,  as  by  the  previous  or  still-existing  inflammation. 

Of  chronic  dropsy,  or  a  slower  filling  of  the  belly,  he  has  more  frequent 
proof.  The  beast  increases  slowly  in  size;  it  is  an  enlargement,  not  of  the 
left  side  as  in  hoove,  or  of  the  right  as  in  flatulent  colic,  but  of  the 
belly  generally,  and  sometimes  almost  as  slow  as  in  the  increase  of 
condition.  It  evidently  is  not  that,  for  the  limbs  are  wasting,  or  if  they 
occasionally  increase  in  size,  it  is  a  puffy  (Edematous  enlargemem, 
and  not  the  honest  accumulation  of  flesh  and  fat.  The  animal  at  the 
same  time  is  dull;  disinclined  to  move;  the  skin  is  dry;  the  coat  is  rough; 
the  thirst  is  excessive;  there  is  alternate  constipation  and  diarrhoea;  the 
membranes  of  the  mouth  and  nose  are  pale,  and  the  conjunctiva  is  of  a  faint 
yellow.  By  degrees  the  belly  drops,  and  leaves  a  considerable  hollow  at 
the  flanks,  and  by  tapping  on  the  sides  the  evident  fluctuation  of  water 
can  be  perceived.  The  pressure  of  the  fluid  on  the  diaphragm  lessens  the 
cavity  of  the  chest,  and  does  not  leave  sufficient  room  for  the  lungs  to 
expand — labour  of  breathing  ensues — it  increases;  the  animal  is  not  able 
to  stand  long,  and  when  he  lies  down  the  respiration  is  so  difficult,  and 
the  feeling  of  suffocation  is  so  strong,  that  he  scrambles  up  again  as 
quickly  as  his  remaining  strength  will  permit,  and  at  length  dies  eidier  of 
absolute  suffocation,  or  mere  debility. 

The  chance  of  success  in  the  treatment  of  such  a  disease  must  be  little. 
The  first  object  is  to  relieve  the  sad  oppression  under  which  the  animal 
labours,  and  that  must  be  effected  by  puncturing  the  belly,  and  suffering 
the  fluid  to  escape.  There  is  neither  art  nor  danger  about  the  operation. 
The  beast  should  be  tied  up  close,  and  a  side  line  put  on;*  a  puncture 
should  be  made  with  a  lancet  or  trocar  under  the  belly,  six  or  eight  inches 
from  the  udder,  and  half  as  much  from  the  middle  line  of  the  belly,  and  pn 
the  right  side — the  milk  vein  and  the  artery  which  accompanies  it  being 
carefully  avoided.  The  opening  should  not  be  larger  than  would  admit 
the  little  finger;  and  if  it  is  made  with  the  trocar,  the  canula  may  be  left  in 
the  wound  until  the  fluid  has  quite  run  out. 

The  wound  being  thus  small,  there  is  no  need  for  the  often  fruitless  care 
to  close  it  again  with  adhesive  plaster  when  the  purpose  for  which  it  was 
made  has  been  effected.  There  will  not  only  be  no  danger,  but  manifest 
advantage,  in  a  small  drain  of  this  kind  being  left  open;  for  the  fluid  which 

before  it  enters  the  bladder.  When  the  pipes  are  too  much  forced,  or  stopped  by  glueish 
matter,  the  urine  cannot  find  a  free  passage,  but  oozes  out,  and  in  time  fills  the  beast's 
body.' — Knowlson's  Complete  Cow-Leech  or  Cattle  Doctor^  p.  65. 

*  Many  veterinary  surgeons  prefer  to  cast  the  beast ;  but  rupture  of  the  diaphragm 
has  followed  the  violent  struggle  which  generally  occurs  in  casting,  iuid  especially  when 
there  was  previously  so  much  pressure  on  that  part  by  the  accumulated  fluid.  The  dis- 
tress of  the  dropsical  animal  is  frequently  extreme  after  it  is  thrown,  not  only  on  account 
of  the  respiration  being  hurried,  but  the  additional  pressure  on  the  lungs  when  the  pa- 
tient is  lying  down.  There  is  not  the  supposed  danger  of  wounding  the  intestines  wliile 
the  animal  is  standing,  for  they  are  floating  loose  in  tlie  fluid,  and  recede  before  the  in- 
strument; while  there  is  this  advantage  in  the  standing  position,  that  the  fluid  drains 
away  to  almost  the  last  drop. 


DROPSY.  499 

may  continue  to  be  secreted  will  dribble  away  during  two  or  three  days, 
and  thus  permit  the  peritoneal  membrane  and  the  abdominal  viscera  (freed 
from  the  oppression  around  them)  to  recover  their  healthy  tone:  whereas 
if  the  wound  is  immediately  closed,  the  fluid  of  dropsy  will  begin  at  once 
to  accumulate  again,  and  there  will  be  far  less  chance  of  effecting  perma- 
nent benefit.  The  quantity  of  fluid  that  is  sometimes  got  rid  of  by  means 
of  this  operation  is  very  great.  Mr.  Wright,  of  Burnham  Overy,  told  the 
author  that  he  once  took  away  twenty-seven  gallons  at  one  time,  and  ten 
gallons  more  from  the  same  cow  a  little  while  afterwards.  It  is  by  no 
means  uncommon  for  twenty  gallons  to  escape,  and  there  are  records  of 
thirty-two  gallons  having  been  drawn  at  once.  There  is  litde  chance  of 
permanent  cure  in  cases  like  these,  for  there  must  have  been  great  disease 
and  disorganization  in  order  to  produce  effusion  to  this  extent,  and  that 
disease  must  have  been  of  long  standing,  and  therefore  not  easy  to  be  re- 
moved. In  addition  to  this,  all  the  viscera  of  the  abdomen  must  have  been 
debilitated,  and  have  lost  their  natural  tone  and  function  by  the  continued 
pressure  and  maceration.  Still  a  cure  is  worth  attempting,  for  the  practi- 
tioner has  done  littie  by  the  mere  temporary  relief  which  the  operation  has 
afforded. 

In  order  to  prevent  the  refilling  of  the  belly  two  objects  must  be  accom- 
plished, namely,  the  determination  of  this  fluid  to  some  other  part  where 
ft  shall  be  regularly  discharged,  and  the  restoration  of  the  general  health 
of  the  animal,  and,  with  this,  the  proper  balance  between  the  exhalent  and 
absorbent  vessels.  It  is  therefore  usual  to  give  a  dose  of  physick  imme- 
diately after  the  operation,  that  the  fluid  which  might  otherwise  begin 
again  to  fill  in  the  belly  may  be  carried  off  by  the  discharge  thus  esta- 
blished; the  physic  is  repeated  as  frequently  as  the  strength  of  the  animal 
will  permit.  This  is  a  way  of  proceeding,  however,  not  very  favourable 
to  the  re-establishment  of  health  and  strength,  and  therefore  greater  reli- 
ance is  placed  on  a  course  of  diuretic  medicine,  with  which  tonics  can  be 
combined;  purgative  medicine  being  still  occasionally  given.  Half  an 
ounce  of  nitre,  with  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  each  of  tartrate  of  iron,  com- 
mon liquid  turpentine,  gentian  and  ginger,  may  be  given  daily  with  gi-eat 
advantage.  Bran  and  malt  mashes  will  be  useful  at  first,  and  when  the 
beast  goes  again  to  grass,  care  should  be  taken  that  the  pasture  is  good, 
but  not  too  luxuriant  or  rank.  Mr.  Tait,  of  Portsoy,  N.  B.,  operated  on 
a  cow  that  was  dropsical;  eight  gallons  of  fluid  escaped.  The  cow  seemed 
to  be  faint  when  she  got  up;  and,  in  general,  some  weakness  and  disincli- 
nation to  food  will  remain  two  or  three  days  after  the  operation,  attended 
at  first  by  considerable  heaviijg,  and  apparent  distress,  for  it  is  a  great 
change  from  the  tumid  and  overloaded  belly  to  the  perfectly  free  and  na- 
tural state  of  its  contents,  and  which  do  not  at  once  accommodate  them- 
selves to  that  change.  He  gave  her  a  dose  of  physic  consisting  of  Epsom 
salts  with  ginger,  and  commenced  a  course  of  nitre  in  doses  of  half  an 
ounce.     The  animal  became  '  quite  well  again.'* 

This  was  a  favourable  case,  and  the  quantity  of  fluid  evacuated  was 
comparatively  small;  but  the  belly  so  frequently  fills  again  after  the  lapse 
of  two  or  three  weeks,  that  it  will  be  prudent  to  part  with  a  cow  that  has 
been  dropsical  as  soon  as  she  can  be  got  into  tolerable  condition.  The  ex- 
hibition of  diuretic  and  tonic  medicines  will,  perhaps,  stave  off  the  return 
of  the  disease  until  this  can  be  accomplished;  but  the  organs  of  digestion 
have  been  so  debilitated,  and  these  exhalent  and  absorbent  vessels  have 
been  so  habituated  to  an  unnatural  action,  that  a  perfect  and  permanent 
restoration  to  health  can  seldom  be  expected.  A  second  operation  may  be 
*  Veterinarian,  Feb.  1833,  p.  78. 


500  CATTLE. 

attempted  if  the  belly  has  filled  again,  but  the  chances  of  success  are  then 
most  materially  diminished. 

There  is  scarcely  a  book  on  cattle  medicine  in  which,  if  this  disease  is 
mentioned  at  all,  there  is  not  strict  caution  that  the  beast  should  not  have 
too  much  water.  This  is  altogether  erroneous.  The  object  to  be  accom- 
plished is  to  restore  the  animal  as  nearly  as  possible  to  a  state  of  health; 
and  this  can  never  be  effected  by  curtailing  the  proportion  of  fluid  that  is 
necessary  for  the  maceration  and  digestion  of  the  food,  and  the  supply  of 
all  the  secretions.  A  state  of  unnatural  thirst  and  fever  would,  on  the  con- 
trary, be  induced,  which  would  weaken  the  animal,  and  dispose  it  for  a 
recurrence  of  the  disease. 

HERNIA,  OR  RUPTURE. 

A  portion  of  the  kitestine  occasionally  protrudes  through  the  walls  of 
the  abdomen.  This  may  be  the  consequence  of  external  violence,  the 
beast  having  been  gored  by  one  of  its  companions.  The  external  wound 
may  probably  be  small,  or,  in  some  cases,  the  skin  may  not  be  broken  at 
all,  but  the  internal  wall  of  the  belly  is  injured,  and  partially  or  entirely 
ruptured.  In  consequence  of  this  a  tumour  soon  appears,  varying  in  size 
according  to  the  extent  of  the  injury.  It  is  a  portion  of  the  intestine  that 
is  protruding.  The  enlargement  is  tender  when  pressed  upon,  but  it  does 
not  seem  to  interfere  with  the  health  of  the  animal,  and  a  fortnight  or 
three  weeks  elapse  before  any  serious  consequence  is  observed:  at  length 
the  tumour  begins  to  increase  very  rapidly;  the  animal  expresses  consi- 
derable pain  on  being  moved,  and  is  only  comparatively  easy  when  lying 
down,  and  even  then  it  moans  occasionally;  the  breathing  is  quickened; 
the  countenance  is  anxious;  the  pulse  is  quick  and  small;  rumination  has 
stopped,  and  the  usual  evacuation  of  fasces  is  diminished.  It  is  plainly  a 
protrusion  of  the  bowels,  and  now  attended  with  some  degree  of  strangu- 
lation, or  pressure  of  the  edges  of  the  wound  upon  them  and  thus  obstruct- 
ing the  passage  of  their  contents.  The  tumour  is  generally  soft  and  yield- 
ing, and,  on  pressure,  a  gurgling  noise  is  heard  within  it.  On  inspection 
of  the  cut,  p.  467,  and  observation  of  the  loose  manner  in  which  the  small 
intestines  are  attached  to  the  edge  of  the  mesentery,  it  will  be  easy  to  ac- 
count for  the  occasional  enormous  size  of  the  tumour,  and  the  quantity  of 
intestine  which  is  protruded. 

It  is  rarely  possible,  by  any  manipulation  (taxis),  to  return  the  bowel; 
and  if  it  could  be  returned,  it  would  immediately  escape  again.  It  is  there- 
fore loss  of  time  to  endeavour  thus  to  treat  the  case.  It  would  be  worse 
than  loss  of  time,  for  considerable  inflammation  may  be  set  up  by  a  long- 
continued  and  rough  handling  of  the  part. 

The  beast  must  be  thrown  and  held  on  his  back,  with  the  hind  parts 
somewhat  elevated.  An  incision  must  be  made  through  the  skin  corre- 
sponding with  the  length  of  the  tumour,  especial  care  being  taken  that 
the  protruded  intestine,  which  will  be  found  immediately  underneath,  is 
not  wounded.  Then,  if  there  is  any  strangulation  of  the  intestine,  which 
in  most  cases  there  will  be,  the  first  and  second  fingers  of  the  left  hand 
must  be  introduced  between  the  bowel  and  the  edge  of  the  wound;  a 
crooked  knife  (a  bistoury)  must  next  be  passed  cautiously  between  the 
fingers,  and  the  wound  enlarged  sufficiently  to  enable  the  protruded  mass 
to  be  returned.  The  bowel  having  been  thus  replaced  in  its  natural  cavity, 
the  edges  of  the  wound  through  the  walls  of  the  belly  must  be  brought 
together  and  retained  with  stitches,  the  skin,  if  necessary,  being  dissected 
back  a  little  in  order  to  get  at  the  whole  of  the  wound.  Stitches  must 
then  be  passed  through  the  skin,  the  divided  edges  of  which  should  be 


HERNIA  OR  RUPTURE.  501 

brought  together  in  tlie  same  manner.  In  a  few  cases  it  will  be  practica- 
ble, anil  always  advisable  when  practicable,  to  include  the  skin  and  the 
muscular  wall  of  the  belly  in  the  same  stitch.  A  pledget  of  fine  tow  must 
be  placed  over  the  incision,  and  upon  that  another  pledget  smeared  with 
simple  ointment.  This  must  be  confined  by  a  bandage  five  or  six  inches 
wider  than  the  wound,  and  which  must  be  passed  twice  or  thrice  round 
the  body,  firmly  sewed,  and,  if  possible,  not  removed  for  ten  days.  At 
the  expiration  of  that  period  the  edges  will  be  found  to  have  adhered  along 
the  greater  part  of  the  incision,  the  stitches  may  be  withdrawn,  and  what 
remains  unhealed  may  be  treated  as  a  common  wound.  Should  much 
(Edematous  swelling  appear  on  either  side  of  the  bandage,  the  parts  should 
be  well  fomented  with  warm  water,  or,  if  requisite,  lightly  scarified.  The 
beast  should  be  kept  on  rather  short  allowance,  the  food  consisting  chiefly 
of  mashes,  with  a  Utile  hay  or  green  meat,  and  a  dose  or  two  of  physic 
should  be  given  during  the  progress  of  the  cure. 

If  the  horn  should  have  broken  the  skin,  as  well  as  lacerated  the  muscu- 
lar part  beneath,  and  the  intestine  protrudes,  it  must  be  cleared  from  any 
dirt  or  extraneous  matter  about  it,  then  carefully  returned,  and  the  wound 
closed  and  the  bandage  applied  as  already  directed. 

The  author  has  not  only  seen  a  considerable  portion  of  bowel  protruding, 
but  the  bowel  itself  torn.  Even  then  he  has  not  despaired,  for  the  healing 
power  in  these  animals  is  such  as  the  human  surgeon  would  scarcely  deem 
possible.  The  rent  of  the  intestine  may  be  closed  by  a  stitch  or  two,  with 
well-founded  hope  of  the  edges  uniting,  and  the  intestinal  canal  becoming 
perfect  and  whole.* 

Calves  are  occasionally  dropped  with  ruptures.  They  principally  occur 
along  the  middle  line  of  the  belly,  and  not  far  from  the  navel.  It  is  usually 
a  protrusion  of  a  portion  of  the  omentum  or  caul;  but  in  a  few  instances 
one  or  two  small  convolutions  of  the  intestines  have  been  involved.  The 
principal  danger  is  that  the  rumen,  when  unnaturally  distended  by  food 
or  gas,  may  press  upon  and  injure  the  portion  of  caul  or  intestine  imme- 
diately within  the  abdomen,  and  turning  over  the  edge  of  the  opening. 

*  Dr.Cheselden  relates  a  very  extraordinary  case  of  this  healing  power,  and  does  not 
forbid  hope,  although  the  intestines  may  liave  been  injured  to  a  very  great  extent.  '  An 
ox,'  he  says,  '  was  suffering  under  constipation  of  the  bowels.  Thomas  Braycr,  a  doc- 
tor for  cuttle,  opened  the  ox  in  the  flank,  and  took  out  great  part  of  his  bowels;  upon 
searching  which  he  found  there  was  a  perfect  stoppage  in  the  guts,  and  the  gut  was, 
about  the  stoppage,  putrified  for  three  quarters  of  a  yard,  whereupon  he  cut  off  so  much 
of  the  gut  as  was  putrefied,  and  took  it  quite  away,  and  tlien  drew  the  ends  of  the  guts 
which  remained  sound,  after  what  was  cut  off,  together  upon  a  hollow  keck,  which  was 
about  three  or  four  inches  long,  and  sewed  the  said  ends  of  the  guts  together  upon  the 
said  keck,  leaving  the  keck  within  the  guts,  and  then  sewed  up  the  hole  cut  in  the  hide 
upon  the  flank  of  the  said  ox.  Within  the  space  of  one  hour  after  this  operation  was 
performed,  the  ox  dunged,  and  the  piece  of  the  keck  which  the  said  ends  of  the  gut  were 
sewn  upon,  came  away  from  the  ox  with  the  dung,  whereupon  the  ox  recovered,  and 
lived  to  do  the  owner  service  several  years.' 

Mr.  Thomson,  of  Beith,  relates  a  similar  case  in  the  pig.  He  was  castrating  one,  and 
he  says,  '  having  laid  the  animal  on  a  table,  and  while  I  was  in  he  act  of  cutting 
through  tl'.e  peritoneum  one  of  the  assistants  lost  his  hold;  the  pig  sprung  up,  and  the 
scalpel  was  plunged  deep  into  the  belly.  I  proceeded  to  extract  the  testicles,  but  saw 
that  some  of  the  intestines  were  wounded,  as  fiEces  were  escaping  from  th'e  opening  in 
the  side.  The  greater  part  of  the  small  intestines  had  to  be  drawn  out  through  the 
opening  before  the  injury  could  be  discovered.  Tlie  knife  had  entered  deep  among  the 
convolutions  of  the  ileum,  and  divided  one  of  the  guts  almost  through,  and  it  had  also 
made  a  considerable  wound  in  the  mesentery.  A  fine  needle  and  thread  were  imme- 
diately procured;  the  gut  and  mesentery  were  nicely  adjusted  and  sewn  together,  and 
returned  into  the  belly;  the  side  was  secured  by  stitches,  and  the  pig  was  liberated.  I 
had  not  much  hope  of  success  in  this  case,  but  the  healing  power  in  the  swine  appears 
to  be  strong,  for  in  two  days  afterwards  little  appeared  to  be  the  matter,  and  the  animal 
soon  completely  recovered.' — Veterinariany  March,  1834,  p.  149. 


502  CATTLE. 

Any  serious  operation  with  a  view  to  the  reduction  of  the  rupture  would 
scarcely  be  advisable,  but  it  would  be  prudent  to  fatten  and  dispose  of  the 
animal  as  soon  as  convenient. 

Bull  calves  are  sometimes  born  with  rupture  in  the  groin.  The  opening 
through  which  the  testicle  afterwards  descends  into  the  bag  is  lax,  and 
yields  to  slight  pressure,  and  in  the  motions  of  the  foetus  in  the  womb,  a 
small  convolution  of  the  intestine  slips  down.  This  sometimes  continues 
of  nearly  its  original  size  for  several  months;  in  some  cases  it  is  gradually 
retracted,  and  disappears;  in  others,  it  increases  in  volume  with  greater  or 
less  rapidity.  A  remedy  is  often  to  be  found  for  this  as  soon  as  the  testi- 
cles descend  into  the  bag;  and  at  which  time,  if  the  hernia  will  ever  be 
serious,  it  begins  to  increase,  or  to  be  strangulated — the  beast  should  be 
castrated. 

After  the  animal  is  thrown  and  properly  confined,  the  protruded  intestine 
should  be  gently  and  carefully  pushed  up  through  the  ring  or  opening,  the 
testicle  being  somewliBt  drawn  out,  in  order  to  render  this  move  practi- 
cable. Continued  and  gentle  pressure  applied  on  the  sides  of  the  tumour 
will  more  facilitate  this  than  the  application  of  the  greatest  force.  Tb.e 
intestine  having  been  returned,  the  finger  of  an  assistant  is  placed  at  the 
opening,  and  the  operator  proceeds  to  cut  into  the  scrotum  as  quickly  as 
he  can,  and  to  denude  the  testicle,  to  apply  the  clams,  (which  will  he  here- 
after described,)  and  to  divide  the  cord.  The  clams  will  form  a  temporary 
and  effectual  support;  and  by  the  following  day,  when  it  is  usual  to  re- 
move the  clams,  a  degree  of  inflammation  and  engorgement  of  the  parts 
will  have  been  set  up,  that  will  either  obliterate  the  ring,  or  so  far  contract 
it,  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  the  gut  afterwards  to  descend. 

There  is  one  circumstance  to  which  the  practitioner  should  most  care- 
fully attend.  The  protruded  intestine  always  carries  with  it  a  portion  of 
peritoneum — it  is  contained  in  a  bag  formed  by  the  investing  membrane  of 
the  bowels.  The  whole  of  this  bag  may  not  have  been  returned  when  the 
intestine  is  pushed  up:  the  operator  must  ascertain  this,  and  by  no  means 
open  any  part  of  the  peritoneal  covering  that  may  remain. 

Castration  will  usually  remove  this  hernia  and  all  its  unpleasant  or  dan- 
gerous consequences,  and  the  beast  will  be  as  valuable  for  grazing  and  for 
working  as  if  nothing  had  occurred. 

In  a  few  cases,  however,  the  hernia  will  be  strangulated.  So  great  a 
portion  of  intestine,  or  of  faecal  matter  in  that  intestine,  will  have  descended, 
that  the  operator  cannot  return  it  through  the  abdominal  ring.  Even  the 
somewhat  desperate  expedient  of  introducing  the  hand  into  the  rectum,  and 
endeavouring  to  find  out  the  portion  of  intestine  connected  with  that  which 
has  descended  and  forcibly  retract  it,  may  fail:  a  diflerent  kind  of  operation 
must  then  be  attempted,  and  which  a  skilful  veterinarian  alone  can  perform. 

A  species  of  rupture,  very  difficult  to  be  treated,  has  occurred  to  cows  in 
an  advanced  period  of  pregnancy.  An  excessive  accumulation  of  fluid  has 
taken  place  in  the  womb,  or  calf-bed,  and  the  tendinous  expansion  of  the 
muscles  which  support  the  lower  part  of  the  belly  has  given  way.  The 
farmer  says,  that  'the  rim  of  the  cow's Jielly  is  ruptured.'  A  portion  of 
the  womb  escapes  through  the  opening,  and  descends  into  the  groin,  or 
seems  to  occupy  the  udder.  Mr.  AUinson,  of  Idle,  relates  a  case,*  in 
which  the  head  of  a  calf  had  been  forced  down  into  the  groin.  The  calf 
was  extracted  with  no  great  difficulty,  but  the  bowels  then  descended 
through  the  rupture  into  the  place  that  had  been  occupied  by  the  foetus, 
and  the  animal  was  irrecoverably  lost. 

There  is  one  more  species  of  rupture  to  which  cattle  are  subject,  and 

*  Veterinarian,  October,  1831,  p.  555. 


THE  KIDNEYS.  503 

the  existence  of  which  cannot  always  be  ascertained  during  life,  namely, 
that  of  the  diaphragm,  or  midriff.  In  distention  of  the  rumen  there  is 
always  great  pressure  against  the  midriff.  This  is  increased  when  severe 
colicky  pains  come  on,  and  especially  when  improper  means  have  been 
resorted  to,  such  as  strong  stimulating  drinks,  or  rude  exercise,  or  when 
the  animal,  in  a  state  of  half-unconsciousness,  has  violently  beaten  himself 
about.  The  midriff  has  then  given  way,  and  a  portion  of  the  intestine,  or 
of  one  of  the  stomachs,  or  of  the  omentum  or  caul,  or  of  the  liver,  has  been 
forced  into  the  cavity  of  the  chest.  This  may  be  suspected  when,  after 
the  usual  symptoms  of  hoove  or  colic,  great  difhculty  of  breathing  suddenly 
comes  on,  and  is  evidently  attended  by  excessive  pain — when  the  animal 
is  every  moment  looking  at  her  side,  and  especially  at  the  left  side — when 
she  shrinks,  and  bows  herself  up  as  if  the  muscles  of  the  belly  were  vio- 
lently cramped — and  when  she  stiffens  all  over,  and  then  suddenly  falls 
and  dies  in  convulsions. 

Examination  after  death  has  sometimes  displayed  chronic  rupture  of 
this  kind.  The  attack  has  been  as  sudden,  but  the  colicky  pains  have  not 
been  so  violent ;  they  have  intermitted — disappeared  ;  but  an  habitual  diffi- 
culty of  breathing  has  been  left  behind — disinclination  to  rapid  motion — 
fright  when  suddenly  moved — anxiety  of  countenance — perhaps  impair- 
ment of  condition — and  certainly  impossibility  of  acquiring  any  considerable 
degree  of  condition.  This  has  continued  during  several  months,  until  the 
animal  has  been  destroyed,  or  has  died  from  some  cause  unconnected  with 
these  symptoms  ;  and  then  an  old  rupture  of  the  diaphragm  has  been  dis- 
covered, the  edges  of  which  had  been  completely  healed,  and  the  second 
stomach,  or  the  liver,  had  been  firmly  placed  against  the  opening,  and  had 
occupied  it,  and  in  a  slight  degree  projected  into  the  thorax.  No  medical 
treatment  or  operation  could  be  of  the  slightest  service  in  this  case. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
THE  URINARY  ORGANS  AND  THEIR  DISEASES. 

THE  KIDNEYS. 

The  blood  contains  much  watery  fluid,  which,  after  it  has  answered  cer- 
tain purposes  connected  with  digestion,  or  the  various  secretions,  is  sepa- 
rated and  carried  out  of  the  frame.  The  kidneys  are  the  main  instruments 
by  which  this  is  effected ;  and  they  are  often  called  into  increased  action 
in  order  to  compensate  for  the  deficiencies  of  other  parts.  When  the  usual 
discharge  of  perspiration  from  the  skin  is  suspended,  the  kidney  takes  on 
increased  activity ;  and  when  fluids  are  accumulating  in  the  frame  gene- 
rally, or  in  particular  parts,  they  escape  by  means  of  these  organs.  Also 
other  substances,  the  accumulation  or  the  continuance  of  which  in  the 
frame  would  be  injurious,  are  got  rid  of  by  means  of  the  kidneys.  The 
essential  principle  of  the  urine  (the  urea)  is  one  that  would  be  noxious,  or 
perhaps  destructive. 

The  kidneys  are  two  glandular  substances  attached  on  either  side  to  the 
spine  beneath  the  muscles  of  the  loins.  They  are  not,  however,  exactly 
opposite  to  each  other,  but  the  left  kidney  is  pushed  somewhat  backward 
by  the  great  development  of  the  rumen.  A  very  large  artery  runs  to  each. 
The  quantity  of  blood  which  that  vessel  carries  shows  the  importance  of 
the  kidneys,  and  well  accounts  for  the  inflammation  and  other  diseases  to 
which  they  are  occasionally  subject.  These  arteries  divide  into  innume- 
rable little  branches,  coiled  upon  and  communicating  with  each  other  in  a 
singular  manner;  and  the  blood,  traversing  all  these  convolutions,  has  its 


504  CATTLE. 

watery  and  noxious  ingredients  separated  in  the  form  of  urine  which  is 
carried  on  to  the  bladder,  while  the  portion  that  remains  is  returned  to  the 
circulation  by  means  of  the  veins,  which  bear  a  proportionate  size  to  that 
of  the  arteries. 

As  the  process  of  digestion  is  so  much  more  perfectly  performed  in  cattle 
than  in  the  horse,  and  all  the  nutritive,  and  some  perhaps  of  the  noxious 
matter  which  the  food  contains,  is  taken  up  and  received  into  the  circula- 
tion, the  kidneys  have  more  to  do  in  order  to  complete  this  process  of 
separation;  they  are  therefore  of  considerably  greater  size  in  catUe  than  in 
the  horse ;  they  are  more  complicated  in  their  appearance ;  they  present 
an  assemblage  of  different  lobes  or  lobules,  separated  by  deep  scissures ; 
there  are  additional  provisions  made  for  their  security — they  are  deeply 
embedded  in  a  covering  of  fat,  and  there  is  another  accumulation  of  fat 
surrounding  and  defending  the  different  vessels  that  are  received  or  given 
off.  The  bulk  of  the  rumen,  and  the  danger  of  occasional  pressure  from 
it,  may  in  some  degree  account  for  these  provisions  of  safety ;  but  a  more 
satisfactory  reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  greater  extent  and  importance  of 
the  function  which  these  organs  in  catde  have  to  discharge. 

RED-WATER. 

Although  the  destructive  stimuli,  which,  under  the  form  of  unwholesome 
food,  or  diuretic  medicine,  are  so  often  applied  to  the  kidneys  of  the  horse, 
are  rarely  used  in  the  general  management  of  cattle,  or  in  the  treatment  of 
their  diseases,  these  organs  are,  from  the  natural  extent  and  importance 
of  their  function,  much  more  liable  to  inflammation  than  the  kidneys  of 
the  horse.  The  disease,  termed  red-ivater  from  the  colour  of  the  urine,  is 
one  of  the  most  frequent  and  untractable  maladies  of  cattle.  It  may  be 
conveniendy  divided  into  acute  and  chronic;  in  fact,  two  diseases  essen- 
tially different  in  their  symptoms,  demanding  different  treatment,  and 
referrible  to  different  organs,  have  been  confounded  under  this  name. 

A  cow,  in  somewhat  too  high  condition,  and  in  whom  the  prudent  pre- 
cautions of  bleeding  or  physicking  had  been  omitted,  frequendy,  a  week  or 
two  before  the  time  of  calving,  suddenly  exhibits  symptoms  of  fever ;  she 
heaves  at  the  flank ;  she  ceases  to  ruminate,  and  evidenUy  suffers  much 
pain  ;  her  back  is  bowed  ;  she  is  straining  in  order  to  evacuate  her  urine, 
and  that  is  small  in  quantity,  expelled  with  force,  highly  tinged  with  blood, 
and  sometimes  consisting  of  almost  pure  blood.* 

At  other  times,  a  few  days  after  calving,  when  she  had  not  cleansed 
well,  or  was  in  too  good  condition,  and  had  not  had  that  dose  of  purgative 
medicine  which  should  always  follow  parturition,  she  suddenly  manifests 
the  same  symptoms  of  illness,  speedily  succeeded  by  a  similar  discharge 
of  bloody  urine. 

The  nature  and  cause  of  the  disease  are  here  evident  enough.  During 
the  period  of  pregnancy  there  had  been  considerable  determination  of 
blood  to  the  womb.  A  degree  of  susceptibility,  a  tendency  to  inflamma- 
tory action  had  been  set  up,  and  this  had  been  increased  as  the  period  of 
parturition  had  approached,  and  was  aggravated  by  the  state  and  general 
fulness  of  blood  to  which  she  had  incautiously  been  raised.  The  neigh- 
bouring organs  necessarily  participated  in  this,  and  the  kidneys,  to  which  so 
much  blood  is  sent  for  the  proper  discharge  of  their  function,  either  quickly 
shared  in  the  inflammation  of  the  womb,  or  first  took  on  inflammation, 
and  suffered  most  by  means  of  it. 

*Mr.  Storry,  speaking  of  the  force  with  which  it  is  expelled,  says,  that  he  has  sometimes 
found  the  neck  of  the  bladder  so  contracted  that  he  was  compelled  to  use  a  catheter. 


RED-WATER.  505 

In  other  cases  there  is  not  this  additional  local  determination:  an  over- 
driven bullock  is  seized  with  acute  inflaniKiation  of  the  kidneys;  another 
that  has  been  shifted  from  poor  to  luxuriant  pasture  is  soon  observed  to 
have  red-water.*  There  are  some  seasons  when  it  is  in  a  manner  epi- 
demic, when  a  great  proportion  of  the  beasts  in  a  certain  district  are  at- 
tacked by  it,  and  many  of  them  die.  Atmospheric  influence  has  not  been 
taken  sufficiently  into  the  account  in  the  consideration  of  this  and  almost 
every  other  disease.  It  is  seldom  that  one  dairy  is  attacked  by  red-water 
without  many  or  most  of  the  neighbouring  ones  being  annoyed  by  it,  and 
especially  if  the  soil  and  the  productions  of  the  soil  are  similar;  and  even 
catde  in  the  straw-yard  have  not  then  quite  escaped.  It  is  more  prevalent 
in  the  spring  and  autumn  than  in  the  winter,  and  more  in  the  winter  than 
in  the  summer:  it  is  particularly  prevalent  when,  in  either  the  spring  or 
the  fall  of  the  year,  warm  days  succeed  to  cold  nights  and  a  heavy  dew. 
It  is  peculiar  to  certain  pastures:  the-  farmer  scarcely  dares  to  turn  even  the 
cattle  of  the  country  upon  some  of  them;  and  a  beast  brought  from  a  dis- 
tant farm  or  market  is  sure  to  be  attacked.  It  oftenest  occurs  in  woody 
districts,  and  particularly  in  low  marshy  lands;  but  in  them  there  are  ex- 
ceptions, which,  in  the  present  state  of  the  botanical  knowledge  of  the 
farmer  and  the  veterinarian  cannot  be  satisfactorily  accounted  for.  A  wall 
or  a  hedge  may  divide  a  perfectly  safe  pasture  from  another  which  gives 
the  red-water  to  every  beast  that  is  turned  upon  it.  One  farmer  scarcely 
knows  what  the  disease  is  except  by  name,  while  on  the  grounds  of  his 
neighbour  it  destroys  many  a  beast  every  year.  The  same  pasture  is  safe 
at  one  time  of  the  year  and  dangerous  and  destructive  at  another.  The 
fields  surrounded  by  copses  may  be  stocked  with  impunity,  or  advantage, 
in  summer  or  winter;  but  the  farmer  must  beware  of  them  when  the  buds 
are  shooting  or  the  leaves  are  falling. 

The  result  of  general  experience  is,  that  it  has  more  to  do  with  the  na- 
ture of  the  food  than  with  any  other  cause;  and  the  production,  or  the  unu- 
sual growth  of  the  astringent  and  acrimonious  plants  niay  have  considera- 
ble influence  here.  The  different  species  of  crowfoot,  or  ranunculus,  and 
also  the  anemones,  and  particularly  the  white-wood  (anemone  nemorosa) 
and  the  yellow-wood  (anemone  ranuyiculoides)  have  been  accused  as  the 
most  frequent  causes  of  this  disease;  but  instinct  will  generally  warn  the 
animal  to  avoid  sources  of  evil  so  palpable  as  these;  and  the  malady  may 
with  more  probability  be  traced  to  the  quality  of  the  general  produce  of 
the  soil  than  to  the  prevalence  of  certain  plants  of  known  acrimonious  or 
poisonous  properties. 

This  noxious  quality  may  be  communicated  by  excess  or  deprivation  of 
moisture.  There  is  no  farmer  who  is  not  aware  of  the  injurious  effect 
of  the  coarse  rank  herbage  of  low,  and  marshy,  and  woody  countries,  and 
he  regards  such  districts  as  the  chosen  residence  of  red-water. 

Mr.  Ford,  in  a  letter  with  which  the  author  was  favoured  from  him, 
says,  that  '  red-water  was  very  prevalent  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Etruria, 
in  StafTordshire,  about  twenty  years  ago  before  the  wetlands  were  drained. 
In  a  dairy  of  twenty  or  thirty  cows,  two-thirds  of  the  number  were  afflict- 
ed with  this  disease  annually,  but  since  the  draining  not  more  than  one  or 
two  annually  have  been  attacked  by  it.  The  fair  inference  is,  that  swampy 
land  is  one  cause  of  the  disease,  whether  from  the  insalubrity  of  the  at- 
mosphere occasioned  by  the  stagnant  water,  or  from  the  coarse  aquatic 
herbage  with  which  such  land  abounds.'     On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Harri- 

*  A  dairy  in  my  neighbourhood  was  once  removed  from  a  farm  on  a  flinty  soil,  to 
one  on  a  strong  clay,  and  every  one  of  them,  consisting  of  seventeen,  were  affected, 
Three  of  them  died,  although  they  had  been  charmed, — Letter  from  Mr.  Nobbs. 
44 


506  CATTLE. 

son,  of  Lancaster,  says,*  that  in  '  the  land  situated  east  and  south-east  of 
that  town,  a  lofty  and  wild  region,  and  where,  in  hot  and  dry  summers, 
water  can  rarely,  if  at  all,  be  procured  by  the  parched  animals  thereon, 
red-water  rages  like  an  epidemic,  annually  attacking  all  ages,  and  numbers 
falling  victims  to  it,  while  in  the  surrounding  valleys  a  case  very  rarely 
occurs.'  He  adds,  '  I  have  known  red-water  make  its  appearance  as  an 
epidemic  upon  farms  where  it  had  hitherto  remained  unknown  except  by 
name,  and  which  could  be  traced  to  no  other  apparent  cause  than  an  ex- 
cess of  draining,  by  which  process  the  natural  and  artificial  grasses  had 
become  altered  in  quality  and  quantity.' 

The  farmer  must  carefully  observe  the  effect  of  the  different  parts  of  his 
farm  in  the  production  of  tiiis  disease,  and  observation  and  thought  may 
suggest  to  him  that  alteration  of  draining  or  manuring,  or  other  manage- 
ment which  may  to  a  considerable  degree  remedy  the  evil. 

Acute  Red-water  is  ushered  in  by  a  discharge  of  bloody  urine,  and  is 
generally  preceded  by  dysentery,  suddenly  changing  to  obstinate  costive- 
ness;  and  as  soon  as  the  costiveness  is  established  the  red-water  appears. 
There  is  laborioirs  breathing,  coldness  of  the  extremities,  ears  and  horns, 
heat  of  the  mouth,  tenderness  of  the  loins,  and  every  indication  of  fever: 
it  often  runs  its  course  with  fearful  rapidity,  and  the  animal  is  sometimes 
destroyed  in  a  very  few  days. 

When  the  carcass  is  examined  there  is  generally  found  some  inflamma- 
tion of  the  kidney,  enlargement  of  it,  turgescence  of  its  vessels,  yet  very 
rarely  any  considerable  disorganization,  and  certainly  not  so  much  affec- 
tion of  it  as  would  be  expected;  but  in  cows  the  uterus  exhibits  much 
greater  inflammation;  there  is  often  ulceration,  the  formation  of  foetid  pus, 
and  occasionally  gangrene;  there  is  also  peritoneal  inflammation,  extensive, 
intense,  with  adhesions  and  eflTusions,  while  the  lining  membrane  of  the 
bowels  rarely  escapes  inflammation  and  ulceration. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  about  the  treatment  of  such  a  disease.  There 
has  either  been  an  undue  quantity  of  blood  determined  to  the  kidneys  with 
much  local  inflammation  and  before  the  pressure  of  which  the  vessels  of 
that  organ  have  given  way,  or  so  much  blood  has  been  always  traversing 
the  kidney,  that  there  is  a  facility  in  setting  up  inflammation  there.  Bleed- 
ing will  be  the  first  step  indicated.  The  first  bleeding  should  be  a  copious 
one;  but  the  repetition  of  it  will  depend  upon  circumstances.  The  hae- 
morrhage, or  bleeding,  is  clearly  active.  It  is  produced  by  some  irritation 
of  the  part:  its  colour  shows  that  it  proceeds  from  the  minute  arterial  or 
capillary  vessels.  When  bloody  urine  flows  from  the  kidney,  that  organ 
is  giving  way  under  an  increased  discharge  of  its  natural  function,  aijd  that 
function  is  increased  in  order  to  compensate  for  the  suspended  one  of  ano- 
ther part,  namely,  the  natural  action  of  the  bowels.  Three  objects  will  be 
accomplished  by  venesection:  the  first,  a  diminution  of  the  general  quan- 
tity of  blood;  the  second — a  consequence  of  the  first — the  removal  of  con- 
gestion in  the  part;  and  the  third  is  the  giving  a  diflferent  direction  to  the 
current  of  blood. 

Purgatives  should  follow  with  a  view  more  quickly  and  eflectually  to 
accomplish  all  these  objects;  and  from  the  recollection  of  a  circumstance 
most  important  to  the  practitioner,  that  red-water  closely  followed  the  es- 
tablishment of  constPpation.  A  pound  of  Epsom  salts  should  be  imme- 
diately exhibited,  and  half-pound  doses  every  eight  hours  afterwards,  until 
the  bowels  are  thoroughly  acted  upon. 

There  is  too  frequently  great  difficulty  in  purging  cattle  when  labouring 
under  red-water:  dose  after  dose  may  be  administered  for  three  or  four 
*  Veterinarian,  May,  1833,  d.  244 


RED- WATER.  507 

flays,  and  yet  the  bowels  will  remain  obstinately  constipated.  Either  there 
is  a  strange  indisposition  in  them  to  be  acted  upon,  or,  the  rumen  sympa- 
thising with  the  derangement  of  other  organs,  the  muscular  pillars  of  its 
roof  yield  to  the  weight  of  the  fluid,  whether  hastily  or  cautiously  adminis- 
tered, and  the  medicine  enters  that  stomach,  and  is  retained  there  until  the 
beast  is  lost.  The  physic  must  be  repeated  again  and  again ;  it  must 
gently  trickle  down  the  gullet,  so  that  it  shall  fall  on  the  roof  of  the  paunch 
with  as  liide  force  as  possible;  and,  after  the  second  day,  in  spite  of  the 
fever,  unusual  doses  of  aromatics  must  mingle  with  it,  that  the  rumen,  or 
the  intestines,  or  both,  may  be  stimulated  to  action.  In  the  majority  of 
cases,  and  especially  before  the  strength  of  the  animal  becomes  exhausted, 
the  commencement  of  purging  will  be  the  signal  of  recovery. 

It,  nevertheless,  too  often  happens,  that  the  constipated  state  of  the 
bowels  cannot  be  overcome,  but  the  animal  becomes  rapidly  weaker,  while 
the  blood  assumes  a  darker,  and  sometimes  a  purple  or  even  a  black 
colour.  The  danger  is  now  increased,  and,  probably,  death  is  not  far  dis- 
tant. In  many  cases,  however,  the  beast  not  being  too  much  exhausted, 
the  dark  and  coffee-coloured  urine  is  a  favourable  symptom,  especially  if  it 
is  discharged  in  evidenUy  larger  quantities,  and  not  so  frequently. 

The  appearance  of  the  darker  fluid,  and  even  the  continuance  of  the 
florid  red  urine,  when  the  fever  has  subsided  to  a  considerable  degree,  will 
indicate  a  diflerenl  mode  of  treatment.  The  haemorrhage  will  have  be- 
come passive.  The  blood  will  flow  because  the  vessels  have  lost  their 
power  of  contracting  on  their  contents.  It  has  then  been  usual  to  give 
astringents;  but  this  is  dangerous  practice,  for  the  constipation,  which  is 
the  worst  symptom  of  the  disease,  and  which  immediately  preceded  the 
red-water,  and  was,  probably,  the  exciting  cause  of  it,  may  be  confirmed 
or  recalled.  Stimulants,  and  those  which  act  upon  the  kidney,  will  be 
most  likely  to  have  beneficial  efl^ect.  The  common  turpentine,  the  balsam 
of  copaiba,  or  even  spirit  of  turpentine,  especially  if  it  is  guarded  by  the 
addition  of  a  k\v  drachms  of  laudanum,  may  be  given  with  advantage. 
The  weakened  vessels  of  the  kidney  may  occasionally  be  roused  to  close 
on  their  contents,  and  the  haemorrhage  may  be  arrested;  but  the  author 
cannot  agree  with  some  of  his  correspondents,  who  say  that  it  can  easily 
be  cured  by  almost  any  diuretic* 

*  A  remedy  of  much  repute  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Chester,  is  a  very  simple  and  a 
very  ridiculous  one.  A  handful  of  salt  and  a  handful  of  oatmeal  are  fried  in  a  pan 
until  black,  and  given  in  a  quart  of  cold  butter-milk,  the  beast  being  kept  without  food 
a  little  while  before.  '  Tlii?,'  says  the  credulous,  '  given  once  or  twice  will  remove  the 
complaint,  if  not  too  long  neglected.^  There  is  always  some  salvo  of  this  kind  attending 
the  exhibition  of  these  wonder-working  medicines.  A  friend  of  the  author's  was  standing 
by  when  Webb's  infallible  medicine  for  the  cure  of  rabies  was  given  to  a  dog.  The 
animal  died  about  the  usual  lime,  and  the  fellow  was  reproved  on  account  of  the  ineffi- 
cacy  of  his  nostrum  :  '  Oh,'  replied  he,  '  my  medicine  got  all  the  madness  out  of  him, 
you  may  depend  upon  it ,  but  you  did  not  sui)port  him,  and  of  course  he  died.' 

Captain  J.  Henderson,  in  liis  '  Survey  ofCaitlmess,'  gravely  tells  his  readers,  that  when 
the  Highlanders  find  a  beast  troubled  with  red-water,  they  search  either  for  a  trout  or  a 
frog,  and  put  it  alive  down  the  animal's  throat;  wiiile  otiiers  give  warm  milk  as  s  spe. 
cific.  In  Inverness  cold  water  poured  down  the  throat  was  formerly  esteemed  a  sove- 
reign remedy;  or  a  decoction  of  nettles  with  a  handful  of  salt. 

In  Dumbarton  it  is  cured  by  water  in  which  a  portion  of  earth  has  been  infused,  with 
a  few  leaves  of  ash  or  alder. 

In  Roxburghshire  a  handful  of  salt  was  mixed  with  a  pint  of  the  beast's  own  blood  as 
it  came  warm  from  the  vein,  and  this  was  poured  down  his  throat. 

In  some  districts  of  Ireland  a  very  successful  preventive  was  used ;  the  beast  was  dailjr 
drenched  with  water  thickened  with  clay,  until  it  became  accustomed  to  the  pasture. 

Some  of  the  farmers  in  Norfolk  used  to  give  a  quart  of  churned  milk,  and  a  handful 
of  salt.  Others  gave  a  quart  of  round  coal  reduced  to  powder,  or  a  quart  of  coal  ashes 
mingled  with  a  quart  of  spring  water,  and  this  was  deemed  to  be  infallible. 


508  CATTLE. 

Chronic  reel-water  is  more  prevalent  than  that  which  is  acute,  and 
in  its  first  stage,  is  far  more  a  disease  of  the  digestive  organs,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  liver,  than  of  the  kidney.  The  urine  is  observed  to  be  of  a 
broivn  colour,  or  brown  tinged  ivith  yellow — the  beast  feeds  nearly  as 
well  as  before,  but  ruminates  rather  more  lazily.  In  a  few  days  a  natural 
diarrhoea  comes  on,  and  the  animal  is  well  at  once;  or  a  purgative  drink  is 
administered,  and  a  cure  is  presently  effected.  This  occurs  frequently  in 
cows  of  weak  constitution  and  in  calves. 

At  other  times  there  is  manifest  indisposition;  the  animal  is  dull,  heavy, 
languid — the  ears  droop — the  back  is  bowed — she  separates  from  the  herd 
— she  refuses  her  food — she  ceases  to  ruminate.  Presently  she  gets  better 
— she  rejoins  her  companions;  but  this  is  only  for  a  little  while.*  The 
urine,  which  at  first  was  brown,  rvith  a  tinge  of  yellow,  has  noiv  red 
mingling  with  the  brown,  or  it  is  of  the  colour  of  porter.  It  is  increased 
in  quantity — it  is  discharged  sometimes  with  ease,  at  other  times  with  con- 
siderable straining — in  little  jets,  and  with  additional  bowing  of  the  back. 
The  milk  diminishes — it  acquires  a  slight  tinge  of  yellow  or  brown — the 
taste  becomes  unpleasant — it  spoils  all  that  it  is  mingled  with.  The  pulse 
is  accelerated — it  reaches  to  60  or  70.  If  blood  is  drawn,  the  serum  which 
separates  from  it  is  brown.  The  skin  is  yellow — but  of  a  darker  yellow 
than  in  jaundice — it  has  a  tinge  of  brown.  The  conjunctiva  is  also  yellow, 
inclining  to  brown.  The  urine  becomes  of  a  darker  hue — it  is  almost 
black.  The  animal  usually  shrinks  when  the  loins  are  pressed  upon;  occa- 
sionally there  is  much  tenderness,  but  oftener  the  beast  scarcely  shrinks 
more  than  he  is  accustomed  to  do  when  labouring  under  almost  every 
disease.  The  belly  is  not  so  much  tucked  up  as  drawn  together  at  the  sides. 
There  is  considerable  loss  of  condition — the  legs  and  ears  get  cold — the 
animal  is  less  inclined  to  move;  there  is  evident  and  general  debility.  In 
every  stage  there  is  costiveness,  and  that  exceedingly  difficult  to  over- 
come; but,  on  close  inquiry,  it  is  ascertained  that  there  was  diarrhoea  at  the 
beginning,  and  which  was  violent  and  foetid,  andichich  suddenly  stopped. 

Mr.  Dickens,  of  Kimbolton,  says,  that  '  a  few  years  back  there  was  a  gentleman  liv- 
ing in  Huntingdonshire  who  was  very  celebrated  for  the  cure  of  red-wator,  and  liis  son, 
a  most  respectable  farmer,  tells  me  the  following  was  his  never-failing  recipe :  Bal.  ar- 
mcnian  gii.  a  handful  of  salt,  and  a  strong  decoction  from  the  common  nettle:  of  this 
he  made  a  drink  which  he  used  to  sell  for  2s.  6rf.' 

Mr.  T.  Browne,  of  Hinciiley,  says,  that  red-water  is  not  very  common  in  his  neigh- 
bourhood:  and  that  he  knows  but  of  one  farm  that  is  subject  to  it:  this  farm  lies  in 
a  low  damp  situation,  and  the  farmer  cures  it  by  the  administration  of  brandy. 

Mr.  Ford,  speaking  of  the  treatment  of  red-water  in  the  neiglibourhood  of  Etruria, 
says,  that  '  some  use  astringents,  as  rock  alum,  tincture  of  cantharides,  and  the  juice  of 
nettles;  some  give  writing  paper  boiled  to  pieces  in  skimmed  milk  ;  while  others  give 
Epsom  or  Glauber  salts,  or  common  kitchen  salt,  in  order  to  counteract  the  tendency 
to  constipation,  and  leave  the  disease  itself  to  tiie  effort  of  nature,  which  usually  stops 
the  blood  after  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  exhaustion.' 

In  a  book  which  is  found  on  the  shelves  of  many  agriculturists,  and  a  very  useful  one 
so  far  as  the  general  treatment  of  cattle  is  concerned,  the  following  remedy  for  red-water 
stands  recorded  :  '  Take  two  or  three  handtuls  of  stinging  nettles,  and  boil  or  stew  them 
slowly  in  three  quarts  of  water  until  reduced  to  one  quart ;  when  cool,  give  it  to  the  beast. 
Then  having  ready  a  pint  of  common  salt,  put  it  into  a  quart  bottle  filled  with  chamber 
ley  ;  shake  it  well  until  the  salt  be  dissolved,  and  immediately  give  it  to  the  beast.  This 
remedy  I  believe  to  be  infallible,  and  my  success  in  tiiis  disorder  has  led  me  to  many 
other  discoveries.  It  is  a  doubt  with  mc  whether  the  nettles  have  any  thing  to  do  with 
the  cure,  as  I  have  known  this  disease  cured  with  buttermilk  and  pig's  dung,  and  a  frog 
with  a  large  quantity  of  cold  spring  water  ;  but  I  have  known  each  of  these  remedies 
to  fail ;  the  former  prescription  never.' — Parkivson's  Treatise  on  Live  Stock,  vol.  i.  p.  243. 
But  enough  of  this  absurdity  ! 

*  The  author,  however,  has  one  case  strong  in  his  recollection,  in  which  there  was  a 
respite  of  several  months,  and  that  repeated  three  times,  but  every  cow  in  the  dairy  at 
length  perished. 


RED- WATER.  509 

Examination  after  death  shows  the  skin  and  the  cellular  membrane  un- 
derneath to  be  of  a  dark  yellow;  the  fat  about  the  belly  is  of  the  same  hue, 
or  perhaps  of  a  lighter  tinge.  The  first  and  second  stomachs  are  full: 
there  is  no  fermentation  and  little  gas,  or  sour  smell.  The  manyplus  is 
perfectly  dry — baking  could  hardly  add  to  the  hardness — were  it  not  for 
its  weight  it  might  be  kicked  about  as  a  football.  The  leaves  of  the  many- 
plus  cling  to  the  food  contained  between  them:  the  papillae  leave  their  evi- 
dent indentations  on  the  hardened  mass,  and  that  mass  cannot  be  detached 
without  considerable  portions  of  the  cuticle  clinging  to  it.  The  fourth 
stomach  is  empty,  and  the  lining  membrane  covered  with  brown  mucus, 
exhibiting  patches  of  inflammation  underneath.  The  intestines  are  rarely 
inflamed.  There  is  no  fluid  in  the  belly,  nor  inflammation  of  its  lining 
membrane,  'i'he  kidney  is  of  a  yellow-brown  colour,  and  sometimes  a 
little  enlarged,  but  there  is  rarely  inflammation  or  disease  about  it. 
Drops  of  dark  and  brown-coloured  urine  may  be  pressed  from  it.  The 
lungs  display  no  mark  of  dangerous  disease,  but  they  too  have  a  yellow 
hue.  The  fluid  in  the  bag  of  the  heart  is  yellow.  The  chyle,  which  is 
traversing  the  lacteal  vessels,  is  yellow  too,  and  there  is  the  same  dis- 
colouration of  the  fluids  every  where. 

The  liver  is  evidently  of  a  darker  colour;  it  is  enlarged,  generally 
in/lamed,  sometimes  rotten,  and  filled  with  black  blood.  The  gall-bladder 
is  full,  almost  to  distension.  The  bile  is  thick  and  black:  it  looks  more 
like  lamp-black  mixed  with  oil,  than  like  healthy  bile. 

All  these  appearances  lead  to  the  necessary  conclusion  that  this  is  far 
more  a  disease  of  the  digestive  organs  than  of  the  kidney;  in  fact,  that  it 
is  not  primarily  an  afl'ection  of  the  kidney.  It  is  disease  of  the  liver, 
either  consisting  in  inflammation  of  that  organ,  accompanied  by  increased 
secretion  of  bile,  or  a  change  in  the  quahty  of  the  bile.  In  consequence  of 
this  the  whole  circulatory  fluid  becomes  tinged  with  the  colour  of  the  bile, 
and  which  is  shown  in  the  hue  of  the  skm  generally,  and  in  the  colour  of 
the  blood,  and  particularly  in  the  change  that  takes  place  in  that  blood 
when  drawn  from  the  vein. 

The  fluid  discharged  from  the  kidneys  participates  in  the  general  change; 
it  becomes  yellow — yellow-brown — brown.  The  change  is  most  evident 
here,  because  so  great  a  quantity  of  blood,  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the 
organ,  circulates  through  the  kidneys;  and  more  particularly  it  is  evident 
here,  because  it  is  the  oflice  or  duty  of  the  kidneys  to  separate  from  the 
blood,  and  to  expel  from  the  circulation,  that  which  is  foreign  to  the  blood, 
or  would  be  injurious  to  the  animal. 

The  bile,  however,  possesses  an  acrid  principle  to  a  considerable  degree. 
While  it  is  an  excrementitious  substance  that  must  be  got  rid  of,  it  stimu- 
lates the  intestinal  canal  as  it  passes  along  in  order  to  be  discharged:  it 
particularly  does  so  when  it  is  secreted  in  undue  quantities,  or  when  its 
quality  is  altered.  There  is  abundant  proof  of  this  in  the  bilious  irritation 
and  diarrhoea  which  cattle  so  frequently  exhibit.  The  kidney,  at  length, 
is  evidently  irritated  by  the  continued  presence  of  this  diseased  fluid:  it 
becomes  inflamed,  its  minute  vessels  are  ruptured,  and  a  red  hue  begins  to 
mingle  with  the  brown.  There  is  found  discolouration  and  increased  size 
of  the  kidney,  and  pain  in  the  region  of  that  organ;  this,  however,  is  rarely 
carried  to  any  considerable  extent,  and  the  seat  and  principal  ravages  of 
disease  are  to  be  clearly  traced  to  a  different  part,  namely,  the  liver. 

It  is  with  peculiar  pleasure  that  the  author  refers  to  the  opinion  of  Mr. 
Harrison:*  '  That  chronic    indigestion  in  cattle  is  a    principle  cause  of 

*  Veterinarian,  May,  1833,  p.  244. 

44* 


510  CATTLE. 

most  diseases  to  which  they  are  incident,  has  long  been  observed  by  me, 
Haematuria,  (red-water,)  I  am  perfectly  convinced,  owes  its  origin  to  it,  at 
least  in  the  generality  of  cases;  and  I  feel  quite  a'ssured  that  the  discoloura- 
tion of  urine  is  entirely  referrible  to  that  cause,  and  not  to  any  nephritic 
affection,  as  is  too  generally,  and  oftentimes  fatally  supposed.' 

Mr.  Friend  is  much  of  the  same  opinion.  '  This  disease  appears  to  be 
one  brought  on  also  by  indigestion.  There  are  certain  pastures  which 
seem  peculiarly  to  produce  it,  and  certain  seasons  which  seem  equally  to 
predispose  towards  it.  Where  the  facts  of  the  case  can  be  got  at,  it  is 
generally  found  that  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  intestines  is  first  affected, 
producing  diarrhcea;  though  this  always  extends  as  the  disease  proceeds  to 
the  peritoneal  coat,  and  probably  to  the  whole  siibstance  of  the  intestines, 
and  the  most  obstinate  costiveness  is  the  result.'* 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  acute  and  chronic  red-water,  as  the  author  of 
this  treatise  has  termed  them,  (for  he  did  not,  in  the  present  state  of  our 
knowledge  of  cattle  medicine,  dare  to  deviate  too  far  from  the  usual  ar- 
rangement and  designation  of  disease,)  are  essentially  different  maladies: 
they  belong  to  different  organs — they  are  characterised  by  different  symp- 
toms— they  require  different  treatment.  The  first  is  inflammation  of  the 
kidney;  it  is  characterised  by  the  evident  pain  and  fever,  and  by  the  red 
and  bloody  urine  which  accompanies  it  in  an  early  stage;  it  requires  the 
most  active  treatment,  and  it  speedily  runs  its  course.  The  second  is  in- 
flammation of,  or  altered  secretion  from,  the  liver;  not  often  accompanied 
in  its  early  stage  by  pain  or  fever;  characterised  by  the  dark  brown  colour 
of  vitiated  bile,  and  more  slowly,  but  as  fatally,  undermining  the  strength 
of  the  constitution. 

As  to  the  first  step  in  the  treatment  of  chronic  red-water,  there  is  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion  among  veterinary  surgeons;  many  strongly  recommend 
bleeding,  and  others  as  strenuously  deprecate  it.  The  truth  is,  that  the 
propriety  of  bleeding  depends  on  the  condition  of  the  beast,  and  the  de- 
gree of  fever.  An  animal  in  high  or  in  fair  condition  can  never  be  hurt 
by  one  bleeding;  while,  on  >the  contrary,  lurking,  deceptive,  fatal  febrile 
action  may  be  subdued.  If  there  is  the  slightest  degree  of  actual  fever, 
nothing  can  excuse  the  neglect  of  bleeding.  The  quantity  taken,  or  the 
repetition  of  the  abstraction  of  blood,  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the 
practitioner. 

On  the  next  step  there  is  not  a  difference  of  opinion  among  well-in- 
formed men.  The  animal  must  be  well  purged  if  he  is  in  a  constipated 
state;  or  if  there  is  already  a  discharge  of  glairy  fascal  matter,  the  character 
of  that  must  be  changed  by  a  purgative.  There  has  been  dispute,  and 
more  than  there  needed  to  be,  as  to  the  nature  of  the  purgative.  That  is 
the  best  whose  effects  are  most  speedily  and  certainly  produced,  and  there 
is  no  drug  more  to  be  depended  upon  in  both  these  respects  than  the 
Epsom  salts.  It  may  be  alternated  with  Glauber's  salts,  or  common  salt, 
or  an  aperient  of  a  different  character,  sulphur,  may  be  added  to  it.  Much 
good  effect  is  often  produced  by  this  mixture  of  aperients.  Mr.  Friend  is 
a  strenuous  advocate  of  sulphur  combined  with  Epsom  salts;  and,  as 
there  is  either  so  much  real  costiveness — indisposition  to  be  acted  upon 
by  purgative  medicine — or  so  much  relaxation  of  the  floor  of  the  oesopha- 
gean  canal  that  the  medicine  falls  into  the  rumen  instead  of  going  to 
its  proper  destination,  and  as  the  establishment  of  purgation  seems  to 
have  so  uniform  and  beneficial  an  effect  in  relieving  the  disease,  the  medi- 
cine that  is  adopted  should  be  given  in  a  full  dose.     It  should  consist  of 

»  Veterinarian,  June,  1833,  p.  299. 


RED- WATER.  fill 

at  least  a  pound  of  Epsom  salts,  and  half  a  pound  of  sulphur,  and  this 
should  be  repeated  in  doses  consisting  of  half  the  quantity  of  each,  until 
the  constipation  is  decidedly  overcome. 

It  is  imperatively  necessary  that  the  practitioner  should  have  made  up 
his  mind  as  to  the  real  nature  of  the  disease ;  for  although  he  might,  in 
inflammation  of  the  kidney,  fear  to  weaken  by  active  purgation  an  animal 
that  was  likely  to  be  speedily  debilitated  by  excessive  loss  of  blood,  (yet 
that  fear  would  generally  be  destitute  of  all  reasonable  foundation,)  and 
would  be  tempted  to  try  whether  the  haemorrhage  might  not  be  arrested 
by  astringents  or  stimulants,  it  would  scarcely  need  a  moment's  reflection 
to  convince  him  that  he  must  check  this  excessive  discharge  of  vitiated 
bile,  or  divert  it  from  that  organ  which  is  chiefly  suffering  under  its  influ- 
ence. Most  of  all  he  would  be  convinced,  that  he  must  restore  the  liver 
to  a  healthy  discharge  of  its  natural  functions  ;  and  that  he  can  best  accom- 
plish these  purposes  by  freely  opening  the  bowels,  and  in  fact  by  no  other 
means  accomplish  them.  Stimulants  would  be  dangerous,  and  astringent 
medicine  would  be  actual  poison  in  this  disease.* 

It  will  not  be  forgotten  that  the  precautions  already  recommended 
should  be  carefully  observed,  in  order  to  give  the  physic  the  best  chance  of 
passing  into  the  bowels  ;  that  the  patent  pump  should  be  in  frequent  requi- 
sition for  the  administration  of  clysters ;  and  that  when  purging  is  once 
induced,  a  lax  state  of  the  bowels  should  be  kept  up  by  means  of  the  fre- 
quent repetition  of  smaller  doses  of  the  medicine.  The  diet  should  con- 
sist principally  of  mashes,  gruel,  linseed  tea,  fresh  cut  young  grass,  young 
and  fresh  vetches,  and  a  few  carrots.  The  conclusion  of  the  treatment 
will  be  best  given  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Friend:  'I  generally  find  it 
necessary  to  administer  the  Epsom  salts  in  doses  of  four  or  six  ounces,  as 
an  alterative,  for  a  few  days  afterwards ;  to  which,  if  there  exist  any 
debility,  I  add  two  drachms  of  the  calumba  powder,  (gentian  has  belter 
effect,)  and  one  drachm  of  ginger.'f 

*  Mr.  Friend  relates  an  anecdote  that  well  illustrates  this :  '  Sir,'  said  a  farmer  once 
to  him,  (alluding  to  his  having  lost  a  beast  with  this  disease,)  '  the  farrier  cured  the  beast 
of  his  staling  blood  well  enough,  but  somehow  his  drinks  dried  his  body  up,  and  killed 
him.' — Veterinarian,  June,  1833,  p.  299. 

+  Veterinarian,  May,  1833,  p.  245.  The  Highland  Society  of  Scotland  offered  in  1830 
a  gold  medal,  or  ten  sovereigns,  for  the  best  essay  on  the  causes,  prevention,  and  cure  of 
red-water.  There  were  seven  competitors,  whose  essays  were  published  in  the  'Quarterly 
Journal  of  Agriculture,'  for  May,  1831.  The  history  of  this  prevalent  and  fatal  disease 
cannot,  perhaps,  be  better  concluded  than  by  a  condensation  of  the  substance  of  these 
papers.  At  that  period  they  were  the  only  publications  of  the  slightest  value  on  this 
important  subject,  and  some  of  them  reflect  a  high  degree  of  credit  on  the  authors. 

One  competitor  was  a  farmer ;  and  although  there  are  very  strange  notions  of  this 
disease  prevalent  among  agriculturists,  yet  the  opinion  of  a  sensible  practical  man  is 
always  valuable.  Mr.  W.  A.  Slaker,  of  Ardiffny,  Aberdeenshire,  states,  that  cows  after 
calving,  and  calves  after  the  milk  is  taken  from  them,  are  most  liable  to  red-water  ;  that 
it  is  most  prevalent  from  the  beginning  of  January  to  the  end  of  April ;  that  sudden 
transitions  tirom  heat  to  cold,  and  dry  stimulating  food,  and  costiveness,  the  natural  conse- 
quence of  the  latter,  or  otherwise  produced,  are  the  chief  causes.  Bj  way  of  prevention, 
he  recommends  that  cows  should  be  bled  before  calving,  and  that  the  bowels  should  be 
kept  moderately  open  by  occasional  doses  of  common  salt  dissolved  in  water.  As  a 
cure,  he  gives  twenty  ounces  of  Epsom  salts  in  warm  water,  and  half  an  hour  afterwards 
two  quarts  of  gruel  with  half  a  pound  of  butter  dissolved  in  it;  half  the  quantity  of  the 
gruel  and  butter  to  be  repeated  every  two  hours  ;  the  physic  to  be  repeated,  if  necessary, 
at  the  expiration  of  twenty-four  hours ;  and,  should  the  constipation  be  obstinate,  clysters 
composed  as  follows  should  be  frequently  administered  : — boil  an  ounce  of  aniseed  in  a 
quart  of  water,  strain  the  clear  liquor,  and  dissolve  in  it  four  ounces  of  butter,  and  a  table- 
spoonful  of  salt.  To  calves  he  gives  four  ounces  of  Epsom  salts,  and  half  an  ounce  of 
nitre,  with  the  same  kind  of  gruel.  He  often  finds  the  manyplus  so  dry  that  it  might 
almost  serve  for  fuel.  He  considers  that  more  animals  die  of  the  fever  by  which  the 
disease  is  accompanied  than  by  the  loss  of  blood,  and  tliinks  it  of  the  utmost  consequence 


512  CATTLE. 


BLACK-WATER. 


This  is  only  another  and  the  conckiding  stage  of  Red-water.  When 
it  follows  the  acute  or  inflammatory  disease,  it  may  be  considered  as  a 
favourable  symptom  if  the  urine  contains  no   purient  matter,  and  has  no 

to  keep  the  bowels  open.     Mr.  Slakcr  writes  like  a  sensible  man,  and  would  beat  many 
a  veterinary  surgeon  out  of  the  field, 

Mr.  A.  Hknderson,  land  surveyor,  Edinburgh,  was  bred  a  farmer,  and  had  afterwards 
most  extensive  opportunities  of  observing  this  disease,  and  of  which  he  api)ears  to  have 
diligently  availed  himself.  He  considers  queys  and  cows  most  liable  to  red-water,  which 
occasionally  prevails  at  all  times,  but  is  most  prevalent  in  cold  spring,  or  long-continued 
dry  summer  weather.  The  causes  are  various  :  scarcity  of  water  in  summer — tiie  drink- 
ing of  bad  or  staguant  water — change  of  pasture,  particularly  from  fine  to  coarse  quality, 
yet  oltcn  observed  on  a  liglit  soil,  during  a  dry  and  hot  season,  and  when  cattle  on  a 
deeper  soil  would  escape,  and  when  on  that  soil,  in  a  moist  season,  not  one  would  be 
affected — change  of  atmospheric  temperature — strains — bruises — or  any  thing  that 
may  excite  inflammation  in  the  kidneys  or  neighbouring  parts.  When  caftls  were  jour- 
neying, he  observed  that  twenty  females  were  attacked  for  one  male,  and  particularly 
such  as  had  had  calves — that  at  the  commencement  of  the  journey  the  disease  was  rarely 
very  prevalent,  provided  there  was  a  constant  supply  of  water,  and  the  weather  proved 
steady — that  want  of  water  and  sudden  changes  of  weather  soon  produced  it — that  the 
tendency  to  it  was  increased  by  strains  and  bruises,  and  the  cattle  fretting,  and  riding 
upon  each  other,  and  by  the  unmerciful  blows  of  the  drivers,  for  those  that  fell  behind, 
and  were  thus  exposed  to  mal-treatment,  were  most  frequently  affected.  It  w^as  his 
opinion,  that  it  was  more  an  accidental  disease,  and  brought  on  by  ill  treatment,  than  a 
constitutional  or  epidemical  one ;  yet  some  animals  of  the  same  breed  and  age  were 
more  subject  to  it  tlian  others,  and  those  that  once  had  the  disease  were  more  apt  to  be 
again  affected  by  it. 

Prevention. — A  supply  of  pure  water — the  cattle  not  being  put  on  change  of  pasture, 
and  particularly  of  inferior  quality,  when  hungry — not  being  put  on  rougii,  coarse  pas- 
ture in  summer,  nor  fed  on  heated  hay  in  winter — not  being  put  at  once  into  a  damp, 
cold  pasture  in  the  evening,  after  having  been  overheated  during  the  day — and  when 
the  disease  commences  in  a  stock,  a  little  blood  being  taken  from  all  of  them. 

Cure. — Removal  to  some  moderately,  warm,  dry,  and  sheltered  place;  bleeding ;  purg- 
ing with  common  salt.  In  more  advanced  stages,  and  when  the  inflammation  is 
subdued,  two  ounces  of  Castile  soap,  one  ounce  of  bole  armenian,  half  an  ounce  of 
dragon's  blood,  and  one  drachm  of  rock  alum,  in  a  quart  of  warm  ale  or  beer.  (!)  In 
the  still  later  stages  the  same  drink,  or  occasionally  a  cordial  one  ;  clysters,  and  a  stimu- 
lating embrocation  to  the  loins. 

Next  stands  Mr.  A.  Watt,  druggist,  Kintore.  Every  one  who  is  really  acquainted 
with  the  treatment  of  the  diseases  of  cattle,  views  an  essay  on  cattle  medicine  by  a  drug- 
gist south  of  the  Tweed  with  a  great  deal  of  suspicion  ;  and  there  seems  to  be  cause  tor 
that  suspicion  further  northward.  It  is  strange  that  the  Society  should  have  admitted  a 
paper  recommending  so  many  deadly  poisons  ;  and  if  a  portion  of  it  is  here  extracted,  it 
is  that  the  readers  of  the  Farmer's  Series  may  be  warned  against  so  murderous  a  practice: 
•A  liberal  use  of  opium,  with  mercurials,  alkalies,  sulphuric  acid,  turpentine,  ctlier,  and 
nitre,  is  the  best  practice.  I  have  found  the  annexed  recipe  to  answer  better  than  any 
yet  tried,  as  out  of  200  trials  it  only  failed  in  four  :  take  of  tincture  of  opium  half  an 
ounce,  sulphate  of  potash  half  an  ounce,  sulphuric  acid  sixty  drops,  spirit  of  hartshorn 
one  ounce;  mix,  and  give  in  a  bottle  of  new  milk:  repeat  every  eight  hours.  If  there 
should  be  costiveness,  injections  of  butter,  green  oil,  and  warm  water,  should  be  em- 
ployed. Loss  of  the  hoofs  and  part  of  the  tail  may  be  prevented  by  rubbing  the  back 
and  legs  with  salt  brine  twice  a  day  for  a  week  after  the  disorder  has  been  subdued.' 

The  veterinary  surgeon  is  always  glad  when  the  scientific  practitioner  of  human  medi- 
cine condescends  to  bestow  some  altel^tion  on  the  diseases  of  domestic  animals.  Dr.  James 
Bayne,  of  Oatfield,  Inverness,  favoured  the  Society  with  a  paper  on  red-water.  If  he 
is  a  little  in  error  when  he  says  that  the  disease  is  most  severe  and  obstinate  in  mn'os — 
that  bulls  are  particularly  liable  to  it — and  that  it  generally  makes  its  appearance  during 
the  summer  months,  and  in  the  beginning  of  autumn,  but  never  in  winter  and  spring ; 
yet  his  mode  of  cure  is  simple,  scientific,  and  eftectual.  It  forms  a  singular  and  pleasing 
contrast  to  that  wliich  was  last  mentioned.  On  the  first  appearance  of  the  disease  the 
animal  is  confined  to  the  house  or  yard,  and  from  half  a  pound  to  a  pound  and  a  half  of 
Glauber  salts  administered ;  and  if  there  is  much  appearance  of  fever,  about  a  quart 
(qy.  four  or  five  quarts?)  of  blood  is  taken  from  the  neck;  and  if  costiveness  is  present, 
frequent  injections  of  warm  water  are  administered.  He  has  frequently  injected  a  pail- 
ful at  a  time.  During  the  continuance  of  the  disease  the  animal  should  not  bg  allowed 
to  go  out  to  pasture,  but  small  quantities  of  cut  grass  should  be  given,      iftw 


BLACK-WATER.  513 

unpleasant  smell.  It  shows  that  the  blood  is  not  discharged  so  rapidly 
and  forcibly  as  it  was;  and  that  it  hangs  about  the  mouths  of  the  vessels, 
or  is  contained  in  the  cavity  of  the  kidney,  or  in  the  bladder  sufficiently 

The  three  other  competitors  for  the  medal  were  veterinar)'^  surgeons. 

Mr.  B.  W.  Laing,  of  Banchory  Tcrnan,  Aberdeenshire,  states,  that  in  his  district  red- 
water  occurs  most  frequently  in  autumn,  winter,  and  the  early  part  of  spring;  and  is 
produced  by  want  of  exercise,  want  of  access  to  earth,  every  cause  of  costiveness,  the 
use  of  barley,  and  chaff,  and  the  sudden  setting  in  of  frosty  weather.  As  preventives, 
he  recommends  as  much  liberty  as  possible  during  the  winter — bleeding  and  physick- 
ing two  or  three  weeks  before  calving — thawing  the  turnips  in  frosty  weather,  and 
giving  no  boiled  food  or  grain.  As  a  cure,  he  has  recourse  to  bleeding;  he  then  gives, 
in  the  form  of  balls,  twelve  drachms  of  Barbadoes  aloes,  three  of  calomel,  and  an  ounce 
of  Castile  soap;  twelve  hours  after  the  administration  of  which  he  administers  two 
ounces  each  of  Epsom  salts  and  common  salt  in  cold  water:  after  this,  occasional  doses 
of  linseed  oil  are  given  until  the  physic  operates.  He  then  has  recourse  to  the  follow- 
ing drink,  which  is  continued  morning  and  evening  until  the  water  becomes  clear:  ace- 
tate of  lead  lialf  a  drachm,  alum  two  drachms,  and  catechu  two  drachms,  dissolved  in 
boiling  water,  and  given  blood-warm.  Immediately  after  this,  two  gills  of  vinegar, 
mixed  with  a  bottle  of  cold  water,  are  horned  down.  Surely,  if  the  medicine  is  not  de- 
prived of  much  of  its  astringent  power  by  the  decomposition  which  must  necessarily 
take  place,  this  is  almost  as  injudicious  a  practice  as  that  of  Mr.  Watt,  the  druggist  of 
Kintore. 

Mr.  Peter  Smith,  of  Ardgethan,  Aberdeenshire,  stands  next  on  the  list  Although 
the  reasoning  on  which  it  is  founded  may  not  be  perfectly  admissible,  or,  rather,  it  is 
too  complicated  to  be  easily  understood  or  assented  to,  yet  he  adopts  the  very  proper 
conclusion  that  red-water  is  not  a  local,  but  a  constitutional  disease.  He  would  prevent 
it  by  administering  aperient  medicine  during  those  states  of  the  constitution,  and  un- 
der those  circumstances,  and  at  those  periods  of  the  year  when  an  attack  of  the  disease 
is  most  to  be  dreaded.  As  a  cure,  he  places  his  chief  dependence  on  purgation.  He 
begins  with  a  pound  and  a  half  of  Epsom  salts,  and  half  a  pint  of  castor  oil,  and  this 
is  soon  accompanied  by  injections  containing  common  salt  and  butter.  The  purgation 
is  repeated  every  twelve  hours,  until  the  urine  becomes  clearer.  When  this  has  been  ac- 
complished he  diminishes  the  dose,  but  he  keeps  the  bowels  under  the  influence  of  the 
medicine  until  the  animal  is  quite  recovered.  Succulent  vegetables  are  given  at  first, 
but  after  the  bowels  are  well  cleaned,  and  the  urine  becomes  clearer,  the  cow  may  be 
allowed  the  moderate  use  of  straw  or  hay.  In  bad  cases,  he  inserts  a  blister  in  the 
dew-lap.  When  the  animal  is  getting  better,  he  gives  half  pn  ounce  of  each  of  carra- 
way,  aniseeds,  and  spirit  of  hartshorn. 

Mr.  Smith  remarks,  that  in  his  neighbourhood  red-water  occurs  during  the  summer 
months  to  cattle  out  of  pasture;  that  animals  reared  in  the  district  are  rareJy  affected  by 
it,  but  those  from  a  district  where  the  darn  (the  provincial  name  of  this  disease)  does 
not  occur,  are  almost  sure  to  be  seized  with  it;  and  that  the  inhabitants  when  purchas- 
ing cattle  are  careful  to  ascertain  whether  they  are  darn-bred,  that  is,  whether  they 
come  from  a  district  where  darn  prevails.  The  inhabitants  attribute  the  disease  to  the 
wood  anemone,  {anemone  vemorosa,)  and  give  that  plant  the  name  of  darn-grass,  and 
which,  they  say,  is  a  rare  plant  where  darn  does  not  occur,  but  is  very  common  in  the 
darn  district.     Mr.  Smith's  essay  does  him  much  credit. 

The  seventh  competitor,  and  the  most  deserving,  is  Mr.  R.  Thomson,  now  of  Beith. 
After  a  most  accurate  detail  of  symptoms,  he  states  it  to  be  his  opinion,  that  it  is  the 
black,  inspissated  bile,  which,  taken  up  by  the  absorbents,  and  passed  into  the  blood,  co- 
lours all  the  secretions.  He  believes  purgatives  of  any  kind,  given  in  large  quantities 
of  water,  to  be  the  best  medicine  that  can  be  employed,  and  he  prefers  common  salt. 
He  continues  his  purgative,  with  plentiful  dilution,  until  the  bowels  are  well  opened; 
and  he  afterwards  keeps  them  in  a  lax  state  by  administering  linseed  oil.  Diuretics 
and  astringents  combined  can  be  only  of  service  when  the  bowels  are  open;  and  even 
then,  the  improper  administration  of  them  often  causes  inflammation  of  the  bowels  and 
kidneys.  If  the  bowels  are  kept  open  by  laxatives,  the  disease  will  generally  disappear 
without  their  use. 

Veterinary  practitioners  and  agriculturists  generally,  are  much  indebted  to  the  High- 
land Society  of  Scotland  for  the  publication  of  these  papers.  However  objectionable 
may  be  the  treatment  recommended  in  two  of  them,  they  all  contain  some  useful  hints, 
and  that  by  Mr.  Thomson  comprises  the  substance  of  that  treatment  which  is  founded 
on  principle,  and  will  be  attended  by  success  where  success  can  be  obtained. 

The  following  extract  from  a  leffor  just  received  from  Mr.  Steel,  V.  S.,  of  Biggar,  N.  B., 
is  strongly  confirmatory  of  the  opinion  the  author  has  expressed  of  red-water,  viz.:  that 
it  is  far  more  a  disease  of  the  digestive  tlian  of  the  urinary  system,  and  that  the  liver 


514  CATTLE. 

long  to  be  changed  from  arterial  to  venous  blood,  and  the  practitioner  will 
be  encouraged  to  proceed  in  the  course  which  he  had  adopted:  but  if  pu- 
rulent matter  mingles  with  the  black  blood,  it  indicates  the  sad  extent  of 
the  mischief  that  has  been  done.  It  is  a  proof  of  ulceration,  if  not  of  gan- 
grene, and  shows  that  a  degree  of  disorganization  has  taken  place  which 
must  speedily  terminate  in  death. 

If  in  chronic  red-water,  or  that  which  depends  on  disease  of  the  liver, 
the  discharge  becomes  of  a  darker  and  still  darker  brown,  until  it  has  as- 
sumed an  almost  black  character,  it  sliows  either  that  the  system  is  loaded 
with  a  superabundance  of  this  empoisoned  secretion,  and  of  which  it  can- 
not rid  itself,  or  that  the  irritation  caused  by  the  continued  presence  of  so 
acrimonious  a  fluid  is  producing  inflammation,  gangrene,  and  death  in  the 
vessels  that  are  filled  and  oppressed  by  it.  Mr.  Thompson  well  describes 
this: — '  In  the  last  stage  of  the  disease,  when  the  urine  assumes  a  darker 
brown  or  black  colour,  no  remedy  seems  to  have  any  efficacy;  .the  animal 
is  sunk  beyond  recovery,  and  he  stretches  himself  out  and  dies  as  if  per- 
fecdy  exhausted.'* 

INFLAMMATION  OF  THE  KIDNEYS. 

Catde  are  occasionally  subject  to  inflammation  of  the  kidneys  bearing 
considerable  resemblance  to  acute  red-water,  but  attended  by  more  of  the 
symptoms  of  pure  inflammation  of  that  organ  in  other  animals.  At  first 
there  are  seldom  any  indications  of  disease  beyond  a  straining  effort  in 
voiding  the  urine,  and  which  is  ejected  forcibly  and  in  small  quantities, 
the  loins  being  more  than  usually  tender,  and,  perhaps,  a  little  hot.  In  a 
day  or  two  afterwards,  however,  the  beast  becomes  dull,  and  careless  about 
his  food;  the  diflficulty  of  staling  increases;  blood  is  perceived  to  mingle 
Avith  the  urine;  the  muzzle  becomes  dry;  the  horns  and  ears  cold;  the  pulse 
frequent  and  hard,  and  the  breathing  quickened.  Diarrhoea  or  dysentery 
is  now  observed;  the  evacuations  are  fcetid;  they  too  are  discharged  with 
effort  and  in  diminished  quantities,  and  at  length  cease  to  appear. 

The  difficulty  of  passing  the  urine  becomes  rapidly  greater;  the  beast 
strangely  bows  his  back,  and  groans  from  intensity  of  pain;  at  length  total 
suppression  of  urine  ensues;  cold  sweats  break  out,  principally  about  the 
back,  sides,  and  shoulders,  and  the  patient  trembles  all  over;  he  moans 
continually,  but  the  moaning  gets  lower  and  lower;  he  becomes  paralyzed 
behind;  the  pulse  can  scarcely  be  felt;  the  animal  falls;  he  is  incapable  of 
rising,  and  he  dies  in  three  or  four  days  after  the  apparent  commencement 
of  the  attack. 

This  is  especially  a  disease  of  the  spring  time  of  the  year.  It  is  the 
consequence  of  over-nourishment:  there  is  a  predisposition  to  inflamma- 
tion; and  from  some  cause,  more  or  less  apparent,  that  inflammation  is  di- 
rected to  the  kidney.  The  treatment  will  comprise  plentiful  bleeding,  active 
purging,  the  administration  of  emollient  clysters,  fomentation  over  the 
loins  or  the  application  of  a  mustard  poultice  to  them,  bran  mashes,  gruel, 
and  a  small  quantity  of  green  succulent  food.  There  is  a  connexion  be- 
tween all  these  affections  of  the  kidneys,  and  inflammation  of  the  larger 
intestines  lying  in  the  neighbourhood  of  them;  thence  the  previous  dysen- 
tery, and  the  often  obstinate  constipation  of  red-water  and  pure  inflam- 
mation of  these  organs;  and  thence  the  necessity  of  large  and  repeated 

's  the  organ  principally  afTected.  He  is  describing  a  case  of  acute  red-water.  He  says, 
— 'The  uterus  had  spots  of  inflammation,  the  gall-bladder  was  filled  witli  a  fluid  re- 
sembling the  urine  which  the  cow  was  passing,  the  manyplus  was  rather  hard  and  dry, 
and  the  kidneys  had  a  relaxed  bleaehed-like  appearance.  The  blood,  when  it  is  drawn, 
very  much  resembles  the  urine;  and  there  is  sometimes  no  other  difference,  than  that 
the  blood  coagulates,  and  the  urine  does  not.' 

*  Quarterly  Journal  of  Agriculture,  May,  1831,  p.  12. 


THE  KIDNEYS  AND  BLADDER.  515 

doses  of  purgative  meclicii>3,  but  from  which  all  stimulating  ingredients 
should  be  excluded,  and  which  would  probably,  in  these  cases,  best  consist 
of  castor  or  linseed  oil.  The  clysters  also  should  be  truly  emollient,  that 
while  they  assist  in  opening  the  bowels,  they  may  act  as  soothing 
fomentations  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  inflamed  organ.  Both  the  oil 
and  the  clysters  should  be  continued  until  the  inflammation  has  perfectly 
subsided.  To  the  use  of  these  the  treatment  should  generally  be  con- 
fined— most  certainly  in  no  part  of  it  should  the  slightest  portion  of  diu- 
retic medicine  be  administered. 

THE  KIDNEYS  AND  BLADDER. 

The  urine  secreted,  or  separated  by  the  kidney,  having  first  accumulated 
in  the  cavity  in  the  centre  of  that  organ,  is  conveyed  through  a  duct  called 
the  ureter  to  a  more  capacious  reservoir,  the  bladder.  The  kidney  of  the 
ox  is  larger  and  better  defended  than  that  of  the  horse,  on  account  of  the 
increased  importance  of  its  function  in  an  animal  that  is  to  furnish  us 
with  milk  while  living,  and  more  solid  food  when  dead.  The  ureters  also 
are  considerably  larger;  the  internal  membrane  is  stronger;  the  opening 
into  the  bladder  is  even  nearer  to  the  neck  of  that  vessel  than  in  the  horse, 
and  the  ureters  terminate  much  nearer  to  each  other.  Comparative  anato- 
mists also  know  that  there  are  not  any  renal  capsides  in  the  ox.  These 
are  small,  elongated,  irregularly  formed  bodies,  placed  opposite  to  the  kid- 
neys, and  between  these  organs  and  the  spine.  Their  function  is  a  sub- 
ject still  wrapped  in  utter  obscurity. 

The  Bladder  of  the  ox,  larger,  longer,  and  of  a  more  oval  form  than 
that  of  the  cow,  is  lodged  between  the  rectum  and  the  internal  surface  of 
the  lower  bones  of  the  pelvis.  It  is  supported  by  a  transverse  ligament, 
which  ties  it  to  the  sides  of  the  pelvis;  while  it  is  attached  by  cellular 
membrane  to  the  rectum  above  and  to  the  pelvis  below.  It  is  confined 
entirely  to  the  cavity  of  the  pelvis,  for  one  of  the  compartments  of  the 
paunch  affords  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  its  entering  the  proper  cavity  of 
the  abdomen.  When  distended  by  urine,  its  increase  of  size  is  principally 
shown  by  its  greater  roundness,  and  not  as  in  the  horse,  by  its  increased 
length  and  descent  into  the  cavity  of  the  belly.  In  examination  and  in 
operation  for  stone  in  the  bladder  this  should  not  be  lost  sight  of.  It  has 
three  coats:  the  outer  and  peritoneal;  the  central  or  muscular,  which  is 
not  so  thick  as  in  the  horse,  and  consequently  the  force  with  which  it  con- 
tracts upon  and  expels  the  urine  is  not  so  great;  and  the  inner  coat,  which 
is  lined  with  numerous  glands,  that  secrete  a  mucous  fluid  in  order  to  de- 
fend the  bladder  from  the  acrimony  of  the  urine. 

The  bladder  terminates  in  a  small  neck,  around  which  is  a  continuation 
of  the  common  muscular  coat,  or,  in  the  opinion  of  some,  a  distinct  circu- 
lar muscle,  whose  natural  state  is  that  of  contraction;  so  that  the  passage 
remains  closed,  and  the  urine  retained,  until,  the  bladder  being  stretclied  to 
a  certain  extent,  the  fluid  is  expelled  either  by  the  will  of  the  animal,  or 
the  involuntary  contraction  of  the  muscular  coat.  This  muscle  or  this 
portion  of  the  muscular  coat,  is  considerably  weaker  in  the  ox  than  in  the 
horse,  for  the  intestines  pressing  upon  the  bladder  are  not  so  voluminous; 
and  in  the  slow  motion  of  the  ox  this  vessel  is  not  exposed  to  those  con- 
cussions which  it  often  experiences  in  the  rapid  progression  of  the  horse, 
and  in  which  the  bladder  has  occasionally  been  ruptured.  Advantage  may 
be  taken  of  this  weakness  of  the  sphincter  muscle,  for  in  retention  of  urine, 
or  when,  for  the  purpose  of  some  operation,  it  may  be  expedient  to  empty 
the  bladder,  the  slightes-t  pressure  upon  it  by  the  hand  introduced  into  the 
rectum  will  readily  effect  it. 


516  CATTLE. 


ii.'f*  "^H- 


Having  passed  the  sphincter  muscle,  the  urine  flows  through  the  urethra 
and  is  evacuated.  This  canal  is  longer  and  smaller  than  it  is  in  the  horse;  it 
also  pursues  a  more  tortuous  path  than  that  of  the  horse.  The  peculiar 
form  and  direction  of  some  of  the  muscles  of  that  region  compel  the  penis 
to  take  a  kind  of  double  curve,  not  unlike  an  -S",  before  it  takes  its  ultimate 
straight  course;  and  on  these  accounts  the  ox  suflers  oftener  than  the  horse 
from  the  entanglement  of  calculi  in  the  folds  of  the  urethra. 

The  bladder  of  the  cow  is  smaller  and  rounder  than  that  of  the  ox. 
The  rumen  is  as  large  as  in  the  ox,  and  occupies  the  greater  part  of  the 
abdomen;  but  additional  room  must  be  left  for  the  impregnated  uterus,  and 
that  is  effected  in  some  measure  at  the  expense  of  the  bladder;  while  also, 
to  obviate  the  ill  eifects  of  occasional  pressure  in  the  distended  state  of  the 
uterus,  the  sphincter  muscle  at  the  neck  of  the  bladder  of  the  cow  is  much 
larger  and  stronger  than  the  same  muscle  in  the  ox. 

The  circumstances  of  disease  to  be  considered  with  reference  to  the 
bladder  are  the  foreign  bodies,  principally  calculi,  which  it  may  contain; 
the  inflammation  resulting  from  that  or  from  other  causes;  rupture,  and 
inversion  of  it. 

URINARY  CALCULI. 

Concretions  are  oftener  found  in  the  urinary  passages  of  catfle  than  of 
the  horse.  Perhaps  there  is  greater  tendency  to  their  formation  in  these 
animals.  One  cause  of  their  retention  may  arise  from  the  different  form 
of  the  passages.  The  urethra  has  been  described  as  smaller  in  cattle  than 
in  the  horse,  and  therefore  many  calculi  that  would  pass  away  with  the 
urine  in  the  one  are  retained  in  the  bladder  of  the  other,  and  thus  become 
the  nuclei  of  larger  concretions,  or  the  centre  around  which  other  matter 
collects,  layer  upon  layer.  It  is  probably  on  this  account  that  calculi  are 
found  so  much  oftener  in  the  ox  than  the  cow;  in  the  former  the  urethra 
is  long  and  small,  in  the  latter  it  is  short  and  capacious. 

The  increased  function  discharged  by  the  kidney  in  cattle  may  likewise 
account  for  the  more  frequent  formation  of  calculi.  When  so  much  more 
blood  passes  through  this  organ  in  order  that  the  useless  or  excrementi- 
tious  parts  of  it  may  be  expelled,  the  supposition  is  not  unreasonable  that 
a  greater  portion  of  the  substances  of  which  urinary  calculi  are  composed 
will  be  found.  The  food  of  cattle  may  have  much  to  do  with  it;  and  the 
greater  proportion  of  earthy  matter  which  they  swallow,  whether  in  the 
first  rude  cropping  of  the  herbage,  and  the  carelessness  with  which  they 
often  tear  it  up  by  the  root,  or  the  earth  which  they  sometimes  voluntarily 
take  in  order  to  prevent  the  development  of  acidity  in  the  stomach,  or  to 
remove  it. 

The  urinary  calculi  that  have  hitherto  been  examined  have  been  found 
to  be  composed  of  neaily  the  same  materials,  and  in  proportions  not  often 
varying.  They  have  chiefly  yielded  carbonate  of  lime,  a  small  quantity 
of  carbonate  of  magnesia,  some  traces  of  phosphate  of  lime,  and  a  certain 
quantity  of  mucus,  which  has  served  as  cement  between  the  different 
layers  that  have  accumlated  around  a  central  point.  The  form  of  the  cal- 
culus has  considerably  differed.  When  there  has  been  but  one  central 
nucleus,  the  form  has  been  more  or  less  circular;  but  in  the  majority'of 
those  which  have  fallen  under  the  writer's  observation,  the  stone  has  ac- 
quired magnitude  by  the  union  of  various  small  distinct  calculi.  The 
form  of  the  collected  mass  has  consequently  been  exceedingly  different  in 
different  specimens. 

STONE  IN  THE  KIDNEY. 

One  instance  only  of  this  has  occurred  in  the  author's  practice,  and  he 


STONE  IN  THE  URETERS.  517 

is  not  aware  that  any  other  is  on  record.  It  was  supposed  to  be  a  case  of 
acute  red-water,  or  inflammation  of  the  kidney,  and  was  treated  as  such. 
The  cow  was  bled  and  repeatedly  physicked,  but  with  variable  and  no  sa- 
tisfactory relief.  Great  pain  was  always  expressed  while  the  urine  was 
voided;  at  other  times  there  appeared  to  be  colicy  spasms;  there  was  ex- 
cessive tenderness  on  the  loins,  and  some  heat.  The  treatment  continued 
five  days;  there  was  no  amendment,  and  she  began  to  lose  flesh;  but  being 
yet  in  tolerably  fair  condition,  she  was  destroyed. 

There  was  considerable  peritoneal  inflammation,  in  which  the  intestinal 
convolutions  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  right  kidney  were  involved.  It 
was  evident,  before  the  fatty  capsule  of  the  kidney  was  cut  through,  that 
the  seat  of  disease  lay  in  that  organ.  It  was  enlarged  to  nearly  double  its 
natural  size,  and  was  much  inflamed.  Its  cavity  was  filled  with  a  yellow 
muco-purulent  fluid,  in  which  were  a  great  many  calculi;  some  were 
scarcely  larger  than  sand,  but  three  were  of  the  size  of  a  kidney-bean. 
There  was  no  inflammation  of  the  ureter  or  the  bladder,  nor  was  any  thing 
unusual  found  in  them. 

These  calculi  were  irregularly  formed — very  light — porous — and  of  a 
yellow  colour,  deepening  into  brown.  They  were  probably  formed  from 
the  superabundance  of  that  acid  principle  which  is  always  found  in  the 
urine;  and  had  a  similar  sandy  substance,  or  small  grains  resembling 
coarse  sand,  been  previously  observed  in  the  urine,  it  is  possible  that  some 
good  might  have  been  done.  The  floor  of  the  cow-house,  and  sometimes 
bare  places  in  the  field,  will  show  where  a  considerable  quantity  of  gritty 
matter  has  been  discharged.  This  indicates  a  diseased  state  of  the  urine 
at  the  time,  not  perhaps  sufiiciently  serious  to  interfere  materially  with 
the  general  health,  but  which  may  eventually  lead  to  the  formation  of  stone 
in  the  bladder  or  kidney,  or  to  other  serious  maladies.  The  sandy  matter 
is  either  white,  approaching  to  grey  or  yellow;  or  it  is  brown,  with  vary- 
ing shades  of  red  or  yellow. 

Chemists  have  now  satisfactorily  ascertained  the  nature  and  causes  of 
these  discharges,  and  the  means  of  remedying  them.  The  light-coloured 
granules  show  deficiency,  and  the  dark- coloured  prove  excess,  of  acid  in 
the  urine.  In  the  one  there  is  a  deposit  of  earthy  matter  from  deficiency 
of  acid,  and  in  the  other  there  is  a  crystallization  of  the  acid  itself.  In  the 
one,  cream  of  tartar,  or  dilute  sulphuric  acid  might  be  administered  with 
advantage;  and  in  the  other,  earth,  or  a  portion  of  chalk  mixed  with  com- 
mon loam,  may  be  placed  before  the  beast,  or  doses  of  caibonate  of  soda 
may  be  given.  Danger  is  most  to  be  apprehended  from  the  white  deposit, 
which  is  frequently  the  precursor  or  the  accompaniment  of  gravel — a  de- 
position in  the  bladder  to  which  cattle  are  far  more  subject  than  farmers  or 
agriculturists  are  usually  aware. 

STONE    IN   THE    URETERS. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  many  calculi  descend  from  the  cavity  or 
pelvis  of  the  kidney  through  the  ureters  into  the  bladder;  yet  there  is  but 
one  case  of  it  on  record.  While  the  kidneys  of  cattle  are  considerably 
larger  than  those  of  the  horse,  the  ureters  are  more  than  proportionably  in- 
creased in  bulk,  and  calculi  of  a  moderate  size  readily  pass  through  them. 

The  case  is  briefly  and  somewhat  unsatisfactorily  related  by  Hurlrel 
d'Arboval.  He  says*  that  Gattoin  had  sent  to  the  Royal  and  Central 
Society  of  Agriculture  a  history  of  the  sickness  and  the  examination  of  a 
cow,  in  the  left  ureter  of  which  many  calculi  were  found,  that  had  pro- 

•  Dictionnaric  de  Med.  et  Chirurg.  V6t.,  Calcuu. 
45 


618  CATTLE. 

duced  considerable  dilatation  of  that  canal,  retention  of  urine  above  them, 
and  all  the  symptoms  that  had  preceded  death.  They  were  of  a  brilliant 
metallic  bronze  colour;  they  were  polished,  irregidar  and  heavy.  One  of 
them  was  composed  of  several  united  together,  and  presented  a  very  sin- 
gular triangular  form. 

Chabert,  according  to  Hurtrel  d'Arboval,  thinks  that  the  presence  of 
these  calculi  in  the  ureters  might  be  detected  by  introducing  the  hand  into 
the  rectum.  He  does  not  seem  to  speak  from  experience;  but  he  says, 
that  in  case  of  deficiency  in  the  urinary  discharge,  accompanied  by  pain 
and  fever,  and  tenderness  on  the  loins,  and  especially  by  suppression  of 
urine,  he  should  endeavour  to  explore  the  ureters  in  this  way.  From  the 
situation  of  the  bladder  in  the  pelvic  cavity,  this  might  be  accomplished 
tlirough  the  greater  part  of  the  course  of  the  ureters.  If  calculi  were  de- 
tected in  these  passages,  the  practitioner  should  endeavour  to  force  them  on 
into  the  bladder,  and,  not  being  able  to  accomplish  this,  and  knowing  that 
the  beast  must  otherwise  die,  he  would  perhaps  have  recourse  to  the  dan- 
gerous operation  recommended  by  Chabert — he  would  cut  through  the 
rectum  and  the  ureter,  and  extract  the  stone.* 

STONE    IN    THE    BLADDER. 

It  is  with  the  calculus  that  has  descended  into  the  bladder  and  there  in- 
creased in  size,  or  that  was  originally  formed  there,  that  the  practitioner 
will  have  most  to  do  either  while  it  continues  in  the  bladder,  or  in  its  after 
progress  through  the  urethra. 

The  symptoms  that  would  indicate  stone  in  the  bladder  are  somewhat 
obscure.  There  are  many  that  prove  plainly  enough  a  state  of  suffering, 
and  of  general  excitation  or  fever; — rumination  ceases — the  mouth  is  hot — 
the  flanks  heave — the  animal  is  continually  lying  down  and  getting  up 
again — it  is  looking  mournfully  towards  its  flank.  Then  comes  a  peculiar 
trembling  of  the  hind  limbs,  and  the  frequent  straining  to  void  urine — a 
straining  at  some  times  quite  ineffectual,  at  other  times  producing  the  dis- 
charge of  a  small  quantity,  and  that  occasionally  mingled  with  blood.  These 
symptoms  will  direct  the  attention  of  the  practitioner  to  the  urinary  organs. 
In  order  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  the  complaint,  he  will  introduce  his  hand 
into  the  rectum.  The  bladder  will  easily  be  detected.  It  will  probably  be 
distended  by  urine:  he  will  gently  press  upon  it,  and  the  contained  fluid  will 
be  expelled,  and  if  there  is  a  calculus  in  the  bladder  it  will  be  readily  felt. 
He  must  not,  however;  be  alarmed  if  this  pressure  should  at  first  produce 
violent  pain  resembling  colic — he  must  desist  for  a  few  minutes,  and  try 
again.  A  sound  could  not  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  detecting  the  calculus, 
nor  even  the  flexible  catheter  that  is  of  such  admirable  use  for  the  horse. 

There  are  two  courses  to  be  pursued  in  such  a  case — either  to  slaughter 
the  animal  immediately,  if  it  should  be  in  tolerable  condition,  or  to  remove 
the  stone  by  the  usual  operation  of  lithotomy.  All  attempts  to  dissolve 
the  calculus  by  the  use  of  muriatic  or  any  other  acid  will  be  as  fruitless  as 
they  have  proved  to  be  in  the  human  being;  and  the  length  and  small 
calibre  of  the  urethra,  as  well  as  its  double  curve,  prevent  the  possibility  of 
having  recourse  to  the  safe  and  effectual  operation  of  breaking  down  the 
stone  within  the  bladder. 

The  beast  being  cast,  and  properly  confined,  the  operator  will  recollect  a 
very  material  difference  in  the  construction  of  these  parts  in  the  horse  and 
the  ox.     In  the  horse,  he  would  be  able  to  pass  a  stilett  up  the  urethra  as 

*  Diet,  de  Med.  et  Chirurg.  V6t.,  Calcull. 


STONE  IN  THE  URETHRA.  519 

far  as  its  curve  into  the  pelvis,  and  to  make  his  first  and  chief  incision  at 
once;  but  in  the  ox,  on  account  of  the  length  of  the  penis,  or  for  other 
reasons,  two  muscles  descend  from  the  anus,  and  pursue  their  course  until 
they  arrive  at  about  the  middle  of  the  penis,  a  little  in  front  of  the  scrotum; 
there  they  attach  themselves  to  the  penis,  and  draw  it  up,  and  force  it  to 
bend  or  curve  upon  itself;  and  it  takes,  as  has  already  been  stated,  the 
form  of  an  inverted  S.  No  stilett  can  be  forced  through  such  a  double 
curvature.  The  operator  must  either  cut  down  on  the  urethra,  without  any 
stilett  within  to  guide  him,  at  the  point  where  again,  below  the  anus,  it 
curves  round  the  pelvic  bones  in  order  to  enter  the  pelvic  cavity,  and  which, 
if  he  is  a  tolerable  anatomist,  and  proceeds  with  some  caution,  he  may 
readily  accomplish;  or  he  must  get  rid  of  the  first  curve,  and  that  may  be 
effected  without  much  difficulty.  The  hair  must  be  cut  off  immediately  in 
front  of  the  scrotum;  a  longitudinal  incision  must  then  be  made,  six  inches 
in  length,  through  the  sheath,  upon  the  penis,  and  in  the  direction  in  which 
it  lies.  The  penis  being  exposed,  it  is  seized  and  drawn  forward  in  its 
sheath;  the  muscles  relax,  the  penis  is  readily  brought  into  a  straight 
direction,  and  held  so  for  a  sufficient  time  to  admit  the  introduction  of  a 
stilett,  which  should  either  be  composed  of  whalebone,  and  very  flexible, 
or  it  should  be  made  of  iron,  and  jointed,  resembling  that  used  for  the  stone 
operation  on  the  horse  by  Mr.  Taylor,  of  Nottingham.*  The  more  flexible 
the  catheter  is,  the  more  readily  it  will  accommodate  itself  to  the  tendency 
of  the  muscles  to  restore  the  inverted  -S*  curve,  and  the  more  readily  like- 
wise may  it  be  bent  round  the  bony  arch  beyond,  and  so  diminish  the 
length  of  the  incision  which  must  afterwards  be  made  between  the  anus 
and  the  scrotum. 

The  sound  being  passed  through  the  curvature  thus  temporarily  removed, 
and  its  point  felt  below  the  anus,  the  operator  must  cut  into  the  urethra  at 
that  part.  Into  this  opening  he  must  introduce  another  rod,  straight  and 
grooved,  and  pass  it  on  into  the  bladder;  and  then,  by  means  of  a  probe- 
pointed  bistoury  running  in  this  groove,  the  incision  must  be  carried  on  to 
the  side  of  the  anus,  and  through  a  portion  of  the  neck  of  the  bladder  cor- 
responding with  the  supposed  size  of  the  calculus.  The  operator  must  then 
pass  his  right  hand  into  the  rectum,  and  the  two  first  fingers  of  the  left 
hand  into  the  bladder,  and  with  the  right  hand  guide  the  calculus  between 
the  fingers  of  the  left  hand,  by  which,  or  by  means  of  a  pair  of  forceps 
pushed  into  the  wound,  it  should  be  seized  and  extracted. 

It  is  not  always  that  there  will  be  much  bleeding,  or  that  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  take  up  any  of  the  vessels,  or  even  to  pass  any  sutures  through  the 
edges  of  the  wound,  unless  the  incision  has  been  more  than  usually  large. 
The  urine  will  for  a  few  days  be  principally  passed  through  the  wound, 
but  a  portion  of  it  will  soon  begin  to  find  its  way  through  the  urethra,  and 
that  quantity  will  daily  increase,  and,  in  quite  as  short  a  time  as  can  be  ex- 
pected, the  wound  will  be  perfectly  healed. 

STONE  IN  THE  URETHRA. 

On  account  of  the  length,  and  narrowness,  and  curvature  of  the  urethra 
in  the  ox,  obstruction  of  that  passage  by  a  calculus  is  a  circumstance  of  too 
frequent  occurrence.  The  symptom  which  would  lead  to  a  suspicion  of 
this  would  be,  in  addition  to  the  evidence  of  considerable  pain,  and  ge- 
neral irritation,  a  complete,  or  almost  complete,/uppression  of  urine.  The 
practitioner  should  examine  the  urethra  through  the  whole  of  its  course  an- 
terior to  the  inverted  S  curve;  the  calculus  will  then  be  felt,  or  probably 
the  protuberance  caused  by  its  presence  w-ill  be  immediately  seen.     The 

*  Veterinarian,  April,  1834,  p.  201. 


520  CATTLE. 

duty  of  the  surgeon  is  now,  in  most  cases  easily  and  quickly  performed. 
An  oblique  incision  must  be  made  upon  the  calculus,  sufficiently  long  to 
enable  it  to  be  taken  out.  By  means  of  the  oblique  incision,  the  calculus 
and  the  urethra  are  less  likely  to  roll  under  the  knife,  and  the  wound 
will  more  readily  heal.  One  or  two  sutures  should  be  passed  through  the 
edges  of  the  wound,  which  will  speedily  adhere.  The  operation  is  sim- 
ple, but  the  danger  of  neglect  is  great;  and  many  a  beast  has  been  lost  by 
the  bladder  being  distended,  and  continuing  so  until  violent  inflammation 
of  its  mucous  coat  has  taken  place,  or  it  has  been  ruptured. 

Should  not  the  calculus  be  in  this  anterior  portion  of  the  urethra,  that 
between  the  scrotum  and  the  anus  should  be  carefully  examined;  and  if  it 
is  not  found  there,  it  is  imprisoned  somewhere  in  the  inverted  S  curve. 
An  incision  must  then  be  made  anteriorly  to  the  scrotum,  in  the  manner 
already  described;  the  penis  drawn  out;  the  curve  for  a  while  obliterated; 
the  situation  of  the  obstruction  discovered;  the  urethra  laid  open  at  that 
point;  and  the  calculus  extracted. 

M.  Peyron  relates  a  singular  case  of  calculus  in  the  urethra.  He  was 
sent  for  in  great  haste  to  an  ox  that  was  evidendy  in  great  pain.  The  ani- 
mal was  continually  getting  up  and  lying  down,  and  straining  to  void  his 
urine,  but  only  a  few  drops  appeared.  On  looking  attentively  at  the  course 
of  the  urethra,  while  a  tapping  motion  was  made  on  the  upper  part  of  it,  the 
fluctuation  of  some  fluid  could  be  perceived.  From  this,  M.  Peyron  con- 
cluded that  the  passage  through  the  urethra  was  obstructed.  He  cut  into 
the  canal  at  the  place  where  it  proceeded  from  the  ischium,  and  the  urine 
immediately  gushed  out.  He  did  not  push  the  operation  further,  persuaded 
that  after  he  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  extract  the  calculus,  another  would 
soon  descend  from  the  bladder  andform  afresh  obstruction.  The  beast 
was  kept  during  a  month,  and  then  sold  advantageously,  having  fully  re- 
tained its  condition,  but  the  urine  had  continued  to  flow  from  the  wound 
during  the  whole  time.*  The  reasoning  of  M.  Peyron  would  not  have 
satisfied  most  practitioners,  but  they  would  have  endeavoured  to  ascertain 
the  precise  situation  of  the  calculus,  and  extracted  it,  undeterred  by  the 
fear  of  that  which  might  never  have  happened:  the  case,  however,  shows 
that  no  material  mischief  will  be  done,  even  if  the  wound  should  not 
readily  heal.t 

Some  veterinarians  have  remarked,  that  oxen  are  most  subject  to  the 
formation  of  these  calculi  during  the  autumn  and  winter;  and  that,  as  the 
spring  advances,  the  new  grass  produces  a  more  abundant  secretion  of 
urine,  and  thus  relaxes  the  urinary  organs,  and  enables  the  calculi  more 
easily  to  pass;  while  the  fresh  herbage  gives  ::n  alkaline  and  soapy  charac- 
ter to  the  urine,  which  causes  some  of  the  recently  formed  calculi  to  be 
dissolved  in  the  bladder. 

RUPTURE  OF  THE    BLADDER. 

This  is  the  necessary  consequence  of  over-distension  of  a  vessel  the  coats 
of  which  are  naturally  weak;  or  it  may  be  produced  by  a  careless  or  bru- 
tal mode  of  casting  the  animal.     It  would  not  require  any  great  shock  in 

*  Journal  Pratique,  1827,  p.  333. 

t  An  interesting  account  of  the  operation  of  lithotomy  on  the  horse  will  be  found  in 
Perceval's  Lectures,  vol.  iii.  p.  45;  another  by  Mr.  Sewell,  Assistant  Professor  at  the 
Royal  Veterinary  College,  in  the  "Veterinarian"  for  May,  1821),  p.  172;  and  a  third, 
and  the  most  detailed  and  satisfactory,  by  Mr.  Taylor  of  Nottingham,  in  the  "  Veteri- 
narian,"  for  April,  1834,  p.  201.  The  operation  of  Dilatation,  which  Mr,  Peroeval 
("  Lectures,"  vol.  iii.  p.  47,)  describes  as  singularly  applicable  in  veterinary  practice, 
not  only  in  the  female  but  in  the  male  subject,  could  not  possibly  succeed  in  the  ox. 


INVERSION  OF  THE  BLADDER.  621 

order  to  rupture  the  bladder,  after  suppression  of  urine  had  existed  several 
days,  and  the  coats  of  the  bladder  had  begun  to  be  weakened  by  inflamma- 
tion. 

M.  Peyron  examined  a  beast  that  had  laboured  under  suppression  of 
urine  eight  days:  he  was  slaughtered,  and  the  bladder  was  found  to  be 
ruptured.  No  mention  is  made  of  any  eifect  produced  by  the  urine  in  the 
abdominal  cavity,  either  as  exciting  peritoneal  inflammation  or  discolour- 
ing the  flesh;  it  is,  therefore,  probable  that  the  rupture  had  taken  place  a 
little  while  only  before  death,  and  perhaps  in  the  act  of  falling.  In  another 
case,  the  perfect  depression  of  the  animal,  the  feeble  and  slow  pulse,  and 
the  staggering  walk,  coupled  with  a  long  suppression  of  urine,  excited  a 
suspicion  that  rupture  of  the  bladder  had  already  taken  place;  and  on  exa- 
mination after  death,  the  whole  of  the  abdominal  cavity  was  so  discoloured 
by  the  urine  that  the  meat  could  not  be  used. 

The  circumstances  which  would  most  unerringly  indicate  a  rupture  of 
the  bladder  would  be  the  impossibility  of  detecting  that  vessel  in  the  pelvic 
cavity  when  the  hand  was  introduced  into  the  rectum;  or,  after  the  bladder 
had  been  felt,  round  and  hard  almost  as  a  foot-ball,  and  the  animal  had 
been  expressing  in  every  possible  way  the  torture  he  endured,  a  perfect 
calm  all  at  once  succeeding.  This  would  probably  be  hailed  by  the  inex- 
perienced practitioner  as  a  symptom  of  recovery,  but  the  skilful  one  would 
regard  it  as  the  forerunner  of  death.  If  a  day  or  two  had  passed  since  the 
rupture  of  the  bladder,  the  experienced  eye  would  detect  it  by  a  certain  en- 
gorgement of  the  limbs,  and  particularly  of  the  hind  limbs;  and  there 
would  often  be  an  evident  urinous  smell  about  the  animal  even  before  it 
was  dead.  In  such  case,  the  bladder  is  commonly  found  in  a  state  of 
gangrene;  the  intestines  are  highly  inflamed,  and  the  whole  of  the  meat  is 
discoloured  and  nauseous.  It  is,  thereibre,  of  consequence  to  ascertain 
the  state  of  these  parts  during  the  life  of  the  animal,  either  that  an  opera- 
tion may  be  attempted,  or  that  the  farmer  may  sell  him,  while  there  is  any 
thing  about  him  that  is  saleable  beside  his  skin.  In  fine,  when  it  is  recol- 
lected that  the  existence  of  these  calculi  betrays  a  constitutional  tendency 
to  their  formation,  and  that  the  removal  of  one  may  at  no  great  length  of 
time  be  followed  by  the  appearance  of  another;  when,  from  the  length  and 
narrowness,  and,  more  especially,  from  the  singular  curvature  of  the  ure- 
thra in  the  ox,  it  is  in  a  manner  impossible  for  calculi  half  so  large  to  pass 
as  those  that  easily  traverse  this  canal  in  the  horse;  and  that  the  walls  of 
the  bladder  in  the  ox  are  so  weak  compared  with  those  of  the  horse,  it  will 
become  a  matter  for  consideration,  whether  the  beast,  in  good  saleable  con- 
dition, should  not  be  destroyed  as  soon  as  this  obstruction  is  clearly  ascer- 
tained: and,  most  certainly,  the  animal  that  has  been  successfully  operated 
upon  for  suppression  of  urine,  and  that  is  not  then  fit  for  the  market,  should 
be  fattened,  and  got  rid  of  as  quickly  as  possible. 

The  cow  is  in  a  manner  exempt  from  these  sad  accidents,  because  the 
calculi  readily  find  their  way  through  her  short,  and  capacious,  and  straight 
urethra- 

INVERSION  OF  THE  BLADDER. 

This  has  occasionally  taken  place  in  the  violent  throws  of  parturition. 
The  efforts  of  the  practitioner  must  then  be  confined  to  the  preservation  of 
the  calf,  for  the  bladder  can  never  be  returned  to  its  natural  situation:  and 
although  the  mother  might  possibly  survive  the  removal  of  this  vessel,  yet 
as  the  urine  must  continue  to  be  secreted,  and  to  be  got  rid  of,  and,  trick- 
ling down  her  legs,  would  produce  constant  soreness  and  ulceration,  she 
would  ever  be  a  nuisance  to  herself,  and  a  disgusting  object  to  those  who 
had  the  care  of  her. 

43* 


622  CATTLE. 

The  following  case,  which  happened  to  a  skilful  practitioner,  may  per- 
haps be  a  warning  to  others:  A  cow  had  been  three  days  in  the  act  of  calv- 
ing, and  little  advance  had  been  made.  She  was  lying  on  her  right  side 
exhausted,  but  occasionally  lowing  mournfully,  and  making  violent  efforts 
to  expel  the  foetus.  A  round,  fibrous,  white  tumour  presented  itself — it 
was  evidently  distended  by  some  fluid,  for  the  fluctuation  was  detected  at 
the  slightest  touch.  Not  dreaming  that  it  could  be  any  thing  beside  the 
membranous  bag  which  contained  the  natural  uterine  fluid,  he  punctured 
it,  and  he  was  astonished  when  that  which  ran  out  had  the  colour  and 
smell  of  urine.  It  was  the  bladder  which  had  protruded  through  a  rent 
in  the  vagina,  and  which  he  might  have  recognised  by  its  smaller  bulk,  its 
firmer  texture,  and  by  the  ease  with  which  the  neck  would  have  been  dis- 
covered after  a  very  slight  examination.  The  calf  was  saved — the  mother 
might,  probably,  have  been  saved  too — the  internal  laceration  might  have 
been  healed,  and  the  practitioner  would  have  escaped  the  consciousness  of 
having  made  a  somewhat  disgraceful  blunder. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
BREEDING— PARTURITION. 


The  characteristics  of  the  different  breeds  of  British  cattle,  the  peculiar 
excellences  and  the  peculiar  defects  of  each,  and  their  comparative  value, 
as  adapted  to  different  climates  and  soil  and  pasture,  have  been  already  con- 
sidered: a  few  remarks  on  the  principles  of  breeding  were  reserved  for 
this  chapter. 

That  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  improvement  of  every  stock,  or 
the  successful  management  of  it,  is  the  fact — the  common,  but  too  much 
neglected  axiom,  that '  like  produces  like.''  This  is  the  governing  law  in 
every  portion  of  animated  nature.  There  is  not  a  deviation  from  it  in  the 
vegetable  Avorld,  and  the  exceptions  are  few  and  far  between  among  the 
lower  classes  of  animals.  When  in  the  higher  species  the  principle  may 
not  seem  at  all  times  to  hold  good,  it  is  because  another  power,  the  intel- 
lectual— the  imaginative — somewhat  controls  the  mere  organic  one;  or,  in 
a  great  many  instances,  the  organic  principle  is  still  in  full  activity,  for 
the  lost  resemblance  to  generations  gone  by  is  pleasingly  and  strongly 
revived.  The  principle  that  '  like  produces  like,'*  was  that  which  gave 
birth  to  the  valuable,  but  too  short-lived,  new  Leicester  breed;  it  was 
the  principle  to  which  England  is  indebted  for  the  short-horns,  that  are 

♦  '  The  simple  observation,  that  domestic  animals  possess  a  tendency  to  produce  ani. 
mals  of  a  quality  similar  to  their  own,  was  the  ground-work  of  all  Bakeweli's  proceed, 
ings.  It  was  equally  obvious  to  others  as  to  him,  but  by  him  first  applied  to  the  useful 
purpose  to  which  it  has  since  been  rendered  subservient.  Having  made  this  observation, 
he  inferred  that  by  bringing  together  males  and  females  possessing  the  same  valuable 
properties,  he  should  insure  their  presence  in  their  offspring,  probably  in  an  increased 
degree,  they  being  inherited  from  both  parents;  and  he  concluded,  that  by  persisting  in 
breeding  from  animals  the  produce  of  such  selections,  always  keeping  in  sight  the  pro- 
perties that  constituted  their  value,  he  should  at  length  establish  a  breed  of  catile  of 
which  those  properties  would  form  the  distinguishing  and  necessary  characteristic.  By 
this  process  it  was  that  in  his  time,  with  respect  to  his  long-horns,  and  subsequently 
with  regard  to  other  breeds  of  cattle,  the  term  hlood  came  to  be  distinctively  applied. 
When  reference  could  be  made  to  a  number  of  ancestors  of  distinguished  excellence, 
the  terra  blood  was  admitted.*  The  Rev.  H.  Berry's  admirably  Prize  Essay  on  Breeding. 


BREEDING.—PARTURITION.  52J 

now  establishing  their  superiority  in  every  district  of  the  kingdom.  Every 
cow  and  heifer  of  the  Shakspeare  blood  could  be  recognized  at  first  sight 
as  having  descended  from  Mr.  Fowler's  stock;  and  the  admirer  of  the 
short-horns  can  trace  in  the  best  cattle  of  the  present  day  the  undoubted 
lineaments  of  Favourite. 

This  principle  extends  to  form,  constitution,  quahties,  predisposition  to, 
and  exemption  from  disease,  and  to  every  thing  that  can  render  an  animal 
valuable  or  worthless.  It  equally  applies  to  the  dam  and  to  the  sire.  It 
is  the  foundation  of  scientific  and  successful  breeding.* 

Let  it  be  supposed,  that  the  cattle  of  a  certain  farmer  have  some  excel- 
lent qualities  about  them;  but  there  is  a  defect  which  considerably  deteri- 
orates from  their  value,  and  which  he  is  anxious  to  remove.  He  remem- 
bers that  '  like  produces  like,'  and  he  looks  about  for  a  bull  that  possesses 
the  excellence  which  he  wishes  to  engraft  on  his  own  breed.  He  tries 
the  experiment,  and,  to  his  astonishment,  it  is  a  perfect  failure.  His  stock, 
so  far  from  improving,  have  deteriorated. 

The  cause  of  this  every-day  occurrence  was,  that  he  did  not  fairly  esti- 
mate the  extent  of  the  principle  from  which  he  expected  so  much.  This 
new  bull  had  the  good  point  that  was  wanting  in  his  old  stock;  but  he 
too  was  deficient  somewhere  else,  and,  therefore,  although  his  cattle  had 
in  some  degree  improved  by  him  in  one  way,  that  was  more  than  coun- 
terbalanced by  the  inheritance  of  his  defects.  Here  is  the  secret  of  every 
failure — the  grand  principle  of  breeding.  The  new-comer,  while  he  pos- 
sesses that  which  was  a  desideratum  in  the  old  stock,  should  likewise 
possess  every  good  quahty  that  they  had  previously  exhibited— then,  and 
then  alone,  will  there  be  improvement  without  alloy.  What  can  a-  far- 
mer expect  if  he  sends  a  worthless  cow  to  the  best-bred  bull — or,  on  the 
other  hand,  if  his  cows,  although  they  may  have  many  good  qualities,  are 
served  by  a  bull  that  perhaps  he  has  scarcely  seen,  or  whose  points  he 
has  not  studied,  and  whose  only  recommendations  are,  that  he  is  close  at 
hand  and  may  be  had  for  little  money? 

The  question  as  to  the  comparative  influence  of  the  sire  and  the  dam 
is  a  difficult  one  to  decide.  That  farmer  will  not  err,  who  applies  the 
grand  principle  of  breeding  equally  to  both  of  them.  In  the  present  sys- 
tem of  breeding,  most  importance,  and  that  veryjustly,  is  attributed  to  the 
male.  He  is  the  more  valuable  animal,  and  principally  more  valuable  on 
account  of  the  more  numerous  progeny  that  is  to  proceed  from  him,  and 
thus  his  greater  general  influence;  and  therefore  superior  care  is  bestowed 
on  the  first  selection  of  him  for  rearing.  The  farmer  studies  the  bull-calf 
closely,  and  assures  himself  that  he  possesses,  in  a  more  than  usual  degree, 
the  characteristic  excellences  of  the  breed.  When  this  care  as  to  the  pos- 
session of  such  combination  of  good  points  has  extended  from  the  sire  to 
the  son  through  several  successive  generations,  it  may  be  readily  supposed 
that  he  will  possess  them  in  a  higher  degree  than  the  female  can.     They 

*  There  are  a  few  strange  exceptions  to  this,  showing  the  power  of  imagination 
even  over  so  dull  a  beast  as  the  cow.  Her  progeny  is  often  much  affected  by  circum- 
stances  that  happen  during  the  time  of  conception,  or  rather  during  the  period  she  is 
in  season.  Mr.  Boswell  says. '  One  of  the  most  intelligent  breeders  I  ever  met  with 
in  Scotland,  Mr.  Mustard,  of  Angus,  told  me  a  singular  fact  with  regard  to  what  I 
have  now  stated.  One  of  his  cows  chanced  to  come  in  season,  while  pasturing  on  a 
field,  which  was  bounded  by  that  of  one  of  his  neighbours,  out  of  which  an  ox  jumped 
and  went  with  the  cow,  until  she  was  brought  home  to  the  bull.  The  ox  was  white| 
with  black  spots,  and  horned.  Mr.  Mustard  had  not  a  horned  beast  in  his  possession! 
nor  one  with  any  white  on  it.  Nevertheless,  the  produce  of  the  following  spring  was 
a  black  and  white  calf  with  horns.'— Quarterly  Journal  of  Agriculture,  vol.  i.  Essays, 
p.  28. 


524  CATTLE. 

will  be  made,  as  it  were,  a  part  and  portion  of  his  constitution,  and  he  will 
acquire  the  power  of  more  certainly,  and  to  a  greater  extent,  communicat- 
ing them  to  his  offspring. 

In  this  way  the  influence  of  the  sire  may,  in  well-bred  animals,  be  con- 
sidered as  superior  to  that  of  the  female;  but  hers  is  always  great,  and 
must  not  be  forgotten.  In  Arabia,  where  the  mare  is  the  object  of  chief 
attention,  and  her  good  qualities  are  carefully  studied  and  systematically 
bred  in  her,  the  influence  of  the  female  decidedly  preponderates;  and,  on 
the  same  principle,  that  of  the  highly  bred  cow  will  preponderate  over  that 
of  the  half-bred  bull.  Her  excellences  are  an  hereditary  and  essential 
part  of  her,  and  more  likely  to  be  communicated  to  her  offspring  than 
those  which  have  been  only  lately  and  accidentally  acquired  by  the  bull 
with  no  pedigree,  or  with  many  a  blot  in  it.  Custom  and  convenience, 
however,  induce  the  generality  of  breeds  to  look  most  to  the  male.* 

At  the  outset  of  his  career,  the  farmer  should  have  a  clear  and  deter- 
mined conception  of  the  object  that  he  wishes  to  accomplish.  He  should 
consider  the  nature  of  his  farm;  its  abundance  or  deficiency  of  pasturage; 
the  character  of  the  soil;  the  seasons  of  the  year  when  he  will  have  plenty 
or  deficiency  of  food,  the  locality  of  his  farm;  the  market  to  which  he 
has  access,  and  the  produce  which  will  there  be  disposed  of  with  greatest 
profit,  and  these  things  will  at  once  point  to  him  the  kind  of  beast  which 
he  should  be  solicitous  to  obtain.  The  man  of  wealth  and  patriotism  may 
have  more  extensive  views,  and  nobly  look  to  the  general  improvement  of 
British  cattle;  but  the  farmer,  with  his  limited  means,  and  with  the  claims 
that  press  upon  him,  regards  his  cattle  as  a  valuable  portion  of  his  own 
little  property,  and  on  which  every  thing  should  appear  to  be  in  natural 
keeping,  and  be  turned  to  the  best  advantage. 

The  best  beast  for  him  is  that  which  suits  his  farm  the  best;  and,  with 
a  view  to  this,  he  studies,  or  ought  to  study,  the  points  and  qualities  of  his 
own  cattle,  and  those  of  his  neighbours.  The  dairy-man  will  regard  the 
quantity  of  milk — the  quality — the  time  that  the  cow  continues  in  milk — 
its  value  for  the  production  of  butter  or  cheese — the  character  of  the  breed 
for  quietness — or  as  being  good  nurses — the  predisposition  to  red-water, 
garget,  or  dropping  after  calving — the  natural  tendency  to  turn  every  thing 
to  nutriment — the  easiness  with  which  she  is  fattened,  when  given  up  as 
a  milker,  and  the  proportion  of  food  requisite  to  keep  her  in  full  milk, 
or  to  fatten  her  when  dry.  The  grazier  will  consider  the  kind  of  beast 
which  his  land  will  bear — the  kind  of  meat  most  in  demand  in  his  neigh- 
bourhood— the  early  maturity — the  quickness  of  fattening  at  any  age — 
the  quality  of  the  meat — the  parts  on  which  the  flesh  and  fat  are  princi- 
pally laid — and,  more  than  all,  the  hardihood  and  the  adaptation  of  consti- 
tution to  the  climate  and  soil. 

In  order  to  obtain  these  valuable  properties,  the  farmer  will  make  him- 
self perfectly  master  of  the  character  and  qualities  of  his  own  stock.  He 
will  trace  the  connexion  of  certain  good  qualities  and  certain  bad  ones, 
with  an  almost  invariable  peculiarity  of  shape  and  structure;  and  at  length 
he  will  arrive  at  a  clear  conception,  not  so  much  of  beauty  of  form  (al- 

*  Mr.  Adam  Ferguson,  of  Woodhill,  to  whom  the  Highland  Society  of  Scotland, 
and  the  Scottish  agriculturists  generally,  are  so  much  indebted,  has  an  amusing  anec- 
dote on  this  point.  '  I  recollect,  several  years  ago,  at  a  distinguished  breeder's  in 
Northumberland,  meeting  with  a  shrewd  Scottish  borderer,  (indeed,  if  report  be  true, 
the  original  and  identical  Dinmont,)  who,  after  admiring  with  a  considerable  spice  of 
national  pique,  a  very  short-horned  bull,  demanded  anxiously  to  see  the  dam.  The 
cow  being  accordingly  produced,  and,  having  undergone  a  regular  survey,  Dandy  voci- 
ferated, with  characteristic  pith,  "  I  think  naething  of  your  bull  now,  wi'  sic  a  caumb."  ' 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Agriculture,  vol.  i.  p.  34. 


BREEDING-PARTURITION.  525 

though  that  is  a  pleasing  object  to  contemplate)  as  of  that  outline  and  pro- 
portion of  parts  with  which  ulility  is  oftenest  combined.  Then  carefully 
viewing  his  stock,  he  Avill  consider  where  they  approach  to,  and  how  far 
they  wander  from,  this  utility  of  form;  and  he  will  be  anxious  to  preserve 
or  to  increase  the  one,  and  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  the  other.*  He 
will  endeavour  to  select  from  his  own  stock  those  animals  that  excel  in  the 
most  valuable  points,  and  particularly  those  which  possess  the  greatest 
number  of  these  points;  and  he  will  unhesitatingly  condemn  every  beast 
that  betrays  manifest  deficiency  in  any  one  important  point.  He  will  not, 
however,  too  long  confine  himself  to  his  own  stock,  unless  it  is  a  very  nu- 
merous one.  The  breeding  from  close  affinities — the  breeding  in  and  in 
— has  many  advantages  to  a  certain  extent.  It  may  be  pursued  until  the 
excellent  form  and  quality  of  the  breed  is  developed  and  established.  It 
was  the  source  whence  sprung  the  cattle  and  the  sheep  of  Bakewell,  and 
the  superior  cattle  of  Colling;  and  to  it  must  also  be  traced  the  speedy  de- 
generacy— the  absolute  disappearance  of  the  new  Leicester  cattle,  and,  in 
the  hands  of  many  an  agriculturist,  the  impairment  of  constitution  and  de- 
creased value  of  the  new  Leicester  sheep  and  the  short-horned  beasts.  It 
has,  therefore,  become  a  kind  of  principle  with  the  agriculturist  to  effect 
some  change  in  his  stock  every  second  or  third  year,  and  that  change  is 
most  conveniently  efl^ected  by  introducing  a  new  bull.  This  bull  should 
be,  as  nearly  as  possible,  of  the  same  sort;  coming  from  a  similar  pasturage 
and  climate;  but  possessing  no  relationship — or,  at  most,  a  very  distant 
one — to  the  stock  to  which  he  is  introduced.  He  should  bring  with  him 
every  good  point  which  the  breeder  has  laboured  hard  to  produce  in  his 
stock,  and,  if  possible,  some  improvement,  and  especially  where  the  old 
stock  may  have  been  somewhat  deficient;  and  most  certainly  he  should 
have  no  manifest  defect  of  form;  and  that  most  essential  of  all  qualifica- 
tions, a  hardy  constitution,  should  not  be  wanting. 

There  is  one  circumstance,  however,  which  the  breeder  occasionally 
forgets,  but  which  is  of  as  much  importance  to  the  permanent  value  of  his 
stock  as  any  careful  selection  of  animals  can  be — and  that  is,  good  keep. 
It  was  judiciously  remarked  by  the  author  of  the  '  Agricultural  Report  of 
Staffordshire,'  that  '  all  good  stock  must  be  both  bred  with  attention  and 
well  fed.  It  is  necessary  that  these  two  essentials  in  this  species  of  im- 
provement should  always  accompany  each  other;  for  without  good  re- 
sources of  keeping,  it  would  be  vain  to  attempt  supporting  a  capital  stock.' 
This  is  true  with  regard  to  the  original  stock;  it  is  yet  more  evident  when 
animals  are  absurdly  brought  from  a  better  to  a  poorer  soil.     The  original 

*  'Upon  the  principle  that  "like  produces  like,"  he  (Bakewell)  started,  and  the  ad- 
vantages whicli  crowned  his  exertions  may  be  thus  stated:  an  increased  perfection  of 
general  symmetry,  by  which  is  to  be  understood  not  only  a  form  attractive  to  the  eye 
of  taste,  but  one  in  which  the  judgment  acknowledged  a  considerable  preponderance  of 
the  valuable  parts  of  the  carcass  over  those  of  less  value;  an  increased  tendency  to  lay  on 
flesh  of  a  superior  quality  under  all  circumstances  of  feeding,  and,  of  course,  a  superior 
article  for  the  use  of  the  consumer,  produced  by  a  decreased  consumption  of  vegetable 
or  other  food. 

'|A  person  would  often  be  puzzled:  he  would  find  different  individuals  possessing  dif- 
ferent perfections  in  different  degrees — one,  good  flesh,  and  a  tendency  to  fatten,  with 
a  bad  form — another,  with  fine  form,  but  bad  flesh,  and  little  disposition  to  acquire  fat: — 
what  rule  should  he  lay  down,  by  the  observance  of  which  good  might  be  generally 
produced,  and  as  little  evil  as  possible  effected  ? — Utility.  The  truly  good  form  \a 
that  which  secures  constitution,  health,  and  vigour — a  disposition  to  lay  on  flesh,  and 
with  the  greatest  possible  reduction  of  offal.  Having  obtained  this,  other  things  are 
of  minor,  although  perhaps  of  considerable,  importance.' — The  Rev.  H.  Berry's  Prize 
Eesay, 


536  CATTLE. 

stock  will  deteriorate  if  neglected  and  half-starved,  and  the  improved  breed 
will  lose  ground  even  more  rapidly,  and  to  a  far  greater  extent. 

The  full  consideration,  however,  of  the  subject  of  breeding  belongs  to 
the  work  on  '  British  Husbandry,'  and  there  full  justice  will  be  done  to  it; 
but  the  few  hints  that  have  here  been  dropped  with  reference  to  the  funda- 
mental principles  on  which  the  improvement  of  cattle  must  be  founded  will 
not,  perhaps,  be  deemed  irrelevant.* 

THE  PROPER  AGE  FOR  BREEDING. 

The  proper  age  at  which  the  process  of  breeding  may  be  commenced 
will  depend  on  various  circumstances.  Even  with  the  early  maturity  of 
the  short  horns,  if  the  heifers  could  be  sutfered  to  run  until  they  were  two 
and  a  half,  or  three  years  old,  they  would  become  larger,  finer,  and  more 
valuable;  and  their  progeny  would  be  larger  and  stronger:  but  the  expense 
of  the  keep  for  so  long  a  time  is  a  question  that  must  be  taken  into  serious 
consideration.  The  custom  which  at  one  period  was  beginning  to  be  so 
prevalent  in  the  breeding  districts,  of  putting  the  heifer  to  the  male  at  one 
year  old,  or  even  at  an  earlier  period,  cannot  be  too  much  reprobated.  At 
the  time  when  they  are  most  rapidly  growing  themselves,  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  nutriment  cannot  be  devoted  to  the  full  development  of  the 
fcBtus,  and  both  the  mother  and  the  calf  must  inevitably  suffer. 

From  two,  to  two  and  a  half  years  old,  according  to  the  quality  of  the 
pasture,  will  be  the  most  advantageous  time  for  putting  the  heifer  to  the 
bull.  In  fair  pasture,  the  heifer  will  probably  have  attained  sufficient 
growth  at  two  years.  If  the  period  is  prolonged  after  three  years,  and 
especially  with  good  keep,  the  animal  will  often  be  in  too  high  condition, 
and  there  will  be  much  uncertainty  as  to  her  becoming  pregnant.f     At  an 

*  The  following  extract  from  '  the  Rev.  H.  Berry's  Prize  Essay'  contains  the  sum 
and  substance  of  the  principles  of  breeding: — 

'  A  person  selecting  a  stock  from  which  to  breed,  notwithstanding  he  has  set  up  for 
himself  a  standard  of  perfection,  will  obtain  them  with  qualifications  of  different  de- 
scriptions, and  in  different  degrees.  In  breeding  from  such  he  will  exercise  liis  judg- 
ment, and  decide  what  are  indispensable  or  desirable  qualities,  and  will  cross  with  ani- 
mals with  a  view  to  establish  them.  His  proceeding  will  be  of  the  "give  and  take" 
kind.  He  will  submit  to  the  introduction  of  a  trifling  defect,  in  order  that  he  may 
profit  by  a  great  excellence;  and  between  excellences,  perliaps  somewhat  incompatible, 
he  will  decide  on  which  is  the  greatest,  and  give  it  the  preference. 

'  To  a  person  commencing  improvement,  the  best  advice  is  to  get  as  good  a  bull  as 
he  can;  and  if  he  be  a  good  one  of  his  kind,  to  use  him  indiscriminately  with  all  his 
cows;  and  when  by  this  proceeding,  which  ought  to  be  persisted  in,  his  stock  has,  with 
an  occasional  change  of  bull,  become  sufficiently  stamped  with  desirable  excellences, 
his  selection  of  males  should  then  be  made,  to  eradicate  defects  which  he  thinks  it  de- 
sirable to  get  rid  of 

'  He  will  not  fail  to  keep  in  view  the  necessity  of  good  blood  in  the  bulls  resorted  to, 
for  that  will  give  the  only  assurance  that  they  will  transmit  their  own  valuable  proper- 
ties to  their  offspring;  but  he  must  not  depend  on  this  alone,  or  he  will  soon  run  the 
risk  of  degeneracy. 

'  In  animals  evincing  an  extraordinary  degree  of  perfection,  and  where  the  constitu- 
tion is  decidedly  good,  and  there  is  no  prominent  defect,  a  little  close  breeding  may  be 
allowed — as  the  son  with  the  mother,  to  whom  he  is  only  half  blood — or  the  brother 
with  the  sister.  But  this  must  not  be  injudiciously  adopted  or  carried  too  far,  for  al- 
though  it  may  increase  and  confirm  valuable  properties,  it  will  also  increase  and  con- 
firm defects;  and  no  breeder  need  be  long  in  discovering  tliat  in  an  improved  state  ani- 
mals have  a  greater  tendency  to  defect  than  to  perfection.  Close  breeding,  from  affini- 
ties, impairs  the  constitution,  and  affects  the  procreative  powers,  and  therefore  a  strong 
cross  is  occasionally  necessary. 

t  When  heifers  of  this  age  will  not  stand  their  bulling,  a  couple  doses  of  physic,  or 
the  turning  on  shorter  pasture  until  they  next  come  into  season,  will  set  all  right. 

Mr.  Parkinson's  opinion,  although  somewhat  different  in  one  point  from  that  we 
have   stated,   deserves  consideration: — '  I  had   three  heifers,  when   I  lived  at  Slane, 


ABORTION  OR  SLINKING.  527 

early  age  there  will  often  be  clanger  in  calving  from  the  heifer  not  having 
attained  her  proper  size;  and  another,  that  has  her  first  calf  too  late,  will 
be  in  danger  from  fever. 

It  will  be  evident  from  this  that  the  bull  should  not  be  suffered  to 
run  with  the  your.g  stock;  and  although  it  is  said  that  cows  are  quieter, 
and  thrive  better,  and  are  more  readily  and  surely  impregnated  as  they 
come  in  season  when  they  have  the  bull  with  them  in  the  pasture,  yet  it 
is  becoming  more  the  practice,  and  often  very  advantageously  so,  to  sepa- 
rate him  from  them  altogether.  By  watching  the  cows  as  they  come  into 
season,  and  keeping  them  back  when  the  time  of  parturition  would  be  in- 
convenient, the  farmer  will  be  enabled  to  get  them  to  calve  at  the  periods 
that  best  suit  his  pasture  or  his  arrangements.  The  calves  may  be  dropped 
at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  when  veal  and  butter  will  yield  the  greatest 
profit;  or  later  in  the  season,  when  the  spring  grass  is  preparing  to  come 
in,  and  when  the  young  animal  will  thrive  better,  and  a  greater  secretion  of 
milk,  and  the  habit  of  yielding  it  at  every  subsequent  calving,  will  be  esta- 
blished in  the  mother.* 

That  which  has  been  said  of  the  best  age  for  beginning  to  breed  in  the 
cow  will  equally  apply  to  the  bull.  It  is  absurd  and  dangerous  to  begin 
to  use  him  as  some  have  done  when  a  yearling.  He  will  come  into  sea- 
son at  two  years  old — he  will  be  better  at  three;  and  although  the  farmer 
may  not  deem  it  prudent  to  keep  him  more  than  two  or  three  years,  he 
may  then  be  sold  advantageously,  in  his  full  prime,  to  another  breeder. 

ABORTION,  OR  SLINKING. 

The  usual  period  of  pregnancy  in  a  cow  is  nine  calendar  months,  or 
270  days;  but  there  is  often  considerable  variation  in  the  time  of  what 
seems  to  be  a  natural  delivery,  and  when  the  calf  is  likely  to  live.f 

The  cow,  however,  is  more  than  any  other  animal  subject  to  abortion. 
This  takes  place  at  different  periods  of  pregnancy,  from  half  of  the  usual 
time  to  the  seventh,  or  almost  the  eighth  month.  The  symptoms  of  the 
approach  of  abortion,  except  the  breeder  is  very  much  among  his  stock, 
are  not  often  perceived;  or  if  perceived,  they  are  concealed  by  the  cow- 
herd, lest  he  should  be  accused  of  neglect  or  improper  treatment. 

took  the  bull  at  one  year  old,  I  belieTc,  in  consequence  of  their  being  reared  in  the  open 
air  at  the  haystacks,  which  caused  them  to  be  forwarder.  I  had  not  the  least  idea  of 
this  happening,  or  I  should  have  prevented  it,  as  I  think  it  very  injudicious.  It  is  the 
opinion  of  some  persons,  that  by  suffering  heifers  to  be  three  or  four  years  old  they 
make  fine  cattle,  but  I  never  found  any  material  difference;  while  there  is  a  loss  of  one 
year,  besides  the  danger  of  not  standing  the  bulling;  and  it  adds  very  much  to  the  pro- 
fit of  the  heifer  if  she  be  given  to  the  bull  at  two  or  two-and-a-half  years  old,  for  the 
time  she  is  in  calf,  added  to  that  of  the  calf  sucking  and  the  time  she  will  be  fattening 
bring  her  to  four  or  four  years  and  a  half  when  she  is  slaughtered.  A  heifer  that  has 
had  a  calf  will  fatten  quicker  and  tallow  better  than  one  of  the  same  age  that  has  not, 
while  a  calf  is  gained,  worth,  if  of  a  good  breed,  eight  or  ten  pounds  as  a  store  beast.' 
—  Treatise  on  Live  Stock,  vol.  i.  p.  99. 

*  Most  of  the  various  recipes  to  bring  a  cow  into  season  arc  absurd  and  dangerous. 
One  given  by  Mr.  Parkinson  is  the  simplest,  the  most  harmless,  and  the  most  success- 
ful too: — '  Give  a  quart  or  more  of  milk,  immediately  drawn  from  a  cow  that  is  in  sea- 
son, before  the  bull  has  been  admitted  to  her,  and  in  three  or  four  days  it  will  have  the 
desired  effect.' — Treatise  on  Live  Slock,  vol.  i.  p.  101. 

The  repeated  return  of  the  period  of  heat  during  the  spring  and  summer  months  will, 
if  the  farmer  keeps  his  bull  apart  from  the  cows,  enable  him  to  arrange  the  periods  of 
parturition  almost  at  his  pleasure. 

t  M.  Tessier,  in  a  Memoir  read  to  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris,  says,  that 
in  1131  cows,  which  he  had  the  opportunity  of  observing,  the  shortest  period  of  gesta- 
tion was  240  days,  and  the  longest  321 — difference  81  days;  and  counting  from  nine 
months,  51  days  over,  and  30  days  under. 


528  CATTLE. 

The  cow  is  somewhat  off  her  feed — rumination  ceases — she  is  listless 
and  dull — the  milk  diminishes  or  dries  up — the  motions  of  the  fostus  be- 
come more  feeble,  and  at  length  cease  altogether — there  is  a  slight  degree 
of  enlargement  of  the  belly — there  is  a  little  staggering  in  her  walk. — when 
she  is  down  she  lies  longer  than  usual,  and  when  she  gets  up  she  stands 
for  a  longer  time  motionless.  As  the  abortion  approaches,  a  yellow'or  red 
glairy  fluid  runs  from  the  vagina)  this  is  a  symptom  which  rarely  or  never 
deceives) — her  breathing  becomes  laborious  and  slightly  convulsive.  The 
belly  has  for  several  days  lost  its  natural  rotundity,  and  has  been  evident- 
ly falling — she  begins  to  moan — the  pulse  becomes  small,  wiry,  and  inter- 
mittent. At  length  labour  comes  on,  and  is  often  attended  with  much  dif- 
ficulty and  danger. 

If  the  abortion  has  been  caused  by  blows  or  violence,  whether  arising 
from  the  brutality  of  the  cowherd,  or  the  animal  being  teased  by  other  cows 
in  season,  or  by  unskilfully  castrated  oxen,  the  symptoms  are  more  in- 
tense. The  animal  suddenly  ceases  to  eat  and  to  ruminate — she  is  uneasy, 
paws  the  ground,  rests  her  head  on  the  manger  while  she  is  standing,  and 
on  her  flank  when  she  is  lying  down — hemorrhage  frequently  comes  on 
from  the  uterus,  or  when  this  is  not  the  case,  the  mouth  of  the  uterus  is 
spasmodically  contracted.  The  throes  come  on,  they  are  distressingly 
violent,  and  they  continue  until  the  womb  is  ruptured.  Should  not  all 
these  circumstances  be  observed,  yet  the  labour  is  protracted  and  dangerous. 

Abortion  is  sometimes  singularly  frequent  in  particular  districts,  or  on 
particular  farms.  It  seems  to  assume  an  epizootic  or  epidemic  form.  This 
has  been  accounted  for  in  various  ways.  Some  have  imagined  it  to  be 
contagious.  It  is  destructively  propagated  among  the  cows,  but  this  is 
probably  to  be  explained  on  a  different  principle  than  that  of  contagion. 
It  has  been  stated  that  the  cow  is  an  animal  considerably  imaginative,  and 
highly  irritable  during  the  period  of  pregnancy.  In  abortion  the  foetus  is 
often  putrid  before  it  is  discharged;  and  the  placenta,  or  afterbirth,  rarely 
or  never  immediately  follows  it,  but  becomes  decomposed,  and,  as  it  drops 
away  in  fragments,  emits  a  peculiar  and  most  noisome  smell.  This  smell 
seems  to  be  singularly  annoying  to  the  other  cows — they  sniff  at  it,  and 
then  run  bellowing  about.  Some  sympathetic  influence  is  produced  on 
their  uterine  organs,  and  in  a  few  days  a  greater  or  less  number  of  those 
that  had  pastured  together  likewise  abort.  Hence  arises  the  rapidity  with 
which  the  foetus  is  usually  taken  away  and  buried  deeply,  and  far  from  the 
cows;  and  hence  the  more  effectual  preventive  of  smearing  the  parts  of  the 
cow  with  tar  or  stinking  oils,  in  order  to  conceal  or  subdue  the  smell;  and 
hence,  too,  the  ineffectual  preventing  of  removing  her  to  a  far  distant  pas- 
ture. 

Chabert,  in  his  '  Veterinary  Instructions,'  relates  a  singular  case  of 
this — a  kind  of  pest  or  plague  in  the  dairy  of  a  farmer  at  Toury.  For 
thirty  years  his  cows  had  been  subject  to  abortion.  His  cowhouse  was 
large  and  airy;  his  cows  were  apparently  in  good  health;  they  were  fed 
like  others  in  the  village;  they  drank  from  the  same  pond;  there  was  no- 
thing different  in  the  pasture;  his  servants  were  not  accustomed  to  ill-use 
the  cattle,  and  he  had  changed  these  servants  many  times  in  the  thirty 
years.  He  had  changed  his  bull  many  a  time — he  had  i)ulled  down  his 
cowhouse,  and  he  had  built  another  in  a  different  situation,  with  a  different 
aspect,  and  on  a  different  plan;  he  had  even  (agreeably  to  the  superstition 
of  the  neighbourhood)  taken  away  the  aborted  calf  through  the  window, 
that  the  curse  of  future  abortion  might  not  be  entailed  on  the  cow  that 
passed  over  the  same  threshold;  nay,  to  make  all  sure,  he  had  broken 
tlirough  the  wall  at  the  end  of  the.  cowhouse,  and  opened  a  new  door,  in 


ABORTION,  OR  SLINKING.  529 

order  that  there  might  not  be  the  possibility  that  an  elf-struck  foetus  had 
previously  gone  that  way;  but  still  a  greater  or  less  number  of  his  cows 
every  year  slunk  their  calves. 

Thirty  years  before  he  had  bought  a  cow  at  a  fair,  and  she  had  warped, 
and  others  had  speedily  followed  her  example;  and  the  cow  that  had  once 
slunk  her  calf  was  liable  to  do  the  same  in  the  following  year,  and  so  the 
destructive  habit  had  been  perpetuated  among  his  beasts. 

Several  of  the  cows  have  died  in  the  act  of  abortion,  and  he  had  replaced 
them  by  others;  more  of  those  that  had  aborted  once  or  twice,  or  oftener 
had  been  sold,  and  the  vacancies  filled  up.  M.  Chabert  advised  him  to 
make  a  thorough  change.  This  had  never  occurred  to  the  farmer,  but  he 
at  once  saw  the  propriety  of  the  coimsel.  He  sold  every  beast,  and  the 
plague  was  stayed.*  This  sympathetic  influenceis  one  main  cause  of  the 
slinkmg  of  the  calves.  There  is  no  contagion,  but  the  result  is  as  fatal  as 
the  direst  contagion  could  have  made  it. 

Another  cause  of  abortion  is  the  extravagantly  high  condition  in  which 
covvs  are  sometimes  kept.  They  are  in  a  continual  state  of  excitement; 
and  Irom  the  slightest  cause  inflammation  is  set  up  in  the  uterus,  rendered 
more  susceptible  by  the  state  of  pregnancy,  and  abortion  is  the  frequent 
consequence  of  that  inflammation. 

_  M.  Cruzel  has  given  an  instructive  account  of  abortion  thus  produced. 
He  was  consulted  by  a  farmer  who  had  ten  breeding  cows,  that  occa- 
sionally worked  at  the  plough;  as  is  often  the  case  in  France.  Durin<r  the 
first  year  three  of  them  aborted.  They  recovered,  and  were  soon  again  in 
calt  1  wo  ol  them  slunk  their  calves  a  second  time,  between  the  fifth  and 
sixth  month  of  pregnancy;  the  third  went  her  full  time  and  produced  a 
weakly  calf  that  died  on  the  second  day.  In  the  following  year  a  fourth 
aborted,  and  M.  Cruzel  was  sent  for.  He  was  immediately  struck  with 
the  unnecessary  high  condition  in  which  all  the  cows  and  their  calves  were- 
he  carefully  inquired,  but  could  discover  no  other  probable  cause  for  these 
repeated  accidents,  and  he  at  once  attributed  them  to  the  state  of  plethora 
in  which  the  beasts  were  kept.  He  ordered  their  quantity  of  food  to  be 
materially  reduced— he  bled  every  one  of  them— the  farmer  took  care  that 
nutriment  should  not  afterwards  be  so  dangerously  wasted  upon  them,  and 
abortion  ceased  to  appear  on  the  farm.f 

Mr.  Wedge,  in  his  '  Survey  of  Cheshire,'  confirms  this.  He  says  that 
"slinking  happens  generally  in  wet  seasons,  or  when  the  cattle  are  in  very 
high  condition,  and  generally  continues  for  two  or  three  years  too-ethe? 
In  several  parts  of  North  •\^  ales,  where  the  cattle  through  necessfty  are 
kept  in  lower  condition,  instances  of  the  kind  very  rarely  happen  ' 

The  pastures  on  which  the  blood  or  inflammatory  fever  is  most  preva- 
lent are  those  on  which  the  cows  oftenest  slink  their  calves.  Whatever 
can  become  a  source  of  general  excitation  and  fever  is  likely,  during  preff- 
nancy,  to  produce  inflammation  of  the  womb:  or  whatever  would  under 
other  circumstances,  excite  inflammation  of  almost  any  oroan,  has 'at  ih-it 
time  its  injurious  efl'ect  determined  to  this  particular  one. 

There  are  some  curious  illustrations  of  this.     It  is  well  known  that  cat- 
tle of  all  kinds  are  sometimes  seriously  injured  by  feeding  in  the  autumn 
on  grass  thickly  covered  with  hoar-frost.     Inflammation  of  the  bowels  of  a 
dangerous  character,  and  sometimes  palsy  of  the  rmnen,  have  been  thus 
produced.     In  Switzerland,  the  commencement  of  the  hoar-frost  is  the  sic- 
nal  for  the  appearance  of  abortion.    It  is  occasionally  seen  at  other  times  !n 
all  the  cantons,  but  now  its  victims  are  multiplied  tenfold.   M.  Barruel,  V.  S. 
*  Instructions  Veterinaires,  torn.  vi.  p.  117. 
+  Journ.  Theor  et  Prat.  ,1832,  p.  157. 
46 


530  CATTLE. 

of  Chartres,  speaks  of  sixteen  cows  that  aborted  at  different  periods  of 
pregnancy  from  this  cause,  and  most  of  which  died.* 

It  has  been  stated  (page  505)  that  acrid  plants  are  often  prejudicial  to 
cattle.  '  There  is  no  farmer  who  is  not  aware  of  the  injurious  effect  of 
the  coarse,  rank  herbage  of  low,  marshy,  and  woody  countries,  and  he  re- 
gards these  districts  as  the  chosen  residence  of  red-water;'  it  may  be  added, 
that  these  districts  are  also  the  chosen  residence  of  abortion. 

Hard  and  mineral  waters  aie  justly  considered  as  laying  the  foundation 
for  many  diseases  in  cattle,  and  for  this  among  the  rest.  A  writer  in  a 
German  Periodical  gives  the  following  account: — '  In  1822  twelve  of  his 
in-calf  heifers  cast  their  calves,  and  in  the  following  year  the  like  accident 
happened  to  twelve  others,  the  whole  of  which  used  to  drink  from  ponds 
the  water  of  which  was  strongly  impregnated  with  iron.  In  1824  ten  cows 
that  were  watered  at  other  places  all  calved  safely,  while  a  single  cow  that 
was  allowed  to  drink  of  the  ferruginous  water  cast  her  calf.  The  same 
occured  in  two  following  years. 't 

Some  careful  observers  have  occasionally  attributed  abortion  to  the  dis- 
proportion in  size  between  the  male  and  female.  Farmers  used  to  be  too 
fond  of  looking  out  for  a  great  overgrown  bull  for  their  dairy  or  breeding 
cows,  and  many  a  heifer  or  little  cow  was  seriously  injured:  she  either 
cast  her  calf  or  was  lost  in  parturition.  This  error  has  been  long  explo- 
ded among  the  breeders  of  sheep;  and  breeders  of  cattle  are  beginning  to 
act  more  wisely. J 

Cows  that  have  been  long  afflicted  with  hoose,  and  that  degenerating 
into  consumption,  are  exceedingly  subject  to  abortion.  They  are  continu- 
ally at  heat — they  rarely  become  pregnant,  or  if  they  do,  a  great  propor- 
tion of  them  cast  their  calves.  When  consumption  is  established,  and  the 
cow  is  much  wasted  away,  she  will  rarely  retain  her  calf  during  the  natu- 
ral period  of  pregnancy. 

An  in-calf  beast  will  scarcely  have  hoove  to  any  considerable  extent  with- 
out afterwards  aborting.  The  pressure  of  the  distended  rumen  seems  to 
injure  or  destroy  the  foetus.  Even  where  the  distension  of  the  stomach 
does  not  wear  a  serious  character,  abortion  often  follows  the  sudden  change 
from  poor  to  luxuriant  food.  Cows  that  have  been  out  and  half-starved 
in  the  winter,  and  incautiously  turned  on  rich  pasture  in  the  spring,  are 
too  apt  to  cast  their  calves  from  the  undue  general  or  local  excitation  that 
is  set  up;  and,  as  has  been  already  remarked,  a  sudden  change  from  rich 
pasture  to  a  state  of  comparative  starvation  will  produce  the  same  effect, 
but  from  an  opposite  cause.  Hence  it  is  that  when  this  disposition  to 
abort  first  appears  in  a  dairy,  it  is  usually  in  a  cow  that  has  been  lately 
purchased.  Fright,  from  whatever  cause,  may  produce  abortion.  There 
are  singular  cases  on  record  of  whole  herds  of  cows  slinking  their  calves 
after  being  terrified  by  an  unusually  violent  thunder-storm. §  Commerce 
with  the  bull  soon  after  conception  is  a  frequent  cause  of  abortion.  The 
casting  of  the  calf  has  already  been  attributed  to  the  sympathetic  influence 

*  Journ.  Tiieor.  ct  Prat.,  1832,  p.  154. 

tLandund  Hauswirth,  March,  1827,  p.  132. 

t  Mr.  Wedge,  in  his'  Survey  of  Clieshirc,'  says  that  a  whole  dairy  of  nearly  twenty 
cows  cast  tlieir  calves  in  one  year.  The  farmer  sold  the  bull  lie  had  used  to  a  neigh- 
bour, and  the  whole  number  of  cows  to  which  he  was  put  cast  their  calves  also.  The 
original  owner  took  back  the  bull,  and  three  of  his  cows  were  again  put  to  him,  and 
they  also  cast  tlieir  calves.     In  this  instance  there  was  clearly  some  defect  in  the  male. 

§  Instructions  Veterinaires,  vol.  vi.  p.  154.  Dr.  Rudgc,  in  his  '  Survey  of  Gloucester- 
shire,' says,  that  there  was  an  enclosure  near  Arlingham,  close  to  which  was  a  dog. 
kennel.  Eight  heifers  and  cows  out  of  twenty  warped,  in  consequence,  as  it  was  sup- 
posed by  the  farmer,  of  the  frequent  exposure  of  flesh,  and  the  skinning  of  dead  horses 
before  them.     The  remainder  were  removed  to  a  distant  pasture  and  did  well. 


ABORTION,  OR  SLINKING.  531 

of  the  effluvia  from  the  decomposing  placenta:  there  are  plenty  of  instances 
in  which  other  putrid  smells  have  produced  the  same  effect,  and  therefore 
the  inmates  of  crowded  cowhouses  are  not  unfrequently  subject  to  this 
mishap. 

Besides  these  tangible  causes  of  abortion,  there  is  the  mysterious  agen- 
cy of  the  atmosphere.  There  are  certain  seasons  when  abortion  is  strange- 
ly frequent  and  fatal;  while  at  other  times  it  in  a  manner  disappears  for 
several  successive  years.  In  the  '  Leipsic  Agricultural  Gazette,'  March  22, 
1777,  it  is  stated,  that,  '  by  an  unheard-of  fatality,  the  abortion  of  cows  in 
that  district  was  almost  general,  and  that  after  the  most  anxious  research, 
no  assignable  cause  for  it  could  be  discovered,  nor  would  any  medicine  or 
medical  treatment  arrest  the  plague.' 

In  1789,  all  the  cows  in  Beaulieu  aborted.  This,  however,  was  traced 
to  the  long  continuance  of  wet  weather.* 

In  1782  the  cows  near  Granvilliers  slinked  their  young,  and  this  was 
attributed  to  the  excessive  heat  of  the  preceding  summer.  In  1784  almost 
all  the  cows  and  mares  at  Chalons  aborted,  and  the  cause  was  .unknown.! 
In  1787  all  the  cows  at  Bournonville  cast  their  calves.  They  had  not  been 
out  of  the  cowhouse  during  the  whole  of  the  winter,  and  had  been  well 
taken  care  oLX  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  must  be  added  to  the  number 
of  epidemic  diseases. 

The  consequences  of  premature  calving  are  frequently  of  a  very  serious 
nature.  It  has  been  stated  that  there  is  often  considerable  spasmodic  closure 
of  the  mouth  of  the  uterus,  and  that  the  calf  is  produced  with  much  diffi- 
culty and  pain,  and  especially  if  a  few  days  have  elapsed  after  the  death  of 
the  young  one.  When  this  is  the  case  the  mother  frequently  dies,  or  her 
recovery  is  much  slower  than  after  natural  parturition.  The  coat  continues 
rough  and  staring  for  a  long  time — the  skin  clings  to  the  ribs — the  appetite 
does  not  return,  and  the  milk  is  dried  up.  Some  internal  chronic  com- 
plaint now  takes  its  rise,  and  the  foundation  is  laid  for  consumption  and 
death. 

When  the  case  is  more  favourable,  the  results  are,  nevertheless,  often 
annoying.  The  cow  very  soon  goes  again  to  heat,  but  in  a  great  many 
cases  she  fails  to  become  pregnant;  she  almost  certainly  does  so  if  she  is 
put  to  the  bull  during  the  first  heat  after  abortion.  The  heat  again  and 
again  returns,  but  she  does  not  stand  to  the  bulling;  and  so  the  season  is 
wasted,  while  she  becomes  a  perfect  nuisance  by  continually  worrying  the 
other  cattle. § 

If  she  should  come  in  calf  again  during  that  season,  it  is  very  probable 
that  about  the  same  period  of  utero-gestation,  or  a  little  later,  she  will  again 
abort;  or  that  when  she  becomes  in  calf  in  the  following  year,  the  same 
fatality  will  attend  her.  Some  say  that  this  disposition  to  cast  her  young 
one  gradually  ceases;  that  if  she  does  miscarry,  it  is  at  a  later  and  still 
later  period  of  pregnancy;  and  that,  in  about  three  or  four  years,  she  may 

*  Instructions  Veterimires,  torn.  vi.  p.  137.     t  Ibid.  pp.  130,  131. 

t  Somewhat  analogous  is  an  account  g^iven  by  White,  in  his  most  interesting'  and  in- 
structive work,  the  '  Natural  History  of  Selborne.'  Dr.  Johnson  says,  that  in  1771,  the 
season  was  so  severe  in  tiie  Isle  of  Skye,  that  it  is  remembered  by  the  name  of  the 
black  spring.  Tlie  snow,  whicli  seldom  lies  at  all,  covered  the  ground  for  eight  weeks; 
many  cattle  died,  and  those  that  survived  were  so  emaciated  that  they  did  not  require 
the  male  at  the  usual  season.  Tlie  case  was  just  the  same  with  us  here  in  the  South. 
Never  were  so  many  barren  cows  known  as  in  the  spring  following  that  dreadful  period: 
whole  dairies  missed  being  in  calf  together. — P.  396. 

§  The  French  have  a  very  expressive  name  for  these  cows:  they  call  them  taureiU 
leres.  A  kind  of  nymphomania  is  produced,  under  the  influence  of  which  the  cow  fre- 
quently wastes  away  and  becomes  a  perfect  skeleton. 


532  CATTLE. 

be  dependod  upon  as  a  tolerably  safe  breeder:  be,  bowever,  would  be  ex- 
ceedingly inattentive  to  bis  interest  who  kept  a  profitless  beast  so  long. 

The  calf  very  rarely  lives,  and  in  the  majority  of  cases  it  is  born  dead 
or  putrid.  If  there  should  appear  to  be  any  chance  of  saving  it,  it  should 
be  washed  with  warm  water,  carefully  dried,  and  fed  frequendy  with  small 
quantities  of  new  milk,  mixed,  according  to  the  apparent  weakness  of  the 
animal,  either  with  raw  eggs  or  good  gruel;  while  the  bowels  should,  if 
occasion  requires,  be  opened  by  means  of  small  doses  of  castor  oil.  If  any 
considerable  period  has  to  elapse  before  the  natural  term  of  pregnancy 
would  have  expired,  it  will  usually  be  necessary  to  bring  up  the  little  ani- 
mal entirely  by  the  hand. 

The  treatment  of  abortion  will  differ  little  from  that  of  parturition,  pre- 
sently to  be  described.  If  the  farmer  has  once  been  tormented  by  this  pest 
in  his  dairy,  he  should  carefully  watch  the  approaching  symptoms  of  cast- 
ing the  calf,  and  as  soon  as  he  perceives  them,  should  remove  the  cow 
from  the  pasture  to  a  comfortable  cowhouse  or  shed.  If  the  discharge  is 
glairy,  but  not  offensive,  he  may  hope  that  the  calf  is  not  dead:  he  will  be 
assured  of  this  by  the  motion  of  the  foetus,  and  then  it  is  possible  that  the 
abortion  may  yet  be  avoided.  He  should  hasten  to  bleed  her,  and  that 
copiously,  in  proportion  to  her  age,  size,  condition,  and  the  state  of  exci- 
tation in  which  he  may  find  her;  and  he  should  give  a  dose  of  physic  im- 
mediately after  the  bleeding.  The  physic  beginning  to  operate,  he  should 
administer  half  a  drachm  of  opium  and  half  an  ounce  of  sweet  spirit  of 
nitre.  Unless  she  is  in  a  state  of  great  debility,  he  should  avoid  above  all 
things  the  comfortable  drink,  which  some  persons  so  strangely  recommend; 
and  which  the  cowleech  will  be  almost  sure  to  administer.  He  should  al- 
low nothing  but  gruel,  and  he  should  keep  bis  patient  as  quiet  as  he  can. 
By  these  means  he  may  occasionally  allay  the  general  or  local  irritation 
that  precedes  or  causes  the  abortion,  and  the  cow  may  yet  go  to  her  full 
time. 

Should,  however,  the  discharge  be  foetid,  the  natural  conclusion  will  be 
that  the  fogtus  is  dead,  and  must  be  got  rid  of,  and  that  as  speedily  as. pos- 
sible. Bleeding  may  even  then  be  requisite,  if  much  fever  exists;  or, 
perchance,  the  aforesaid  comfortable  drink  may  not  be  out  of  place.  In 
other  respects,  the  animal  must  be  treated  as  if  her  usual  time  of  pregnan- 
cy had  been  accomplished. 

Much  may  be  done  in  the  way  oi preventing  the  formation  of  this  habit 
of  abortion  among  the  cows.  The  fetus  must  be  got  rid  of  immediately. 
It  should  be  buried  deep,  and  far  from  the  cow-pasture.  Proper  means 
should  be  taken  to  hasten  the  expulsion  of  the  placenta.  A  dose  of  physic 
should  be  given;  the  ergot  of  rye,  as  hereafter  to  be  described,  should  be 
administered;  the  hand  should  be  introduced,  and  an  effort  made,  cautious- 
ly and  gendy,  to  detach  the  placenta:  all  violence,  however,  should  be 
carefully  avoided,  for  considerable  and  fatal  hemorrhage  may  be  speedily 
produced.  The  parts  of  the  cow  should  be  well  washed  with  a  solution 
of  the  chloride  of  lime,  and  this  should  be  injected  up  the  vagina,  and  also 
given  internally.  In  the  mean  time,  and  especially  after  the  expulsion  of 
the  placenta,  the  cowhouse  should  be  well  washed  with  the  same  solution, 
in  the  manner  that  was  recommended  when  the  treatment  of  the  malignant 
epidemic  was  under  consideration. 

The  cow,  when  beginning  to  recover,  should  be  fattened  and  sold.  This 
is  the  first  and  the  grand  step  towards  the  prevention  of  abortion,  and  he  is 
unwise  who  does  not  immediately  adopt  it.  All  other  means  are  compa- 
ratively inefficient  and  worthless.  It  was  the  charm  by  means  of  which 
Chabert  arrested  the  plague  which  for  thirty  successive  years  had  devas- 


TREATMENT  BEFORE  CALVING.  533 

tated  the  farm  at  Toury.  Should  the  owner  be  reluctant  to  part  with  her, 
two  months  at  least  should  pass  before  she  is  permitted  to  return  to  her 
companions.  Prudence  would  probably  dictate  that  she  should  never  re- 
turn to  them;  but  be  kept,  if  possible,  on  some  distant  part  of  the  farm. 

Abortion  having  once  occurred  on  the  farm,  the  breeding  cows  should 
be  carefully  watched.  Although  well  fed,  they  should  not  be  suffered  to 
get  into  too  high  condition.  Unless  they  are  decidedly  poor  and  weak, 
they  should  be  bled  between  the  third  and  fourth  months  of  pregnancy, 
and  a  mild  dose  of  physic  should  be  administered  to  each.  If  the  pest 
continues  to  reappear,  the  owner  shonld  most  carefully  examine  how  far 
any  of  the  causes  of  abortion  that  have  been  detected  may  exist  on  his 
farm,  and  exert  himself  in  carefully  removing  them. 

SYMPTOMS  OF  PREGNANCY. 

The  symptoms  of  pregnancy  in  its  early  stage  used  to  be  thought  ex- 
ceedingly unsatisfactory.  The  period  of  being  in  season  (which  gene- 
rally lasts  three  or  four  days,  and  then  ceases  for  a  while,  and  returns  in 
about  three  weeks  or  a  month)  might  entirely  pass  over;  and  although  it 
was  then  probable  that  conception  had  taken  place,  yet  in  a  great  many 
instances  the  hopes  of  the  breeder  were  disappointed.  It  was  not  until 
between  the  third  and  fourth  month,  when  the  belly  began  to  enlarge,  or 
in  many  cases  considerably  later,  and  when  the  motions  of  the  fcetus  might 
be  seen,  or  at  all  events  felt  by  pressing  on  the  right  flank,  that  the  farmer 
could  be  assured  that  his  cow  was  in  calf.  That  greatest  of  improvements 
in  veterinary  practice,  the  application  of  the  ear  to  the  chest  and  belly  of 
various  animals  (in  order  to  detect,  by  the  different  sounds — which,  after 
a  short  time,  will  be  easily  recognised — the  state  of  the  circulation  through 
most  of  the  internal  organs,  and  consequently  the  precise  seat  and  degree 
of  inflammation  and  danger),  has  now  enabled  the  breeder  to  ascertain  the 
exisience  of  pregnancy  at  as  early  a  stage  of  it  as  six  or  eight  weeks.  The 
beating  of  the  heart  of  the  calf  will  be  distinctly  heard,  twice,  or  more  than 
twice  as  frequent  as  that  of  the  mother;  and  each  pulsation  will  betray  the 
singular  double  beating  of  the  festal  heart.  Tliis  will  also  be  accompanied 
by  the  audible  rushing  of  the  blood  through  the  vessels  of  the  placenta. 
The  ear  should  be  applied  to  the  right  flank,  beginning  on  the  superior 
part  of  it,  and  gradually  shifted  downwards  and  backwards.  These  sounds 
will  soon  be  heard,  and  cannot  be  mistaken.* 

TREATMENT  BEFORE  CALVING. 

Little  alteration  needs  to  be  made  in  the  management  of  the  cow  for  the 
first  seven  months  of  pregnancy;  except  that,  as  she  has  not  only  to  yield 
milk  for  the  profit  of  the  farmer  but  to  nourish  the  fretus  which  is  growing 

*  The  following  is  an  extract  from  an  '  Essay  on  Auscultation,  as  the  only  unequi- 
vocal Evidence  of  Pregnancy,'  by  Dr.  J.  C.  Ferguson,  Professor  of  Midwifery  at 
King's  College,  London.  The  whole  of  the  Essay  is  important  even  to  the  veterinary 
practitioner,  and  reflects  the  highest  credit  on  the  power  of  philosophical  investigation 
and  the  truly  philanthrophic  spirit  of  the  wrirer: — '  A  goat  had  been  procured  for  a 
very  different  purpose  by  Drs.  Hunt,  Corrigan,  and  myself,  and  bound  on  its  back  on 
the  operating  table.  I  casually  applied  the  stethoscope  to  its  abdomen,  without  the 
slightest  previous  knowledge  of  its  pregnancy,  and  was  surpised  to  detect  almost  imme- 
diately the  distinct  double  pulsations  of  a  foetal  heart.  My  two  friends,  to  whose  accu- 
racy  of  observation  I  have  often  been  indebted,  satisfied  themselves  perfectly  of  the 
fact;  and  on  examining  the  uterus  about  an  hour  afterwards,  we  extracted  a  fcetus,  the 
heart  of  which  did  not  exceed  the  size  of  a  hazel  nut.  On  inquiring  of  the  person  who 
sold  us  the  goat,  and  on  whose  accuracy  we  could  depend,  we  learnt  that  it  was  exactly 
seven  weeks  from  copulatioii.' — Dublin  Medical  Transactions,  vol.  i.  part  1;  New 
Series. 

46* 


534  CATTLE. 

in  her  womb,  she  should  be  well,  yet  not  too  luxuriantly  fed.  The  half- 
starved  cow  will  not  adequately  discharge  this  double  duty,  nor  provide 
sufficient  nutriment  for  the  calf  when  it  has  dropped;  while  the  cow  in 
high  condition  will  be  dangerously  disposed  to  inflammation  and  fever, 
when,  at  the  time  of  parturition,  she  is  otherwise  so  susceptible  of  the  power 
of  every  stimulus.  If  the  season  and  the  convenience  of  the  fanner  will 
admit  of  it,  she  will  be  better  at  pasture,  at  least  for  some  hours  in  the  day, 
than  altogether  confined  in  the  cowhouse. 

At  a  somewhat  uncertain  period  before  she  calves,  there  will  be  a  new 
secretion  of  milk  for  the  expected  little  one;  and  under  the  notion  of  some- 
what recruiting  her  strength,  in  order  better  to  enable  her  to  discharge  her 
new  duty,  but  more  from  the  uniform  testimony  of  experience  that  there 
is  danger  of  local  inflammation  and  of  general  fever — garget  in  the  udder, 
and  puerperal  fever,  if  the  new  milk  descends  while  the  old  milk  continues 
to  flow,  it  has  been  usual  to  let  the  cow  o;o  dry  for  some  period  before 
parturition.  Farmers  and  breeders  have  been  strangely  divided  as  to  the 
length  of  this  period.  It  must  be  decided  by  circumstances.  A  cow  in 
good  condition  may  be  milked  much  longer  than  a  poor  one.  Her  abun- 
dance of  food  renders  a  period  of  respite  almost  unnecessary;  and  all  that 
needs  to  be  taken  care  of  is  that  the  old  milk  should  be  fairly  gone  before 
the  new  milk  springs.  In  such  a  cow,  while  there  is  danger  of  inflam- 
mation from  the  sudden  rush  of  the  new  milk  into  a  bag  already  occupied, 
tbere  is  also  considerable  danger  of  indurations  and  tumours  in  the  teats 
from  the  habit  of  secretion  being  too  long  suspended.  The  emaciated  and 
oveimilked  beast,  however,  must  rest  a  while  before  she  can  again  advan- 
tageously discharge  the  duties  of  a  mother. 

Were  the  period  of  pregnancy  of  equal  length  at  all  times  and  in  all 
cows,  the  one  that  has  been  well  fed  might  be  milked  until  within  a  fort- 
night or  three  weeks  of  parturition;  while  a  holiday  of  two  months  should 
be  granted  to  the  poorer  beast;  but  as  there  is  much  irregularity  about  this, 
it  may  be  prudent  to  take  a  month  or  five  weeks  as  the  average  period. 

The  process  of  parturition  is  one  that  is  necessarily  accompanied  by  a 
great  deal  of  febrile  excitement;  and  therefore,  when  it  nearly  approaches, 
not  only  should  a  little  care  be  taken  to  lessen  the  quantity  of  food,  and 
to  remove  that  which  is  of  a  stimulating  nature,  but  a  mild  dose  of  physic, 
and  a  bleeding  regulated  by  the  condition  of  the  animal,  will  be  very  pro- 
per precautionary  measures. 

A  moderately  open  state  of  the  bowels  is  more  necessary  at  the  period 
of  parturition  in  the  cow  than  in  the  mare.  During  the  whole  time  of 
pregnancy  her  enormous  stomachs  sufliiciently  press  upon  and  confine  the 
womb;  and  that  pressure  may  be  productive  of  injurious  or  fatal  conse- 
quences, if  at  this  period  the  rumen  is  suffered  to  be  distended  by  unnu- 
tritious  food,  or  the  manyplus  takes  on  that  hardened  state  to  which  it  is 
occasionally  subject.     Breeders  have  been  sadly  negligent  here. 

NATURAL  LABOUR. 

The  springing  of  the  udder,  or  the  rapid  enlargement  of  it  from  the 
renewed  secretion  of  milk — the  enlargement  of  the  external  parts  of  the 
bearing  (the  former,  as  it  has  been  said  by  some,  in  old  cows,  and  the 
latter  in  young  ones) — the  appearance  of  a  glaring  discharge  from  the 
bearing — the  evident  dropping  of  the  belly,  with  the  appearance  of  lean- 
ness and  narrowness  between  the  shape  and  the  udder — a  degree  of  uneasi- 
ness and  fidgetiness — moaning  occasionally — accelerated  respiration — all 
these  symptoms  will  announce  that  the  time  of  calving  is  not  far  off.  The 
cow  should  be  brought  near  home,  and  put  in  some  quiet,  sheltered  place. 


MECHANICAL  ASSISTANCE.  535 

In  cold  or  stormy  weather  she  should  be  housed.  Her  uneasiness  will 
rapidly  increase — she  will  be  continually  getting  up  and  lying  down — her 
tail  will  begin  to  be  elevated,  and  the  commencement  of  the  labour-pains 
will  soon  be  evident. 

The  natural  progress  of  parturition  should  not  be  unnecessarily  inter- 
fered with.  The  cow  should  be  frequently  looked  at,  but  not  disturbed. 
Although  her  pains  may  not  be  so  strong  as  could  be  wished,  she  should 
not  be  too  closely  approached  or  examined  until  the  water-bladder  or  bag 
containing  the  fluid  in  which  the  calf  has  hitheito  floated  has  pro'ruded 
and  is  broken.  Soon  afterwards  it  may  be  proper  to  ascertain  wliether  the 
calf  is  '  coming  the  right  ivay.'  In  the  natural  presentation  of  the  foetus, 
the  calf  may  be  considered  as  couching  or  lying  on  its  belly;  its  fore-legs 
protruding  into  the  passage,  its  head  lying  upon  them,  or  being  a  little  be- 
tween them,  and  reaching  down  about  as  far  as  the  knees,  and  the  back  of 
the  calf  corresponding  with  or  opposed  to  the  back  of  the  mother. 

While  the  throes  continue  tolerably  strong,  the  farmer  or  practitioner 
should  have  patience,  although  the  progress  of  the  laboui;  may  be  tediously 
slow.  Nature  will  at  length  safely  accomplish  her  object.  But  if  the 
pains  are  evidently  diminishing,  and  hour  after  hour  has  passed  and  the 
calf  protrudes  litde  or  not  at  all  more  than  it  did,  assistance  should  be  ren- 
dered. A  pint  of  sound  ale,  warmed,  should  be  given  in  an  equal  quantity 
of  gruel;  warm  gruel  should  be  frequently  administered,  or  at  least  put  with- 
in the  animal's  reach;  and  access  to  cold  water  should  be  carefully  prevented. 

To  the  first  pint  of  ale  should  be  added  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of  the  ergot 
of  rye  (spurred  rye,)  finely  powdered;  and  the  same  quantity  of  the  ergot, 
with  half  a  pint  of  ale,  should  be  repeated  every  hour  until  the  pains  are  re- 
produced in  their  former  and  natural  strength,  or  the  labour  is  terminated.* 

MECHAXICAX   ASSISTANCE. 

The  power  of  medicine  failing,  recourse  should  be  had  to  mechanical  as- 
sistance. Twelve  hours  or  more  having  elapsed  from  the  commencement 
of  the  labour,  this  should  be  done,  even  although  the  calf  may  continue  to 
be  alive;  and  it  should  not  be  deferred  one  moment  after  it  is  ascertained 
that  the  foetus  is  dead.  Even  now,  however,  the  cow  should  not  be  dis- 
turbed more  than  is  absolutely  necessary;  and  it  cannot  be  too  deeply  im- 
pressed on  the  mind  of  the  farmer,  that  the  frequent  habit  of  rousing  the 
poor  animal,  and  driving  her  about,  while  she  is  in  the  act  of  calving,  or 
even  before  the  labour  begins,  is  an  unnatural,  brutal,  and  dangerous  one. 

Mr.  Skellett,  in  his  work  on   '  the  Parturition  of  the  Cow,'  (a  truly 

*  There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  among  practitioners  as  to  the  power  of  the 
spurred  rye.  Mr.  Allinson,  of  Idle,  says  ( '  Veterinarian,'  Feb.  1834,  p.  73)  '  The  er- 
got of  rye  has  never  yet  failed  in  my  practice  to  stimulate  the  uterus  of  cattle,  whether 
the  muscular  power  of  that  organ  was  exhausted  by  previous  efforts,  or  torpid  from 
peculiar  tempcnment.'  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Harrison,  of  Lancaster,  ('  Veterina- 
rian,' July,  1834,  p.  360,)  relates  a  case  in  which  he  gave  it  to  the  extent  of  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  pound  without  its  producing  the  slightest  effect. 

The  experience  of  the  author  of  this  work  is  undoubtedly  in  favour  of  the  ergot.  On 
the  morning  in  which  he  writes  this  note,  he  witnessed  its  power  in  exciting  the  womb 
of  a  deer  to  a  very  powerful  action;  but  he  must  acknowledge  that  he  has  more  than 
once,  like  Mr.  Harrison,  been  disappointed  in  his  expectations  from  it,  which  he  is  in- 
clined to  attribute  to  the  peculiar  formation  of  the  stomachs  of  cattle  which  so  often 
suspends  the  action  of  the  most  powerful  purgative.  He  likewise  adds  his  testimony  to 
that  of  Mr.  Harrison,  that  although  it  may  not  produce  the  desired  stimulating  effect  on 
the  uterus,  there  is  no  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  its  use  in  moderate  quantities. 
He  would  therefore  advise  every  practitioner  and  every  farmer  to  have  it  at  hand. 

Some  interesting  accounts  of  its  power  of  exciting  uterine  action  in  other  animals 
are  contained  in  the  numbers  of  the  '  Veterinarian'  for  September  and  October,  1833. 


536  CATTLE. 

valuable  one  as  it  regards  the  point  riovv  under  consideration,  the  mechani- 
cal assistance  that  can  be  rendered  in  difficult  and  protracted  labour,)  ob- 
serves, '  As  the  business  proceeds,  and  the  pains  increase  in  strength  and 
rapidity,  she  confines  herself  to  a  lying  posture,  and  in  this  posture  she  is 
delivered  of  the  calf.  When  we  reflect  on  tliis  conduct  of  the  animal,  left 
to  herself,  we  cannot  too  much  reprobate  the  advice  of  those  who  recom- 
mend the  driving  her  in  the  act  of  calving,  or  immediately  before  it  takes 
place.  The  author  has  known  a  great  many  instances  where  it  has  proved 
the  death  of  the  cow,  by  producing  inflammation  and  all  its  bad  conse- 
quences. Every  rational  man  will  agree  that  the  above  practice  is  both 
cruel  and  inconsistent;  for  the  animal  herself,  as  soon  as  the  hours  of 
calving  come  on,  immediately  leaves  the  rest  of  the  flock,  and  retires  to 
some  corner  of  the  field,  or  under  a  hedge,  in  order  to  prevent  the  other 
cows  or  any  thing  else  coming  near  that  may  disturb  her  in  bringing  for- 
ward her  young.' — P.  113. 

If  the  head  is  sufficienfly  advanced  to  be  grasped  by  the  hands,  or  for  a 
hand  to  be  introduced  by  the  side  of  it  so  as  to  urge  it  forward,  an  assistant 
at  the  same  time  laying  hold  of  the  fore-legs,  and  pulling  with  moderate 
force  at  each  of  the  throes  of  the  mother,  the  little  animal  may  often  be 
brought  forward  without  endangering  its  life.  If,  however,  it  is  firmly 
impacted  in  tke  passage,  a  cord  with  a  slip  knot  should  be  fastened  round 
each  leg  immediately  above  the  fetlock,  and  a  third  cord  around  the  lower 
jaw.  Greater  power  may  then  be  applied,  the  persons  holding  the  cords 
pulling  in  concert,  accommodating  themselves  to  the  natural  pains  of  the 
mother,  and  exerting  their  strength,  although  somewhat  forcibly,  yet 
quietly  and  gradually.  Here  again  the  brutal  violence  resorted  to  by  some 
persons  is  much  to  be  reprobated;  it  inevitably  destroys  the  calf,  and  en- 
dangers the  life  of  the  mother.  If  the  foetus  cannot  be  extracted  by  mode- 
rate force,  one  of  the  shoulders  should  be  slipped  (taken  ofl',)  which  may 
easily  be  eflfiected  by  means  of  a  small  knife  curved  like  those  used  for 
pruning,  so  as  to  be  easily  introduced  into  the  passage  in  the  hollow  of  the 
hand,  and  there  used  without  danger  of  wounding  the  cow.  An  incision 
should  be  made  in  the  fore-arm  of  the  foetus,  and  the  skin  elevated  and 
turned  back  by  means  either  of  the  knife  or  the  fingers.  The  shoulder 
may  then  be  easily  detached  from  the  body  and  drawn  out;  and  the  bulk 
of  the  calf  being  thus  materially  lessened,  the  remainder  of  it  will  be  readily 
extracted. 

UNNATURAL    PRESENTATION. 

It  will  soon  be  evident  whether  the  calf  is  in  the  right  position.  The 
appearance  of  the  feet  and  the  situation  of  the  head  will  be  satisfactory  on 
this  point:  but  from  fright,  or  violence,  or  some  unknown  cause,  the  posi- 
tion of  the  foetus  is  sometimes  strangely  altered,  so  as  to  render  its  extrac- 
tion difficult  or  impossible,  Mr.  Skellett  has  given  a  very  useful  account 
of  these  unnatural  or  false  presentations  and  to  which  the  reader  is  referred; 
a  slight  sketch  only  of  the  most  frequent  of  them  being  here  introduced. 

In  some  cases,  although  the  throes  rapidly  succeed  each  other  and  are 
not  deficient  in  power,  nothing,  or  perhaps  only  the  mere  hoofs,  protrude 
from  the  vagina.  This  nmst  not  be  suffered  long  to  continue,  for  if  it  does, 
the  strength  of  the  cow  will  be  rapidly  wasted.  The  hand  and  arm,  having 
been  well  oiled,  must  be  introduced  into  the  passage  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain the  position  of  the  foetus.  The  whole  of  the  passage  being  probably 
well  occupied  by  tlie  head  or  fore-limbs,  and  the  uterus  and  the  vagina 
powerfully  contracting,  the  firm  of  the  operator  will  receive  very  consider- 
able and  benumbing  pressure;  and  sometimes  to  such  an  extent  that  the 


UNNATURAL  PRESENTATION.  537 

perfect  feeling  of  the  limb  will  not  be  restored  until  some  hours  have  pass- 
ed. This  must  not  be  regarded,  but  the  surgeon  must  steadily,  yet  not 
violendy,  push  the  arm  forward,  taking  care  that  he  does  not  wound  the 
cow  with  his  nails. 

If  he  finds  the  fore-feet  far  up  the  passage,  and  the  head  between  them, 
but  sunk  down  below  the  bones  of  the  pelvis,  he  will  immediately  perceive 
that  the  extraction  of  the  calf  is  impossible  while  it  remains  in  this  position. 
He  will  therefore  pass  a  cord  with  a  slip-knot  round  each  of  the  feet,  and 
push  them  back  into  the  womb.  Next,  with  the  slip-knot  of  a  third  cord 
in  his  hand,  he  will  push  back  the  w'hole  of  the  foetus  gradually,  but  firm- 
ly, until  he  is  able  to  get  his  hand  under  the  head  and  elevate  it  and  pass 
the  noose  round  the  lower  jaw:  then  grasping  the  upper  jaw  and  endea- 
vouring thus  to  raise  the  muzzle  above  the  rim  of  the  pelvis,  his  assistants 
will  draw  the  three  cords  and  easily  bring  the  head  and  the  feet  into  the 
passage  in  the  natural  position. 

If  the  head  is  not  depressed  between  the  feet,  but  bent  down  on  one  side 
below  the  passage,  cords  must  be  put  round  the  fore-feet,  and  they  are  to 
be  returned  as  in  the  other  case.  The  head  is  to  be  sought  out,  and  a  noose 
passed  round  the  jaw,  and  then  the  operaror  putting  his  hand  against  the 
chest  of  the  fostus  and  pushing  it  hack,  his  assistants  are  to  gently  draw 
the  three  cords,  until  the  head  and  the  feet  are  properly  placed.  Great 
care  should,  however,  be  taken  that,  in  drawing  out  the  fore-feet,  the 
womb  is  not  injured  by  the  hoofs ;  they  should  generally  be  brought  for- 
ward separately  and  guarded  by  the  hand  of  the  operator  within  the  womb. 
If  there  should'  be  insuperable  difficulty  in  raising  and  bringing  the  head 
round,  and  the  calf  is  dead,  the  skin  must  be  turned  back  from  one  of  the 
legs,  beginning  at  the  fore-arm  and  reaching  the  shoulder,  as  already  de- 
scribed, and  the  shoulder  detached,  which,  considering  the  weakness  of 
the  muscles  and  ligaments  at  that  age,  will  be  readily  effected.  The 
assistant  then  pulling  steadily  at  the  legs,  and  the  surgeon  forcing  the  chest 
back  into  the  belly,  the  extraction  of  the  foRtus  will  rarely  be  difficult. 

It  may  happen  that  after  many  throes  no  portion  of  the  foetus  appears, 
but  the  calf  is  found  turned  in  the  womb,  with  his  back  resting  on  the 
bellv  of  the  mother,  the  feet  against  the  spine,  the  head  depressed  below 
the  bones  of  the  pelvis,  and  the  poll  pressing  against  these  bones.  To 
turn  the  calf  in  this  position  will  be  difficult,  and  often  impossible ;  but, 
cords  having  been  fastened,  as  before,  to  the  feet  and  the  lower  jaw,  the 
hand  should  be  introduced  under  the  head,  so  as  to  raise  it  in  some  measure, 
and  enable  the  assistants,  by  means  of  the  cords,  to  bring  it  and  the  feet 
into  the  passage.  If  the  foetus  should  be  dead,  or  the  life  of  the  mother 
appears  to  be  in  danger,  it  will  be  very  easy,  while  in  this  position,  to  sepa- 
rate one  or  both  shoulders,  and  the  head  may  then  be  readily  brought  out. 

It  is  not  uncommon  for  the  tail  alone  to  be  seen  at  the  mouth  of  the 
passage.  This  is  a  breech  presentation,  and  a  very  dangerous  one.  The 
calf  cannot  be  expelled  by  the  natural  throes  of  the  mother,  the  doubling 
of  the  hind  legs  offering  an  insuperable  obstacle  ;  nor  will  it  be  possible  for 
the  foetus  to  be  turned  in  the  womb.  The  hand  must  be  introduced;  one 
of  the  hocks  searched  out,  and  the  noose  end  of  a  cord  brought  round  it: 
next,  the  free  end  of  the  cord  must  be  carried  in  and  passed  through  the 
noose,  which  is  to  be  tightened  and  fixed  above  the  hock.  The  operator 
must  then  press  against  the  breech,  forcing  the  calf  backwards  and  up- 
wards, while  the  assistants  draw  the  hock  to  the  commencement  of  the 
passage  by  means  of  the  cords.  The  surgeon  should  then  shift  his  hand 
down  to  the  hoof  in  order  to  guard  the  uterus,  as  the  foot  is  brought  over 


538  CATTLE. 

the  ridge  of  the  pelvis.     The  other  hock  being  afterwards  drawn  from  un- 
der the  fcptus  in  the  same  way,  the  birth  may  be  easily  accomplished. 

The  birth  being  effected,  the  practitioner  should  examine  the  womb  in 
order  to  ascertain  the  state  of  the  placenta,  and  whether  there  is  a  second 
calf.  The  cases  of  twins  will  not  often  give  the  practitioner  much  trouble, 
for  the  calves  are  generally  small  and  easily  brought  through  the  passage, 
unless  they  should  both  present  themselves  at  the  same  time ;  therefore, 
at  the  commencement  of  every  labour,  the  surgeon  should  carefidly  ascer- 
tain whether  the  parts  presenting  may  not  belong  to  two  distinct  calves  ; 
in  which  case  one  must  be  pushed  back  until  the  other  is  delivered,  for  in 
the  attempt  to  extract  them  both  together  the  mother  and  the  calves  would 
inevitably  perish. 

FREE-MARTINS. 

The  opinion  has  prevailed  among  breeders  from  time  out  of  date,  that 
when  a  cow  produces  two  calves,  one  of  them  a  bull-calf  and  the  other  a 
cow,  the  male  may  become  a  perfect  and  useful  bull,  but  the  female  will 
be  incapable  of  propagation,  and  will  never  show  any  desire  for  the  bull. 
The  curious  name  o{ free-martin  has  been  given  to  this  animal.  That  ac- 
curate inquirer,  Mr.  John  Hunter,  spared  no  pains  or  expense  to  ascertain 
the  real  foundation  of  this  belief;  and  he  availed  himself  of  the  opportuni- 
ty of  examining  three  of  these  free-martins.  In  all  of  them  there  was  a 
greater  or  less  deviation  from  the  external  form  and  appearance  of  the 
cow ;  and  in  the  head  and  the  horns  some  approach  to  those  of  the  ox ; 
while  neither  of  them  had  shown  any  propensity  to  breed.  The  teats 
were  smaller  than  is  usual  in  the  heifer;  but  the  outward  appearance  of 
the  bearing  was  the  same. 

They  were  slaughtered,  and  he  examined  the  internal  structure  of  the 
sexual  parts  :  he  found  in  all  of  them  a  greater  or  less  deviation  from  the 
form  of  the  female,  and  the  addition  of  some  of  the  organs  peculiar  to  the 
male ;  and  he  ascertained  that  they  were  in  fact  hermaphrodites.  His 
description  of  one  of  them  is  given  in  the  subjoined  note,  and  will  be  inte- 
resting to  the  veterinary  and  medical  student.* 

It  is  not  then  a  mere  vulgar  error  that  the  female  twin  is  barren  ;  and 
Mr.  J.  Hunter  has  very  satisfactorily  accounted  for  the  reason  of  her  be- 
ing so.t     On  the  other  hand,    there   are  several   well-authenticated  in- 

*  '  Mr.  Arbuthnot's  free-martin,  seven  years  old.  The  external  parts  were  rather 
smaller  than  in  the  cow.  The  vagina  passed  on,  as  in  the  cow,  to  the  opening  of  the 
vrethra,  and  then  it  began  to  contract  into  a  small  canal  which  passed  on  to  the  division 
of  the  uterus  into  the  two  horns,  each  horn  passed  along  the  edge  of  the  broad  ligament 
laterally  towards  the  ovaria. 

'  At  the  termination  of  these  horns  were  placed  both  the  ovaria  and  the  testicles. 
Both  were  nearly  of  the  same  size,  which  was  about  as  large  as  a  small  nutmeg.  To 
the  ovaria  I  could  not  find  any  Fallopian  tube. 

'  To  the  testicles  were  vasa  deferentia,  but  they  were  imperfect.  The  left  one  did 
not  come  near  the  testicle,  the  right  one  only  came  close  to  it,  but  did  not  terminate  in 
the  body  called  the  epididymis.  They  were  both  pervious  and  opened  into  the  vagina, 
near  the  opening  of  the  urethra. 

'  On  the  posterior  surface  of  the  bladder,  or  between  the  uterus  and  bladder,  were 
the  two  bags  called  vesicula  seminales  in  the  male,  but  much  smaller  than  they  are  in 
the  bull.  The  ducts  opened  along  with  the  vasa  deferentia.  This  animal  then  had  a 
mixture  of  all  the  parts,  but  all  of  them  were  imperfect.' — Philosophical  Transactions, 
vol.  Ixix.  p.  289. 

+  It  is  singular  tliat  the  Romajis  should  have  called  their  barren  cows  taurcB,  as  if 
they  had  something  of  the  bull  about  them.  Columella,  lib.  vi.  cap.  22,  speaks  of 
^taurtB  which  occupy  the  place  of  fertile  cows,  and  should  be  sent  away.'  Varro  also, 
De  Re  Ruslicd,  lib.  ii.  cap.  5,  calls  the  barren  cow  taura.  This  would  be  a  curious 
subject  of  inquiry. 


THE  C^SARIAN  OPERATION.  539 

stances  of  these  free-martins  having  bred.  An  anonymous  writer  in  the 
'  Farmers  Magazine,  for  November,  1806*,'  describes  a  free-martin  be- 
longing to  Mr.  Buchan  of  Killintringham,  that  had  a  calf,  and  who  was  a 
handsome  beast,  with  a  well-placed  udder,  and  was  a  good  milker.  The 
same  gentleman,  however,  had  another  free-martin  which  never  bred. 
Another  writer  in  the  same  Magazine,  November,  1807,  says,  '  on  the 
11th  of  November,  1804,  a  cow  of  mine  brought  foith  two  calves,  one  a 
bull,  and  the  other  a  cow  calf;  and  in  spring  last  the  female  twin  produced 
a  very  good  male  calf:  yet  a  neighbour  of  mine  assures  me  that  a  female 
twin  belonging  to  him  never  woidd  take  the  bull,  and  was  sold  on  that  ac> 
count  to  the  butcher  at  the  age  of  four  or  five.' 

It  would  hence  appear  that  the  rule  is,  and  a  very  singular  anomaly  in 
natural  history  it  is,  that  the  female  twin  is  barren,  because  she  is  an  her- 
maphrodite; but  in  some  cases,  there  not  being  this  admixture  of  the  or- 
gans of  different  sexes,  or  those  of  the  female  prevailing,  she  is  capable  of 
breeding. 

There  have  been  instances  of  the  cow  producing  three  calves  at  one 
birth,  but  they  have  been  so  rare  that  there  has  been  no  record  of  the  pro- 
creative  power  of  the  female.  The  editor  of  the  'British  Farmer's  Ma- 
gazine,' May,  1828,  speaks  of  three  calves  being  produced  by  a  small  cow 
of  the  mixed  Alderney  and  Yorkshire  breeds,  Avhich  in  size,  shape,  and 
make,  were  a  fac-simile  of  each  other,  and  between  which  the  most  minute 
observer  could  not  detect  a  difference. 

There  is  a  more  singular  account  in  a  French  periodical.  A  cow  pro- 
duced nine  calves  at  three  successive  births;  four  at  first,  all  females,  in 
1817:  three  at  the  second,  of  which  two  were  females,  in  1818;  and  two 
females,  in  1819.  All  these,  except  two  at  the  first  birth,  were  nursed  by 
the  mother.* 

THE  C^SARIAN   OPERATION. 

Some  practitioners  have  lately  recommended,  in  desperate  cases,  the 
opening  of  the  side  of  the  mother,  and  the  extraction  of  the  calf.  The 
circumstances  must  indeed  be  desperate  which  can  justify  such  a  procedure. 
If,  at  the  very  earliest  period  of  parturition,  the  veterinary  surgeon  can 
ascertain  that  there  is  a  malformation  of  the  pelvis,  which  will  render  de- 
livery in  a  manner  impossible,  and  the  breed  is  a  valuable  one,  and  the 
mother,  with  this  malformation,  would  never  again  be  useful  as  a  breeding 
cow,  and  no  violent  attempts  have  been  made  to  extract  the  foetus — nothing 
has  been  done  which  could  set  up  inflammation,  or  give  a  disposition  to 
inflammatory  action;  or  if  it  can  be  clearly  ascertained  that  there  is  a  de- 
formity in  the  foetus,  an  enlargement  of  the  head,  or  a  general  bulkiness, 
which  will  forbid  its  being  extracted  either  whole  or  piecemeal,  the  prac- 
titioner might  be  justified  in  attempting  this  serious  operation;  but  in  a 
later  stage  of  the  process,  when  the  usual  measures  have  been  adopted — 
when  the  parts  have  been  bruised  and  injured,  and  the  animal  has  been  fa- 
tigued and  worn  out,  and  the  fcetus  itself  probably  has  not  escaped  injury, 
such  an  operation  can  scarcely  be  defended  on  any  principle  of  science  or 
humanity.  The  writer  of  this  work  has  twice  attempted  the  operation, 
but  in  neither  case  did  he  save  either  the  mother  or  the  calf;  nor  is  he 
aware  of  any  English  veterinarian  who  has  succeeded.  There  is  an  ac- 
count of  one  successful  case  by  M.  Chretien,!  but  it  is  one  only  out  of  the 
several  that  he  attempted,  and  he  attempted  this,  because,  on  examination, 
he  found  that  there  was  a  hard  tumour  in  the  womb,  which  nearly  half 
filled  the  cavity  of  the  pelvis,  and  forbade  the  possibility  of  delivery. 
*  Nouveau  Bulletin  des  Sciences.  t  Journ.  Pratique,  1826,  p.  221. 


540  CATTLE. 

In  such  case  the  experiment  was  justifiable,  and  it  must  have  been  very 
gratifying  to  M.  Chretien  to  have  succeeded,  but  let  not  the  dawn  of  vete- 
rinary science  he  clouded  by  the  reckless  infliction  of  torture  on  any  of  our 
quadruped  slaves. 

If  a  similar  impossibility  of  delivery  should  occur  in  the  practice  of  the 
veterinary  surgeon;  and  equally  justifying  the  experiment,  the  operation 
must  be  thus  performed.  The  rumen  must  first  be  punctured  at  the  flank, 
or  some  of  the  solution  of  the  chloride  of  lime  introduced,  in  order  to  get 
rid  of  any  gas  which  it  contains,  and  thus  to  bring  the  uterus  better  into 
view,  and  prevent  as  much  as  possil^le  that  pressure  on  it,  and  on  the  in- 
testines, which  will  usually  cause  a  troublesome  and  dangerous  protrusion 
of  them  as  soon  as  an  incision  is  made  into  the  belly.  The  animal  is  then 
to  be  thrown  on  the  left  side  and  properly  secured;  the  right  hind  leg,  be- 
ing detached  from  the  hobbles,  must  be  brought  as  far  backwards  as  pos- 
sible, and  fixed  to  some  post  or  firm  object,  so  as  to  leave  the  right  flank 
as  much  exposed  as  it  can  be.  Commencing  about  two  inches  before  and 
a  little  below  the  haunch  bone,  an  incision  is  now  to  be  made  through  the 
skin,  six  or  seven  inches  long,  in  a  direction  from  above  downwards,  and 
from  behind  forwards,  and  this  incision  is  afterwards  to  be  carried  through 
the  skin,  and  the  muscular  wall  of  the  flank.  A  bistoury  being  taken  and 
two  fingers  introduced  into  the  wound  in  order  to  protect  the  intestines,  the 
wound  is  to  be  lengthened  five  or  six  inches  more  over  the  superior  and 
middle  part  of  the  uterus. 

At  this  moment,  probably,  a  mass  of  small  intestines  may  protrude;  they 
must  be  put  a  little  on  one  side,  or  supported  by  a  cloth,  and  the  operator 
must  quickly  search  for  the  fore  feet  and  head  of  the  foetus.  An  incision 
must  be  made  through  the  uterus  of  sufficient  length  to  extract  the  calf, 
which  must  be  lifted  from  its  bed,  two  ligatures  passed  round  the  cord,  the 
cord  divided  between  them,  and  the  young  one,  if  living  consigned  to  the 
care  of  a  stander  by,  to  be  conveyed  away  and  taken  care  of.  The  placen- 
ta is  now  to  be  quickly  yet  gently  detached,  and  taken  away.  The  intes- 
tines are  to  be  returned  to  their  natural  situation,  the  divided  edges  of  the 
uterus  brought  together  and  retained  by  means  of  two  er  three  sutures,  the 
eff'used  blood  sponged  out  from  the  abdomen,  and  the  muscular  parietes 
likewise  held  together  by  sutures,  and  other  sutures  passed  through  the  in- 
teguments. Dry  soft  lint  is  then  to  be  placed  over  the  incision,  and  re- 
tained on  it  by  means  of  proper  bandages,  and  the  case  treated  as  consist- 
ing of  a  serious  wound.  Some  valuable  observations  on  this  operation 
will  be  found  in  the  Dictionnaire  de  Med.  Vet.,  Gastro-Hysterotomie. 

EMBRYOTOMY. 

In  cases  of  malformation  of  the  calf,  or  when,  as  now  and  then  happens, 
the  powers  of  nature  seem  to  be  suddenly  exhausted,  and  no  stimulus  can 
rouse  the  womb  again  to  action,  the  destruction  of  the  fcEtus,  should  it  still 
live,  and  the  removal  of  it  piecemeal,  is  a  far  more  humane  method  of  pro- 
ceeding, and  much  oftener  successful.  All  that  will  be  necessary  will  be  a 
very  small  kind  of  pruning  knife,  already  described,  with  the  blade  even  a 
litde  more  curved  than  those  knives  generally  are,  and  that  can  be  carried 
into  the  passage  in  the  hollow  of  the  hand  with  scarcely  the  possibility  of 
wounding  the  cow.  A  case  related  by  M.  Thibeaudeau  will  best  illustrate 
this  operation.*  '  I  was  consulted  respecting  a  Breton  cow  twenty  years 
old,  which  was  unable  to  calve.-  I  soon  discovered  the  obstacle  to  the 
delivery.     The  fore  limbs  presented  themselves  as  usual,  but  the  head  and 

*  Veterinarian,  June,  1831,  p,  346. 


INVERSION  OF  THE  WOMB.  641 

neck  were  turned  backwards,  and  fixed  on  the  left  side  of  the  chest,  whiljp 
the  foetus  lay  on  its  right  side  on  the  inferior  portion  of  the  uterus.'  M. 
Thiboudeau  then  relates  the  ineffectual  efforts  he  made  in  order  to  bring 
the  foetus  into  a  favourable  position,  and  that  he  at  length  found  that  his 
only  resource  to  save  the  mother  was  to  cut  in  pieces  the  calf  which  was 
now  dead.  He  afterwards  describes  the  knife  which  he  had  manufactured 
for  this  purpose,  and  thus  proceeds:  '  I  amputated  the  left  shoulder  of  the 
foetus,  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  which  ihe  posiiion  of  the  head  and  neck 
presented.  Having  withdrawn  this  limb,  I  made  an  incision  through  all 
the  cartilages  of  the  ribs,  and  laid  open  the  chest  through  its  whole  ex- 
tent, by  means  of  which  I  was  enabled  to  extract  all  the  thoracic  viscera. 
Thus  having  lessened  the  size  of  the  calf,  I  was  enabled,  by  pulling  at  the 
remaining  fore-leg,  to  extract  the  foetus  without  much  resistance,  although 
the  head  and  neck  were  still  bent  upon  the  chest.  The  afterbirth  was  re- 
moved immediately  afterwards.  More  recendy  I  have  employed  the  same 
instrument  in  operating  upon  a  cow  the  neck  of  whose  uterus  was  so  con- 
stricted that  the  finger  could  scarcely  be  introduced;  I  divided  the  stricture, 
and  saved  both  cow  and  calf.' 

INVERSION  OF  THE  WOMB. 

In  the  convulsive  efforts  in  order  to  accomplish  the  expulsion  of  the 
foetus,  the  womb  itself  sometimes  closely  follows  the  calf,  and  hangs  from 
the  bearing,  as  low  as  or  lower  than  the  hocks,  in  the  form  of  a  large  red 
or  violet  coloured  bag.  This  is  called  '  the  doivnfall  of  the  calf-bag.''  It 
should  be  returned  as  soon  as  possible,  for  there  is  usually  great  pressure 
on  the  neck  of  the  womb,  which  impedes  the  circulation  of  the  blood, 
and  the  protruded  part  quickly  grows  livid  and  black,  and  is  covered  with 
ulcerated  spots,  and  becomes  gangrenous  and  mortified;  and  this  is  rapidly 
increased  by  the  injury  whicli  the  womb  sustains  in  the  continual  getting 
up  and  lying  down  of  the  cow  in  these  cases. 

The  womb  must  first  be  cleansed  from  all  the  dirt  which  it  may  have 
gathered.  If  much  swelling  has  taken  place,  and  the  bag  looks  thickened 
and  gorged  with  blood,  it  should  be  lighdy  yet  freely  scarified,  and  the 
bleeding  encouraged  by  warm  fomentations.  While  this  is  done,  it  should 
be  carefully  ascertained  whether  there  is  any  distension  of  the  rumen,  and 
if  there  is,  either  the  common  puncture  for  hoove  should  be  made  in  the 
flank,  or  a  dose  of  the  solution  of  the  chloride  of  lime  administered.  A 
distended  rumen  would  form  an  almost  insuperable  obstacle  to  the  return  of 
the  uterus.  Two  persons  should  now  support  the  calf-bag  by  means  of  a 
strong  yet  soft  cloth,  wliile,  if  the  placenta  yet  remains  attached  to  it,  a 
third  person  gendy  separates  it  at  every  point.  It  would  be  useless  to  at- 
tempt to  return  the  w^omb  until  the  cleansing  is  taken  away,  for  the  labour 
pains  would  return  as  violently  as  before.  The  operator  will  carefully  re- 
move t!ie  little  collections,  or  bundles  of  blood-vessels,  wh.^ch  belong  to  the 
foetal  portion  of  the  placenta,  and  which  are  implanted  into  tlie  cotyledons, 
or  fleshy  excrescences,  that,  for  some  reason,  never  yet  fully  explained, 
grow  upon  the  surface  of  the  impregnated  womb,  and  gradually  disappear 
again  after  the  birtli  of  the  calf.  If  much  bleeding  attends  this  process, 
the  parts  are  to  be  washed  with  a  weak  mixture  of  spirit  and  water.  The 
bleeding  being  a  little  stayed,  and  every  thing  that  may  have  gathered 
round  the  calf-bag  being  removed,  the  assistants  should  raise  the  cloth,  and 
bring  the  womb  on  a  level  with  the  bearing;  while  the  surgeon,  standing 
behind,  and  having  his  hand  and  arm  well  oiled,  and  a  little  oil  having 
beeuglikewise  smeared  over  the  womb  generally,  places  his  jri^ht  hand, 
withjhe  fingers  bent  or  clenched,  against  the  fundus  or  bottom — the  very 
47  ^ 


642  CATTLE. 

inferior  and  farther  part  of  that  cornu  or  division  of  the  uterus  which  con- 
tained the  f(£tus,  and  forces  it  tlirough  the  passage,  and  as  far  as  he  can  in- 
to the  belly;  and  there  he  retains  it,  while,  with  the  other  hand,  he  en- 
deavours likewise  to  force  up  the  smaller  horn,  and  the  mouth  of  the 
womb.  He  will  find  considerable  difficulty  in  effecting  this,  for  the  strain- 
ings against  him  will  often  be  immense,  and  sometimes  when  he  thinks  he 
lias  attained  his  object  the  whole  will  again  be  suddenly  and  violently  ex- 
pelled. A  bleeding  from  the  jugular,  and  the  administration  of  a  couple 
of  drachms  of  opium,  will  materially  lessen  these  spasmodic  efforts.  The 
surgeon  must,  in  spite  of  fatigue,  patiently  persist  in  his  labour  until  his 
object  is  accomplished;  and  he  will  be  materially  assisted  in  this  by  having 
the  cow  either  standing,  or  so  placed  on  straw  that  her  hinder  parts  shall 
be  considerably  elevated. 

The  practitioner  should  be  careful  that  the  parts  are  returned  as  nearly 
as  possible  into  their  natural  situation,  and  this  he  will  easily  ascertain  by 
examination  with  the  hand.  Much  of  the  after  quietness  of  the  animal, 
and  the  retention  of  the  womb  thus  returned,  will  depend  upon  this. 

Although  the  return  of  the  parts  to  their  natural  situation  may  be  tolera- 
bly clearly  ascertained,  yet  it  will  be  prudent  to  provide  against  a  fresh  ac- 
cess of  pain  and  another  expulsion  of  the  uterus.  For  this  purpose  it 
has  been  usual  to  pass  three  or  four  stitches  of  small  tape  through  the  lips 
of  the  bearing;  but  this  is  a  painful  thing  and  sometimes  difficult  to  ac- 
complish; and  the  cases  are  not  unfrequent  when  these  stitches  are  torn 
out,  and  considerable  laceration  and  inilammation  ensue. 

A  collar  should  be  passed  round  the  neck  of  the  cow,  composed  of  the 
kind  of  web  that  encircles  the  neck  of  the  horse  when  he  is  confined  for 
certain  operations:  a  girth  of  the  same  material  is  then  put  round  the  body 
behind  the  shoulders,  and  this  is  connected  with  the  collar,  under  the 
brisket  and  over  the  shoulder,  and  on  each  side.  A  second  girth  is  passed 
behind  the  first,  and  a  little  anterior  to  the  udder,  and  connected  with  the 
first  in  the  same  way.  To  this,  on  one  side,  and  level  with  the  bearing, 
a  piece  of  stout  wrapping  cloth  or  other  strong  material,  twelve  or  sixteen 
inches  wide,  is  sewed  or  fastened,  and  brought  over  the  bearing,  and  at- 
tached to  the  girth  on  the  other  side  in  the  same  manner.  A  knot  on  each 
side  will  constitute  the  simplest  fastening,  and  this  pressing  firmly  on  the 
bearing  will  effectually  prevent  the  womb  from  again  protruding.  If  it 
should  be  necessary,  another  piece  may  be  carried  from  below  the  bearing 
over  the  udder  to  the  second  girth,  and  a  corresponding  one,  slit  in  order 
to  pass  on  each  side  of  the  tail,  may  reach  from  above  the  bearing  to  the 
upper  part  of  the  second  bandage. 

The  cow  should  be  kept  as  quiet  as  possible;  warm  mashes  and  warm 
gruel  should  be  allowed;  bleeding  should  again  be  resorted  to,  and  small 
doses  of  opium  administered  if  she  should  be  restless,  or  the  pains  should 
return;  but  it  will  not  be  prudent  during  the  first  day  to  give  either  those 
fever  medicines,  as  nitre  ?.nd  digitalis,  which  may  have  a  diuretic  effect 
and  excite  the  urinary  organs,  or  to  bring  on  the  straining  effect  of  purging, 
by  administering  even  a  dose  of  saline  medicine.  Should  twenty -four  hours 
pass  and  the  pains  not  return,  the  stitches  may  be  withdrawn  from  the 
bearing,  or  the  bandage  removed. 

RUPTURE  OF  THE  UTERUS. 

Another  more  serious  evil  sometimes  accompanies  inversions  of  the 
womb,  namely,  a  laceration  or  rupture  of  that  organ,  eflected  either  by  the 
unusually  strong  contraction  of  the  womb,  or  by  the  violence  with  which 
the  feet  of  the  calf  are  drawn  forward  in  the  unskilful  treatment  of  false 
presentation,  or  by  the  general  concussion  which  accompanies  the  expul- 


RETENTION  OF  THE  FOETUS.  543 

sion  of  the  womb.  The  laceration  is  sometimes  a  foot  in  length,  and  is 
generally  found  on  one  side,  and  not  far  from  the  bottom  of  the  uterus. 

The  animal  needs  not  to  be  abandoned  even  in  such  a  case,  although 
there  will  be  considerably  more  difficulty  in  returning  the  womb,  becawse 
the  same  pressure  cannot  be  made  with  the  doubled  hand  on  the  bottom  of 
it,  and  that  difficulty  may  be  increased  by  the  furious  state  of  the  beast 
suffering  such  intensity  of  pain,  and  the  whole  frame  disordered  by  such 
an  accident.  No  time  should  be  lost  in  vain  efforts  to  bring  the  lacerated 
parts  together  and  secure  them  by  stitches;  but,  the  womb  having  been 
well  cleaned,  the  placenta  removed,  and  the  bleeding  somewhat  stayed, 
it  must  be  returned  as  well,  and  as  speedily  as  can  be  managed,  and  the 
bandage  applied,  or  the  lips  of  the  bearing  secured  by  stitches:  the  co\r 
should  then  be  bled,  and  opiates  administered.  Nature  will  often  do  won- 
ders here — the  mischief  will  be  repaired — the  uterus  will  become  whole 
again,  and  that  without  a  tenth  part  of  the  fever  tiiat  might  be  expected; 
and  there  are  instances  upon  record  in  which  the  cow  has  suckled  her  calf, 
and  produced  another  a  twelvemonth  afterwards.* 

Rupture  of  the  uterus  may  occur  without  prolusion  of  the  part,  from  the 
too  powerful  action  of  that  organ.  The  symptoms  are  obscure — they  have 
not  yet  been  sufficiently  observed.  They  would  probably  be  gradual  ceas- 
ing of  the  labour  pains — coldness  of  the  horns  and  ears  and  mouth — 
paleness  of  the  mouth — a  small  and  accelerated  pulse — swelling  of  the 
belly,  and  the  discharge  of  bloody,  glairy,  fetid  matter  from  the  shape, 
Nothing  can  be  done  in  such  a  case. 

PROTUSION  OF  THE  BLADDER. 

In  long  protracted  labour,  accompanied  by  pains  unusually  violent, 
the  bladder  has  protruded.  A  practitioner  mistook  it  for  the  water-bag, 
and  punctured  it.  If  the  calf  is  not  already  born,  it  must  be  extracted  as 
quickly  as  the  case  will  admit,  and  that  without  scrupulous  regard  to  the 
safety  of  the  cow;  for  the  protruded  bladder  can  never  be  returned  to  its 
natural  situation — in  consequence  of  pain  aud  inconvenience  the  animal 
can  never  afterwards  carry  high  condition,  but  will  be  a  miserable  and 
disgusting  object  as  long  as  she  lives. 

RETENTION  OF  THE  F(ETUS. 

It  may  happen  that  the  pains  of  parturition  gradually  abate,  and  at 
length  cease.  If  the  cow  has  been  much  exhausted  or  injured  by  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  labour,  or  the  efforts  made  to  relieve  her,  and  the  foetus 
has  been  wounded  or  broken,  and  considerable  inflammation  and  fever 
have  been  set  up,  she  will  probably  die;  but  if  she  is  no  more  exhausted 
than  may  be  naturally  expected,  and  the  fever  is  slight,  and  she  eats  a  lit- 
tle, she  should  not  be  abandoned. 

Mr.  King,  sen.,  of  Slanmore,  relates  an  instructive  case  of  this  kind: 
— '  A  few  years  ago  I  was  called  to  see  a  heifer  which  appeared  to  be 
rather  losing  condition,  and  which  had  been  observed  occasionally  to  void 
some  offensive  matter  from  the  vagina.  Before  I  could  get  to  her,  some 
portion  of  a  calf's  fore  extremity  came  away.  The  owner  was  very  appre- 
hensive of  her  doing  well,  and  earnestly  pressed  the  extraction  of  the  re- 
mainder of  the  foetus. 

'  On  examination  I  found  the  os  uteri  so  small  and  contracted,  that  I 
could  not  pass  my  hand;  and  as  the  beast  ate  and  drank,  and  was  so  little, 
either  locally  or  constitutionally,  distuibed,  I  persuaded  him  to  leave  her  to 
nature,  watching  her  in  case  of  assistance  being  required.     He  consented, 

»  Veterinarian,  October,  1828.    Rec.  de  Med.  Vet.  1828,  p.  365,  and  1833,  p.  294. 


644  CATTLE. 

and,  by  degrees,  and  in  detatched  portions,  the  greater  part,  or  perhaps  the 
whole  of  the  calf  (she  was  not  confined)  came  away,  and  she  did  well,  and 
became  fat,  and  was  sent  to  Smithfied  market.'* 

The  same  gentleman  relates  a;iothei  case  which  occurred  in  Stanmore 
some  years  previously.  '  A  cow,  healthy,  fine,  and  fat,  was  slaughtered. 
The  uterus  was  found  to  contain  the  skeleton  of  a  calf  almost  entire,  all 
the  soft  parts  having  separated,  and  wholly  escaped.  Nothing  of  her 
history  was  known. 't 

ATTENTION    AFTER  CALVING. 

Parturition  having  been  accomplished,  the  cow  should  be  left  quietly 
with  the  calf;  the  licking  and  cleaning  of  which,  and  the  eating  of  the 
placenta,  if  it  is  soon  discharged,  will  employ  and  amuse  her.  It  is  a  cruel 
thing  to  separate  the  mother  from  the  young  so  soon;  the  cow  will  pine, 
and  will  be  deprived  of  that  medicine  which  nature  designed  for  her  in  the 
moisture  which  hangs  about  the  calf,  and  even  in  the  placenta  itself;  and 
the  calf  will  lose  that  gentle  friction  and  motion  which  helps  to  give  it  the 
immediate  use  of  all  its  limbs,  and  which,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Berry, 
'  increases  the  languid  circulation  of  the  blood,  and  produces  a  genial 
warmth  in  the  half  exhausted  and  chilled  little  animal.'  A  warm  mash  should 
be  put  before  her,  and  warm  gruel,  or  water  from  which  some  of  the  cold- 
ness has  been  taken  oflf.j:  Two  or  three  hours  afterwards  it  will  be  pru- 
dent to  give  an  aperient  drink  consisting  of  a  pound  of  Epsom  salts  and 
two  drachms  of  ginger.  This  may  tend  to  prevent  milk  fever  and  garget 
in  the  udder.  Attention  should  likewise  be  paid  to  the  state  of  the  udder. 
If  the  teats  are  sore,  and  the  bag  generally  hard  and  tender,  she  should  be 

*  Veterinarian,  January,  1834. 

t  Thtre  is  an  instance  on  record  ofthe  head  of  a  calf  (all  tlie  other  parts  having  passed 
away  unobserved)  being  retained  in  the  womb  eighteen  months.  Pains  resembling  those 
of  parturition  then  came  on.  Tlie  veterinary  surgeon,  on  examination,  detected  a  hard 
round  body  which  he  mistook  for  a  calculus,  and  which  was  so  firmly  imbedded  in  the 
womb  that  he  was  compelled  to  have  recourse  to  a  bistoury  in  order  to  detach  it.  In  a 
fortnight  she  seemed  to  be  well. — Instruct.  Veler.  lom.  iv.  p.  2G5.  A  more  singular  case  is 
rel  ited  by  M.  Coquet,  in  the  same  work,  vol.  ii.  p.  317.  A  (armer  in  the  neiglibonrhood 
of  Neufchatel  purciiased  a  cow  that  did  not  appear  to  be  well; — her  excrement  was  liquid, 
nnd  she  had  excessive  thirst;  she  gradually  got  worse,  the  appetite  was  lost,  and  the 
diarrhcea  became  more  violent  and  offensive.  On  carefully  examining  the  excrement, 
the  farmer  recognised  pieces  of  bone.  He  sent  for  a  veterinary  surgeon,  who  picked  out 
portions  of  ribs,  bones  of  the  leg,  and  an  entire  under  jaw-bone.  She  died  three  weeks  af- 
terwards. The  colon,  at  its  last  curvature,  was  very  much  enlarged;  its  walls  were  thick- 
ened, black,  and  gangrenous;  and  it  was  perforated  on  the  inferior  and  right  side;  it  con- 
tained a  considerable  mass  of  bones,  particularly  a  pelvis,  which,  unable  to  Ibllow  tiie  cur- 
vature ofthe  intestine,  iiad  been  imbedded  there  and  had  also  nearly  penetrated  through 
the  intestine.  Tlie  womb  at  tiiat  place  was  liard  and  thickened,  and  engorged  witli  blood; 
the  peritoneum  was  also  inflamed,  and  there  was  considerable  bloody  and  purulent  effu- 
sion in  the  belly.  It  was  evident  that,  on  the  death  ofthe  fcetus,  whether  by  accident  or 
in  the  process  of  parturition,  inflammation  ofthe  womb  and  the  intestine  had  followed;  ad- 
hesion had  taken  place  between  them;  suppuration,  perforation,  and  the  passage  ofthe 
fcEtus  from  the  one  to  the  other — that  portion  of  the  intestine  being  placed  under  that 
cornu  ofthe  womb.  The  uterus,  having  got  rid  of  that  which  it  contained,  closed  and 
healed;  but  the  bones  ofthe  foetus  gradually  separating,  and  passing  along  the  nmcous 
coat  ofthe  intestine  produced  a  constant  state  of  irritation,  and  at  length  the  pelvis  be- 
coming imbedded  there,  a  degree  of  inflammation  was  set  up  which  speedily  destroyed 
the  animal. 

X  Can  any  thing  be  more  unnatural,  absurd  or  dangerous,  than  the  following  direc- 
tions? '  After  a  cow  has  calved,  it  is  advisable  to  let  her  have  an  opportunity  of  drinking 
as  much  cold  water  as  she  will,  but  by  no  means  warm  water;  tlie  latter  opening  the 
pores  and  letting  in  cold  air:  warm  water  is  diluting,  cold  is  bracing.  It  may  be  observed, 
that  when  cows  calve  in  i)astures,  if  there  be  water  in  the  place,  they  are  almost  sure  to 
calve  near  it.  Nature  has  taught  them  what  they  want.  By  drinking  much  cold  water 
their  urine  is  increased,  and  the  continual  straining  to  void  it  causes  them  to  force  their 
cleansing.' — Parkinson's  Treatise  on  Live  Stock,  vol.  i.  p.  1120. 


BLEEDING  (FLOODING)  FROM  THE  WOMB.  545 

gently  but  carefully  milked  three  or  four  times  every  day.  The  natural 
and  the  effectual  preventive  of  this,  however,  is  to  let  the  calf  suck  her  at 
east  three  times  in  the  day  if  it  is  tied  up  in  the  cow-house,  or  to  run  with 
lier  in  tlie  pasture,  and  take  the  teat  when  it  pleases.  The  tendency  to 
inflammation  of  the  udder  is  much  diminished  by  the  calf  frequently  suck- 
ing; or  should  the  cow  be  feverish,  nothing  soothes  or  quiets  her  so  much 
as  the  presence  of  the  little  one. 

THE  CLEANSING. 

.ftJ^t^P'T"^"'  «^<''^''-*/'-^'*'  or  cleansing,  should  be  discharged  soon 
after  the  calving.  It  soon  begins  to  act  upon  the  uterus  as  a  foreian  body 
?nl"""?  irntation  and  fever;  it  likewise  rapidly  becomes  putrid  and  noi-' 
some,  and  if  it  is  then  retained  long,  it  is  either  an  indication  of  a  weakly 
state  of  the  cow,  or  it  may  produce  a  certain  degree  of  low  fever  that  will 
interfere  with  her  condition.  Every  cowleech,  therefore,  has  his  cleans 
ing  drink  ready  to  administer;  but  it  is  too  often  composed  of  stimular. 
and  injurious  drugs,  and  which  lay  the  foundation  for  after  disease.  Th? 
aperient  drink  recommended  to  be  given  after  calving,  with  the  addition  of 

o^t  ti^:^thL^ru^iv:arv;r^ '- '-'  --^  -  ^^-  -  -^  *« 

and  continual  action  of  which  will  usually  separate  the  placenta  from  its 
adhesions,  without  any  risk  of  hemorrhage:-  but  if  the  after-birth  should 
still  remain  in  the  womb   and  decomposition  should  evidently  commence, 

ai^^^bShthli-r-r^^ 

inconvenience  or  disease  resulting  from  it  that  would  justify  a^mechankal 
a  tempt  to  extract  it.  It  is  occasionally  retained  seven  or  e  ght  day  w  th 
out  any  dangerous  consequence.  ^        ^ 

BLEEDING   (fLOODINg)  FROM  THE  WOMB. 

This  although  rarely,  may  follow  natural  parturition.  It  is  oftener  seen 
when  the  uterus  has  been  wounded  in  the  forcible  extraction  of  he  calf 
and  It  still  more  frequently  follows  the  long  retention  and  melanical  sepa- 
ration of  the  after-birth.  The  application  Sf  cold  to  the  loins  wTll  be  most 
serviceable  in  this  case.     A  pound  of  nitre  should  be  dissolved  /n  a  ga  Ion 

of  7uZ:  I  "f -^''"i!  '"1  ''^'""^^  ^^  '^'  ^'^^  ^'P'  constantly  by  rneans 
of  cloths  dipped  in  the  solution.  If  the  season  of  the  year  will  peim  t 
he  water  yielded  by  the  melting  of  pounded  ice  mixed  vith  sa  may  be 
used    being  colder,  and  therefore  more   effectual.     The  cow  may  now 

and  lar^  d^  V"''"^  '7  """"T'^  '^''  ^^^  "-^  be  inclinertJ  take! 
and  large  doses  of  opium   (two  drachms   every  second  hour)   should  be 

thttThniond  ^'  h" '"  P^i^'^'  l'^  ^^"  ^h«"»^  be  elevated,  in  order 
tn  ,1H  K  ,  ""'"I  ^'  '"'"'"'^  ^"  'be  womb,  and  coagulate  there.     She 

should  be  kept  perlectly  quiet,  and  the  calf  not  permitted  to  su'-k.  There 
are  few  hemorrhages  from  the  womb,  except  those  produced  by  ab  olute 
rupture  of  it,  which  will  not  yield  to  this  treatment.  ^ 

retIiTe7in'theut'en^f/°"  '°  f"  "method  of  proceeding  when  the  after-birth  is  actually 
^^^^T^;^i::S\£^'-^::^J;^^  ^'-  co„,.onnotionof  its  pre.entinj 

47* 


S46  CATTLE. 

MILK  (puerperal)   FEVER. DROPPING  AFTER  CALVING, 

Although  parturition  is  a  natural  process,  it  is  accompanied  by  a  great 
deal  of  febrile  excitement.  The  sudden  transferiing  of  powerful  and  ac- 
cumulated action  from  one  organ  to  another — from  the  womb  to  the  udder 
— must  cause  a  great  deal  of  constitutional  disturbance,  as  well  as  liability 
to  local  inflammation. 

The  bitch,  a  few  days  after  pupping,  pants,  heaves,  refuses  her  food,  be- 
comes delirious,  convulsed,  and,  unless  speedily  relieved,  dies. 

The  ewe,  soon  after  lambing,  heaves  at  the  flanks,  separates  herself  from 
the  flock,  reels,  falls,  and  dies. 

So  the  cow,  after  parturition,  is  subject  to  inflammation  of  some  of  the 
parts  the  functions  of  which  are  thus  changed:  it  is  mere  local  inflamma- 
tion at  first,  but  the  system  speedily  sympathises,  and  puerperal  fever 
appears.  It  is  called  dropping  after  calving  because  it  follows  that  pro- 
cess, and  one  of  the  prominent  symptoms  of  the  complaint  is  the  loss  of 
power  over  the  motion  of  the  hind  limbs,  and  consequent  inability  to  stand. 
In  a  great  number  of  cases,  loss  of  feeling  accompanies  that  of  voluntary 
motion;  and  no  sense  of  pain  is  evinced,  although  the  cow  is  deeply  prick- 
ed in  her  hind  limbs. 

There  are  few  diseases  which  the  farmer  dreads  more,  and  that  for  two 
reasons;  the  first  is,  that  the  animal  now  labours  under  a  high  degree  of 
excitement,  and  every  local  inflammation,  and  particularly  near  the  parts 
in  which  the  sudden  change  of  circulation  and  of  function  has  taken 
place,  assumes  a  peculiar  character,  and  an  intensity,  obstinacy,  and  fatality, 
unknown  at  other  times:  the  second  reason  is,  that  from  his  inattention 
to  the  animal,  or  his  ignorance  of  tlie  real  nature  of  the  diseases  of  cattle, 
he  does  not  recognise  this  malady  until  its  first  and  manageable  state, 
that  of  fever,  has  passed,  and  the  strength  of  the  constitution  has  been 
undermined,  and  helpless  debility  has  followed.  The  first  symptom 
which  he  observes,  or  which  the  practitioner  has  generally  the  opportu- 
nity to  observe,  is  the  prostration  of  strength  which  violent  fever  always 
leaves  behind  it.  The  early  deviations  from  health  are  unobserved  by 
the  agriculturist,  and  probably  would  not  always  attract  the  attention  of 
the  surgeon. 

This  disease  is  primarily  inflammation  of  the  womb,  or  of  the  perito- 
neum, but  it  afterwards  assumes  an  intensity  of  character  truly  specific. 
The  affection  is  originally  that  of  some  particular  viscus,  but  it  soon  is  lost 
in  a  peculiar  general  inflammatory  state,  as  rapid  in  its  progress  as  it  is 
violent  in  its  nature,  and  speedily  followed  by  a  prostration  of  vital  power 
that  often  bids  defiance  to  every  simulus. 

Cows  in  high  condition  are  most  subject  to  an  attack  of  puerperal  fever. 
Their  excess  of  condition  or  state  of  plethora  disposes  them  to  aflfections 
of  an  inflammatory  character  at  all  times,  and  more  particularly  when  the 
constitution  labours  under  the  excitement  accompanying  parturition.  The 
poorest  and  most  miserable  cattle  have,  however,  sometimes  dropped  after 
calving;  and  they  have  particularly  done  so  when,  on  account  of  the  ap- 
proach of  this  period,  they  have  been  moved  from  scanty  to  luxuriant  pas- 
ture, or  from  low  keep  to  high  stall  feeding.* 

*  Mr.  Hales  very  properly  remarks,  that, '  dropping  after  calving  happens  to  cows 
that  are  very  fresh  and  fat,  and  particularly  to  those  that  calve  for  on  the  season 
in  hot  weather;  but  cows  that  are  too  fat  often  drop  after  calving  in  the  winter; 
and  it  is  observed  that  the  cases  that  occur  in  the  winter  will  frequently  recover, 
while  the  animals  that  are  thus  attacked  in  hot  weather  too  generally  die.' — Veteri- 
narian^ August,  1831. 

Mr.  Storry  of  Pickering  very  justly  observes  in  a  letter  with  which  he  favoured  tlie 


MILK  (PUERPERAL)  FEVER.  HI 

A  coAV  is  comparatively  seldom  attacked  with  milk  fever  at  her  first 
calving,  because  in  the  present  system  of  breeding  she  has  seldom  attained 
her  full  growth,  and  therefore  the  additional  nutriment  goes  to  increase  of 
size  instead  of  becoming  the  foundation  of  disease.  Cases,  however,  do 
occur,  in  which  cows  of  three  years  old  have  been  speedily  carried  off  by 
this  complaint,  but  then  they  had  been  most  injudiciously  exposed  to  the 
influence  of  the  forcing  system. 

Much  depends  on  the  quantity  of  milk  which  the  cow  is  accustomed  to 
yield;  and  great  milkers,  although  they  are  not  often  in  high  condition,  are 
very  subject  to  this  affection.  All  cows  have  a  slight  degree  of  fever  at 
this  time;  a  very  litde  addition  to  that  will  materially  interfere  with  the  se- 
cretion of  milk,  and,  perhaps,  arrest  it  altogether;  and  the  throwing  back 
upon  the  system  the  quantity  of  milk  which  some  of  them  are  disposed  to 
give,  must  strangely  add  fuel  to  fire,  and  kindle  a  flame  by  which  the 
powers  of  nature  are  speedily  consumed.  Whether  the  present  improved 
method  of  selection,  whereby  the  properties  of  grazing  and  giving  milk 
are  united  in  the  same  animal,  will  increase  the  tendency  to  inflammation, 
and  particularly  to  this  dangerous  species  of  fever,  is  a  question  deserving 
of  consideration.  It  used  to  be  objected  to  the  Short  Horns,  that  they 
were  more  liable  to  puerperal  fever  than  the  Long  Horns  were;  and  that 
it  was  oftener  fatal  to  them.  Much  of  this  arose  from  the  unfounded  pre- 
judice which  existed  against  the  Short  Horns,  when  they  were  first  intro- 
duced; yet  the  prisciple  which  has  just  been  hinted  at  should  never  be  for- 
gotten by  the  breeder  of  short-horned  cattle,  that  in  a  disease  the  early  and 
almost  uniform  system  and  the  most  dangerous  part  of  which  is  the  sup- 
pression of  the  secretion  of  milk,  that  danger  must  increase  in  proportion 
to  the  quantity  of  secretion  thus  suddenly  arrested. 

Puerperal  fever  sometimes  appears  as  early  as  two  hours  after  parturi- 
tion; if  four  or  five  days  have  passed,  the  animal  may  generally  be  consi- 
dered as  safe:  yet  Mr.  Leaver  relates  a  case  in  which  a  fortnight  elapsed 
between  the  calving  and  the  dropping  of  the  cow.* 

The  early  symptoms  of  dropping  after  calving  are  evidently  those  of  a 
febrile  character.  The  animal  is  restless,  shifting  her  feet,  pawing,  and 
she  heaves  laboriously  at  the  flanks.  The  muzzle  is  dry  and  hot,  the 
mouth  open  and  the  tongue  protruded.  The  countenance  is  wild  and  the 
eyes  staring.  She  wanders  about  mournfully  lowing;  she  becomes  irrita- 
ble; she  butts  at  a  stranger  and  sometimes  even  at  the  herdsman.  Deliri- 
um follows;  she  grates  her  teeth,  foams  at  the  mouth,  throws  her  head 
violently  about,  and,  not  unfrequently,  breaks  her  horns.  The  udder  be- 
comes enlarged,  and  hot,  and  tender,  at  the  very  commencement  of  the 
disease.  This  is  always  to  be  regarded  as  a  suspicious  circumstance  in  a 
cow  at  that  time;  and  if  this  swelling  and  inflammation  are  accompanied, 
as  they  almost  uniformly  are,  by  a  partial  or  total  suspension  of  the  milk, 
that  which  is  about  to  happen  is  plain  enough. 

The  disease  is  an  inflammatory  one,  and  must  be  treated  as  such,  and 
being  thus  treated,  it  is  generally  subdued  without  diflliculty.  The  animal 
should  be  bled,  and  the  quantity  of  blood  withdrawn  should  be  regulated 
by  that  standard  so  often  referred  to — that  rule  without  an  exception — the 
impression  made  upon  the  circulation.  From  six  to  ten  quarts  will  pro- 
bably be  taken  away,  depending  upon  the  age  and  size  of  the  animal, 

editor,  that  it  often  arises  from  the  '  very  comfortable  drink'  which  so  many  cowleeches 
absurdly  administer,  before  or  after  calving.  In  three  cases  which  had  occurred  a  little 
while  before  he  wrote,  he  traced  it  to  the  freely  giving  of  bean-meal  to  the  cows  on  the 
day  of  parturition. 

♦  Veterinarian,  Aug.  1831. 


548  CATTLE. 

before  the  desired  effect  is  produced.  There  is  no  malady  which  more 
satisfactorily  illustrates  the  necessity  of  endeavouring  to  subdue  as  quickly 
as  possible  every  inflammatory  complaint  of  cattle  by  the  free  use  of  the 
lancet;  for  all  of  them  run  their  course  with  a  rapidity  which  a  person  un- 
accustomed to  these  animals,  and  wliich  the  human  practitioner  especially, 
would  scarcely  deem  to  be  possible.  To-day  the  cow  is  seen  with  the 
sym])loms  just  described — she  is  bled,  and  she  is  relieved;  or  she  is  ne- 
glected, antl  the  fever  has  sapped  the  strength  of  the  constitution,  and  left 
a  fearful  debility  behind.  The  small  bleedings  to  which  some  have  re- 
course are  worse  than  inefficient,  for  they  only  increase  the  natural  ten- 
dency of  these  maladies  to  take  on  a  low  and  fatal  form. 

A  pound,  or  a  pound  and  a  half  of  Epsom  salt,  dependent  on  the  size 
of  the  beast,  must  next  be  administered,  with  half  the  usual  quantity  of 
aromatic  ingredients;  and  half-pound  doses  of  the  same  must  be  repeated 
every  six  hours.  Should  not  the  medicine  soon  begin  to  act,  the  usual 
quantity  of  aromatic  medicine  must  be  doubled,  for  in  addition  to  the  con- 
stipation usually  attending  fever,  there  is  that  which  arises  from  the  occa- 
sional state  of  the  rumen,  and  the  passage  leading  to  it,  and  that  insensible 
stomach  must  be  roused  to  action  and  excited  to  discharge  its  contents,  in 
despite  of  the  stimulating  influence  of  the  spice  on  the  constitution  gene- 
rally. The  botcels  must  be  opened,  or  the  disease  will  run  its  course; 
and,  purging  once  established  in  an  early  stage,  the  fever  will,  in  the  ma- 
jority of  instances,  rapidly  subside,  leaving  the  strength  of  the  constitution 
untouched.* 

After  the  physic  has  begun  to  operate,  the  usual  sedative  medicines 
should,  if  necessary,  be  given. 

In  a  great  number  of  cases,  however,  this  all-important  period  will  have 
passed  away,  and  the  practitioner  will  be  called  in  to  witness  the  fatal 
■winding  vp  of  the  affair,  and  perhaps  to  be  censured  for  his  want  of  skill, 
when  he  is  unable  to  accomplish  impossibilities. 

The  digestive  function  first  of  all  fails  when  the  secondary  and  low  state 
of  fever  comes  on.  The  rumen  ceases  to  discharge  its  food,  and  that  be- 
ing retained,  begins  to  ferment,  and  the  paunch  and  the  intestines  are  in- 
flated with  fostid  gas  and  the  belly  of  the  animal  swells  rapidly. 

Next,  the  nervous  system  is  attacked — the  cow  begins  to  stagger.  The 
weakness  is  principally  referrible  to  the  hinder  quarters,   and  rapidly  in- 

*  The  following  testimony  of  Mr.  Bainbrldge  of  Saffron-Walden  to  the  general  effi. 
cacy  of  this  mode  of  treatment  is  too  important  to  be  omitted,  although  perhaps  the  ex- 
tent to  which  he  carried  the  bleeding  miglit  not  always  be  justifiable.  'The  months  of 
February  and  March,  1833,  afforded  me  several  cases  of  dropping  after  calving.  I  im- 
mediately bleed  to  the  amount  of  two  gallons,  or,  in  some  cases,  more,  and  give  a 
draught  composed  of  Bpsom  salts  lb.  i,  spirits  of  nitre  3SS.,  and  linseed  oil  lb.  i,  in 
plenty  of  thin  gruel.  I  also  order  from  four  to  six  ounces  of  salts  to  be  given  in  gruel 
every  six  hours  afterwards;  some  ginger  being  always  boiled  with  the  gruel.  If  my 
patient  is  not  relieved  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  her  state  permits  it,  I  bleed  again,  and 
repeat  the  salts,  oil,  &c.  Out  of  six  cases  in  the  last  two  months  five  perfectly  reco- 
vered.'—  Veterinarian,  February,  1834,  p.  74. 

Mr.  Friend  considers  this  disease  as  closely  connected  with  a  disordered  state  of  the 
digestive  organs,  and  is  a  strenuous  advocate  for  purgatives.  He  says,  '  Epsom  salts 
in  large  quantities,  Croton  seed  and  sulplmr  are  most  to  be  depended  upon.  The  salts 
act  immediately  on  the  abdomen  and  intestines,  and  are  excellent  pioneers  for  the  (Pro- 
ton, whose  action  is  more  upon  the  other  stom.iclis,  and  consequently  very  valuable.  I 
dare  not  depend  upon  either  alone;  on  the  salts,  because  they  are  apt  to  pass  the  three 
first  stomachs  too  quickly;  or  on  tlie  Croton,  because  it  is  so  much  slower  in  its  opera- 
tion, and  cannot  be  so  immediately  extended  in  its  effects.  In  conjunction  they  will 
perform  wonders.  Common  salt  is  an  excellent  medicine,  but  rather  objectionable  where 
milk  is  an  object,  it  having  a  tendency  to  diminish  the  secretion  of  that  fluid.' — Veteri- 
narian, June,  1833. 


MILK  (PUERPERAL)  FEVER.  549 

creases.  She  reels  about  for  a  while,  and  then  falls;  she  gets  up,  falls 
once  more,  and  at  leno'th  is  unable  to  rise;  her  head  is  bent  back  towards 
her  side,  and  all  her  limbs  are  palsied;  and  now,  when  in  too  many  cases 
no  good  can  be  done,  the  proprietor,  for  the  first  time,  begins  to  be 
alarmed. 

This  portion  of  the  '  Farmer's  Series'  will  not  have  been  written  in  vain 
if  it  induces  an  earlier  attention  to  the  diseases  of  domesticated  animals. 

The  duration  of  this  second  stage  of  puerperal  fever  is  uncertain;  but 
although  it  is  usually  more  protracted  than  the  first,  the  period  in  which 
hope  may  be  reasonably  encouraged  is  short  indeed.  If  the  cow  is 
seriously  ill,  and  off  her  feed,  and  does  not  get  up  again  in  two  or  three 
days,  the  chances  are  very  much  against  her;  the  author,  however,  knew 
one  that  was  saved  after  she  had  suffered  considerable  fever,  and  had  been 
down  nine  days;  and  where  debility  is  the  principal  symptom,  and  the 
cow  seems  to  lie  tolerably  comfortable,  and  without  pain,  and  picks  a 
little,  she  may  occasionally  get  up  after  she  has  been  down  even  longer 
than  that. 

The  treatment  of  this  stage  of  the  disease,  although  there  has  been  a 
great  deal  of  dispute  about  it,  depends  on  one  simple  principle,  the 
existence  and  the  degree  of  fever.  Notwithstanding  there  is  debility, 
there  may  be  fever;  although  the  strength  of  the  constitution  may  have 
been  to  a  great  degree  wasted,  there  may  be  still  a  smothered  fire  that 
will  presently  break  out  afresh.  In  another  point  of  view,  much  of  this 
apparent  weakness  may  be  deceptive;  it  may  be  the  result  of  oppression 
and  venous  congestion,  and  not  of  exhaustion. 

The  pulse  will  be  the  guide,  and  should  be  carefully  consulted.  Is  it 
weak,  wavering,  irregular  dying  away,  pausing  a  beat  or  two,  and  then 
weakly  creeping  on  again?  We  must  not  bleed  here.  These  are  indica- 
tions of  debility  that  cannot  be  mistaken — nature  wants  to  be  supported, 
stimulated,  not  still  further  weakened.  The  abstraction  of  blood  would 
settle  the  business  at  once. 

Is  the  pulse  small,  but  regular,  hard,  wiry,  and  quickened — or  is  it  full 
and  quickened?  Blood  should  certainly  be  taken  away.  These  are  as 
plain  indications  of  secret  and  destructive  fire  as  can  possibly  be  given. 
The  practitioner  should  bleed,  but  with  the  finger  on  the  pulse,  anxiously 
M'atching  the  effect  produced,  and  stopping  at  the  first  falter  of  the  heart. 
Many  a  beast  has  been  decidedly  saved  by  this  kind  of  bleeding  in  drop- 
ping after  calving;  and  many  have  been  lost  through  neglect  of  bleeding. 
Some  may  have  perished  when  the  bleeding  was  carried  too  far.  and  some, 
if  the  animals  were  bled  when  the  pulse  gave  indications  of  debility,  but 
none  when  the  pulse  indicated  power,  and  the  possibility  of  febrile  action. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  disgracefid  dispute  about  the  propriety  or  im- 
propriety of  bleeding  in  dropping  after  calving.  One  practitioner  affirms 
that  he  never  bleeds,  and  another  that  he  always  bleeds  in  this  disease. 
One  thing,  however,  is  certain,  that  when  the  proprietor,  or  attendant 
on  the  catUe,  hazards  a  random  or  sweeping  assertion  in  this  case, 
either  for  or  against  bleeding,  he  stands  in  need  of  a  great  deal  of  infor- 
mation with  regard  to  the  diseases  of  cattle;  and  when  a  professional  man 
commits  himself  in  this  way,  he  proves  that  he  is  perfectly  ignorant  of 
his  business  and  ought  to  go  to  school  again.  The  propriety  and  impro- 
priety of  the  abstraction  of  blood  depends  on  the  state  of  the  pulse  and 
the  degree  of  fever — circumstances  which  vary  in  every  case,  and  in  dif- 
ferent stages  of  the  same  case,  and  which  accurate  observation  alone  can 
determine. 

Next,  in  order  of  time,  and  first  of  all  in  importance  in  this  stage  of  the 


550  CATTLE. 

disease,  stands  pliysic.  The  bowels  must  be  opened,  otherwise  the  animal 
will  perish;  but  the  fever  having  been  subdued  by  a  judicious  bleeding, 
and  the  bowels  after  that  being  excited  to  action,  the  recovery  is  in  a  man- 
ner assured.  The  medicine  should  be  active,  and  in  sufficient  quantity; 
for  there  is  no  time  for  trifling  here.  A  scruple  of  the  farina  of  the  Cro- 
ton-nut,  and  a  pound  of  Epsom  salt,  will  constitute  a  medium  dose.  For 
a  large  beast  the  quantity  of  the  neutral  salt  should  be  increased.  Doses 
of  half  a  pound  should  afterwards  be  given  every  six  hours  untd  purgation 
is  produced.  The  usual  quantity  of  aromatic  medicine  should  be  added. 
Here,  too,  the  constitution  of  the  stomachs  of  catde  should  not  be  forgot- 
ten. If  twenty-four  hours  have  passed,  and  purging  has  not  commenced, 
even  after  the  administration  of  such  a  drug  as  the  Croton-nut,  there  is 
reason  to  suspect  that  the  greater  part  of  our  medicine  has  not  got  beyond 
the  rumen;  and  on  account  of  the  cuticular  and  comparatively  insensible 
lining  of  this  stomach  strong  stimulants  must  now  be  added  to  the  purga- 
tive medicine,  in  order  to  induce  it  to  contract  upon  and  expel  its  con- 
tents. Two  drachms  each  of  ginger,  gentian,  and  caraway  powder,  with 
half  a  pint  of  old  ale,  may,  with  advantage,  be  given  with  each  dose  of  the 
physic. 

It  would  seem  superfluous  to  recommend  the  diligent  use  of  injections 
in  order  to  hasten  the  operation  of  the  medicine,  had  not  some  of  the 
writers  on  cattle-medicine  strangely  objected  to  them.*  Warm  water, 
with  Epsom  salt  dissolved  in  it,  or  warm  soap  and  water,  will  form  the 
best  injection,  and  should  be  thrown  up  frequendy,  and  in  considerable 
quantities. 

Should  the  constipation  obstinately  continue,  it  may  be  worth  while  to 
inject  a  considerable  quantity  of  warm  water  into  the  rumen,  and  thus 
soften  and  dissolve  the  hard  mass  of  undigested  food,  and  permit  the  medi- 
cine to  come  more  efl'ectually  into  contact  with  the  coats  of  the  stomach. 
The  warm  water  would  also  stimulate  the  stomach  to  contract,  and  thus 
get  rid  of  a  portion  of  its  contents,  either  by  vomiting  or  purging.  In 
the  first  case,  there  would  be  room  for  the  exhibiUon  of  more  purgative 
medicine;  in  the  other,  the  effect  most  of  all  desired  would  have  been  ob- 
tained. 

The  rumen  will  often  annoy  the  practitioner  in  another  way  in  this  com- 
plaint: either  on  account  of  a  vitiated  secretion  in  that  stomach,  or  from 
the  retention  of  the  food,  which,  exposed  to  the  united  influence  of  warmth 
and  moisture,  begins  to  ferment,  there  wdl  be  considerable  extrication  of 
gas,  and  the  animal  will  swell  with  even  more  rapidity  and  to  a  greater 
extent  than  in  simple  hoove.  The  flanks  should  immediately  be  punc- 
tured, or  the  probang  introduced,  in  order  to  permit  the  carburetted  hydro- 
gen to  escape.  A  dose  of  the  solution  of  the  chloride  of  lime,  as  already 
recommended  under  '  Hoove,'  should  be  given  to  prevent  the  extrication 
of  more  gas;  and  a  greater  quantity  of  aromatic  and  fever  medicine  should 
be  added  to  the  purgative,  that  the  stomach  may  be  roused  to  healthy  ac- 
tion. 

Ere  this  the  practitioner  will  have  thought  it  necessary  to  pay  some 
attention  to  the  comfort  of  the  patient.     This  part  of  medical  treatment  is 

*  Mr.  Knowlson  has  the  following  singular  and  ridiculous  caution  against  the  use 
of  injections  in  dropping  after  calving: — 'Many  are  for  giving  clysters,  and  I  have 
known  tliem  given  in  this  complaint  until  the  animal  has  been  blown  as  full  of  wind  as 
she  could  hold,  which  was  the  direct  way  to  cure  her,  for  the  clysters  and  air  must  fill 
the  bowels,  and  yet  some  of  lliese  people  call  themselves  cow-doctors.  It  is  difficult 
enough  to  prevent  her  swelling,  without  giving  her  so  many  clysters  as  to  cause  her  to 
swell.'— P. 


MILK  (PUERPERAL)  FEVER.  651 

too  often  neglected.  She  should  have  been  watched  before  she  actually- 
dropped,  and  got  as  soon  as  possible  into  the  house,  and  well  and  warmly 
littered  up.  If  she  drops  in  the  field  it  will  always  be  difficult  to  get  her 
home;  and  if  she  continues  out,  and  bad  weather  comes  on,  she  will  as- 
suredly be  lost.  She  should  be  placed  on  one  side,  or,  if  possible,  on  her 
belly,  inclining  a  little  to  one  side,  and,  as  much  as  can  be  managed  in  her 
usual  position,  and  with  her  fore  parts  a  little  elevated,  and  she  should  be 
secured  in  that  position  by  trusses  of  straw.  She  should  be  moved  or 
turned  morning  and  night,  in  order  to  prevent  soreness  and  excoriation. 
Warm  gruel  and  water  should  be  frequently  offered  to  her,  and  if  these  are 
obstinately  refused,  she  should  be  moderately  drenched  with  thick  gruel. 
Bean  and  malt  mashes  may  be  given  with  a  little  sweet  hay:  but  it  must  be 
remembered,  that  while  moderate  nourishment  is  necessary  to  recruit  her 
strength,  and  support  her  through  such  a  disease,  yet  the  digestive  powers 
have  usually  shown  that  they  have  shared  in  the  debility  of  the  frame,  and 
must  not  be  too  early,  or  too  much  taxed. 

Having  well  opened  the  bowels  and  subdued  the  fever,  the  future  pro- 
ceedings of  the  surgeon  must  be  regulated  by  the  state  of  the  patient.  In 
general,  little  more  will  be  necessary  than  attention  to  diet  and  comfort. 
At  all  events,  tonics  and  stimulants  should  not  be  too  hastily  thrown  in. 
It  should  be  recollected,  that  the  disease  was  essentially  of  a  febrile  nature. 
Experience  will  convince  the  practitioner,  that  there  long  remains  a  lurk- 
ing tendency  to  the  renewal  of  febrile  action,  and  he  will  beware  lest  he 
kindles  the  fire  afresh;  but  if  the  cow  should  continue  in  a  low  and  weakly 
state,  and  especially  if  her  remaining  strength  should  seem  to  be  gradually 
declining,  gentian  and  ginger  may  be  administered  twice  in  the  day,  in 
doses  of  half  an  ounce  of  the  first,  and  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of  the  second, 
and  given  in  good  sound  ale;  but  the  outrageous  quantities  of  aromatics  and 
bitters,  and  ardent  spirits,  that  are  occasionally  given,  cannot  fail  of  being 
injurious. 

It  occasionally  happens  that  the  cow  appears  to  recover  a  portion  of 
strength  in  her  fore-quarters,  and  makes  many  ineffectual  attempts  to  rise, 
but  the  hind-quarters  are  comparatively  powerless.  This  partial  palsy  of 
the  hind  extremities  is  the  natural  consequence  both  of  inflammation  of  the 
womb  and  of  the  bowels.  The  best  remedy  is  the  charge  which  is  gene- 
rally applied  to  the  horse.  All  embrocations  are  thrown  away  on  the  thick 
skin  of  the  cow,  and  the  constant  stimulus  of  a  charge  and  the  mechanical 
support  afforded  by  it,  will  alone  effect  the  desired  purpose.  A  week  or 
ten  days  should  be  given  to  the  animal,  in  order  to  see  whether  the  power 
of  voluntary  motion  in  these  limbs  will  return;  but  should  the  paralytic  af- 
fection then  remain,  a  sling  must  be  contrived  by  which  she  may  be  sup- 
ported, and  during  the  use  of  which  she  may  be  enabled  gradually  to  throw 
a  portion  of  her  weight  on  these  legs,  and  reaccustom  them  to  the  discharge 
of  their  duty. 

A  very  singular  variety  of  the  disease  has  already  been  hinted  at.  The 
cow  is  down,  but  there  is  apparently  nothing  more  the  matter  with  her 
than  that  she  is  unable  to  rise;  she  eats,  and  drinks,  and  ruminates  as  usual, 
and  the  evacuations  are  scarcely  altered.  In  this  state  she  continues  from 
two  days  to  a  fortnight,  and  then  she  gets  up  well.* 

There  is  a  common  consent  among  the  different  organs  of  the  frame 
both  under  healthy  and  diseased  action.  It  has  been  stated  that  a  partial 
or  total  suppression  of  the  secretion  of  milk  is  frequently  an  early  symp- 
tom, and,  in  some  stage  or  other,  an  almost  invariable  one  of  the  dis- 
e-ase.  Experience  likewise  shows  that  if  the  secretion  of  milk  can  be 
*  Veterinarian,  August,  1831. 


652  CATTLE. 

recalled,  the  restoration  of  the  use  of  the  limbs  is  not  far  distant.  The 
teats  should  be  frequently  drawn,  and  the  discharge  of  milk  industriously 
solicited.  This  is  a  simple  method  of  cure,  but  it  is  a  far  more  etfectual 
one  tlian  many  imagine. 

That  milk-fever  is  sometimes  epidemic  there  is  every  reason  to  suppose. 
The  practitioner  may,  perhaps,  be  long  without  a  case,  but  if  one  comes 
under  his  notice,  he  has  reason  to  suspect  that  it  will  soon  be  followed  by 
others.  The  contagious  character  by  which  it  is  so  fatally  distinguished 
in  the  human  subject  is  not,  however,  so  decided;  but  this  is  a  subject 
which  well  deserves  further  inquiry. 

That  there  is  a  constitutional  tendency  to  this  complaint  cannot  be  denied. 
Beasts  in  high  condition  are  peculiarly  subject  to  it;  and  an  animal  that  has 
once  experienced  an  attack  of  it  becomes  exceedingly  liable  to  the  disease 
at  her  next,  or  at  some  future  calving.  Agriculturists  are  perfectly  aware  of 
this;  and  if  a  cow  recovers  from  puerperal  fever,  her  milk  is  dried,  and  she 
is  fattened  and  sold  without  much  loss  of  time. 

Something  may  be  and  is  done  by  many  graziers  in  the  way  of  preven- 
tion. If  the  cow  is  in  a  high,  and  consequently  a  dangerous  state  of  con- 
dition, and  has  been  fed  on  luxuriant  pasture,  it  will  be  very  proper,  as  has 
been  already  stated,  to  bleed  her,  and  give  her  a  dose  of  physic;  and  re- 
move her  to  a  field  of  shorter  bite,  a  little  before  her  expected  time  of 
calving.     Many  valuable  animals  have  been  saved  by  this  precaution.* 

SORE    TEATS. 

Cows  are  very  subject  to  inflammation  of  the  udder  soon  after  calving 
The  new  or  increased  function  which  is  now  set  up,  and  the  sudden  dis- 
tension of  the  bag  with  milk  produce  tenderness  and  irritability  of  the 
udder,  and  particularly  of  the  teats.  This  in  some  cases  shows  itself  in 
the  form  of  excoriations  or  sores,  or  small  cracks  or  chaps,  on  the  teats, 
and  very  troublesome  they  are.  The  discharge  likewise  from  tbese  cracks 
mingles  with  the  milk.  The  cow  suffers  much  pain  in  the  act  of  milking, 
and  is  often  unmanageable.  Many  a  cow  has  been  ruined,  both  as  a  quiet 
and  a  plentiful  milker,  by  bad  management  when  her  teats  have  been  sore. 
It  is  folly  to  have  recourse  to  harsh  treatment  to  compel  her  to  submit  to 
the  infliction  of  pain  in  the  act  of  milking,  she  will  only  become  more  vio- 
lent, and  probably  become  a  kicker  for  life;  if  by  soothing  and  kind  treat- 
ment she  cannot  be  induced  to  stand,  nothing  else  will  efiect  it.  She  will 
also  form  a  habit  of  retaining  her  milk,  and  which  very  speedily  and  very 
materially  reduce  its  quantity.  The  teats  should  be  fomented  with  warm 
■water,  in  order  to  clean  them  and  get  rid  of  a  portion  of  the  hardened  scab- 
biness  about  them,  the  continuance  of  which  is  the  cause  of  the  greatest 
pain  in  the  act  of  milking;  and  after  the  milking,  the  teats  should  be  dressed 
with  the  following  ointment: — Take  an  ounce  of  yellow  wax,  and  three  of 
lard,  melt  them  together,  and  when  they  begin  to  get  cool,  well  rub  in  a 
quarter  of  an  ounce  of  sugar  of  lead  and  a  drachm  of  alum  finely  powdered. 

*  There  are  many  absurd  notions  about  this  disease,  prevailing  in  different  districts, 
but  none  so  ridiculous  as  M.  Gelle  describes  as  existing  in  La  Vendee.  A  cow  that  he 
had  attended,  labouring  under  puerperal  fever,  died.  The  pretended  medical  man  of 
the  place  declared  that  she  had  been  killed  by  bleeding,  and  tliat  there  were  hedgehogs 
which  were  the  cause  of  her  complaint,  and  wliich  ought  to  have  been  taken  away  from 
her.  If  a  cow  in  calf  pastured,  before  the  sun  had  risen,  on  any  herb  over  which  a 
hedgehog  had  passed,  she  would  have  a  parcel  of  little  hedgehogs  in  her  womb  with  the 
calf.  These  wise  men  mistook  the  cotyledons  found  in  the  uterus  of  ruminants  for 
little  hedgehogs,  and  introduced  the  hand  and  tore  them  off  without  mercy  as  soon  &a 
tlie  cow  dropped. — Journal  Pratique,  1826,  p.  477. 


GARGET.  553 


Too  often,  however,  the  inflammation  assumes  another  and  worse  cha- 
racter: it  attacks  the  internal  substance  of  the  udder — one  of  the  teats  or 
the  quarters  becomes  enlarged,  hot,  and  tender — it  soon  begins  to  feel 
hard,  it  is  knotty;  it  contains  within  it  litde  distinct  hardened  tumours 
or  kernels.  In  a  short  space  of  time,  other  teats,  or  other  quarters  pro- 
bably assume  the  same  character.  The  milk  has  coagulated  in  the  bag  to 
a  certain  degree,  and  it  has  caused  local  inflammation  where  it  lodges. 
This  occurs  particularly  in  young  cows  after  their  first  calving,  and  when 
they  are  in  a  somewhat  too  high  condition,  and  it  is  usually  attended  by  a 
greater  or  less  degree  of  fever. 

The  most  efl'ectual  remedy  for  this,  in  the  early  stage  of  the  complaint, 
is  a  very  simple  one;  the  calf  should  be  put  to  the  mother,  and  it  should 
suck  and  knock  about  the  udder  at  its  pleasure.  In  most  cases  this  will 
relieve  her  from  the  too  great  flow  of  milk,  and  disperse  all  the  lumps. 

If  the  inflammation  continues  or  increases,  or  the  bag  should  be  so 
tender  that  the  mofTier  will  not  permit  the  calf  to  suck;  and  especially 
should  the  fever  evidently  increase,  and  the  cow  refuse  to  eat,  or  cease  to 
ruminate,  and  the  milk  become  discoloured,  and  mixed  with  matter  or 
with  blood,  the  case  must  be  taken  seriously  in  hand.  The  cow  should 
be  bled;  a  dose  of  physic  administered;  the  udder  well  fomented;  the 
milk  drawn  gently,  but  completely  off',  at  least  twice  in  the  day,  and  an 
ointment  composed  of  the  following  ingredients,  as  thoroughly  rubbed 
into  the  bag  as  the  cow  will  permit.  (Rub  down  an  ounce  of  camphor, 
having  poured  a  tea-spoonful  of  spirit  of  wine  upon  it;  add  an  ounce  of 
mercurial  ointment,  and  half  a  pound  of  elder  ointment,  and  well  incorpo- 
rate them  together.)  Let  this  be  applied  after  every  milking,  the  udder 
being  well  fomented  with  warm  water,  and  the  remains  of  the  ointment 
washed  off  before  the  next  milking. 

If  the  disease  does  not  speedily  yield  to  this  treatment,  recourse  must 
be  had  to  iodine,  which  often  has  admirable  effects  in  diminishing  glan- 
dular enlargements.  The  only  objection  to  iodine,  and  which  renders  it 
advisable  to  give  the  camphorated  mercurial  ointment  a  short  trial,  is  that 
while,  by  its  power  of  exciting  the  absorbents  of  the  glands  generally  to 
action,  it  causes  the  dispersion  of  unnatural  enlargements,  it  occasionally 
acts  upon,  and  a  little  diminishes  the  gland  itself.  This,  hoAvever,  rarely 
happens  to  any  considerable  degree,  and  will  not  form  a  serious  objection 
to  its  use  when  other  means  have  failed.  It  should  be  applied  externally 
in  the  form  of  an  ointment  (one  part  of  the  hydriodale  of  potash  being 
well  saturated  with  seven  parts  of  lard,)  one  or  two  drachms  of  which 
should  be  rubbed  into  the  diseased  portion  of  the  udder,  every  morning 
and  night.  At  the  same  time  the  hydriodate  may  be  given  internally  in 
doses  gradually  increased  from  six  to  twelve  grains  daily. 

The  udder  should  be  frequenUy  examined,  for  matter  will  soon  begin  to 
form  in  the  centre  of  these  indurations,  and  should  be  speedily  evacuated 
lest  it  should  burrow  in  various  parts  of  the  bag,  and,  when  at  length  it 
does  find  its  way  to  the  surface  and  bursts  through  the  skin,  irregular 
ulcers  should  be  formed,  at  all  times  difficult  to  heal,  and  sometimes  ii>- 
volving  the  loss  of  more  than  one  of  the  quarters.  Whenever  there  is 
any  appearance  of  suppuration  having  commenced,  (a  minute  observa- 
tion wdl  enable  the  practitioner  to  discover  the  very  spot  at  which  the 
tumour  is  preparing  to  point,)  the  diseased  part  should  be  freely  and 
deeply  lanced,  and  an  immense  quantity  of  matter  will  often  be  dis- 
charged. It  is  generally  bad  practice  to  cut  off  the  teat;  not  only  is  it 
48 


554  CATTLE. 

afterwards  missed  in  the  milking,  but  the  quantity  of  the  milk  is  usually 
lessened  to  a  greater  or  less  degree. 

Should  the  tumour  have  been  left  to  break,  a  deep  and  ragged  ulcer 
will  then  be  formed,  and  must  immediately  be  attended  to,  for  the  neigh- 
bouring part  will  be  rapidly  involved.  Half  of  the  bag  has  in  some  cases 
become  mortified  in  a  few  days,  and  diseased  portions  have  either 
dropped  off,  or  it  has  been  necessary  to  remove  them  in  order  to  stop  the 
spread  of  the  gangrene.  The  chloride  of  lime  is  an  invaluable  applica- 
tion here.  The  wound  should  be  well  cleaned  with  warm  water,  and  then 
a  dilute  solution  of  the  chloride  freely  applied  to  every  part  of  it;  not  only 
will  the  unpleasant  smell  from  the  ulcer  be  immediately  got  rid  of,  but  its 
destructive  progress  will  be  arrested,  and  the  wound  will  speedily  take 
on  a  healthy  character.  When  this  is  effected,  recourse  may  be  had  to 
the  Friar's  balsam;  but  the  occasional  use  of  the  chloride  will  be  advan- 
tageous until  the  bag  is  perfectly  healed. 

Chronic  indurations  will  sometimes  remain  after  the  inflammation  of 
garget  has  been  subdued;  they  will  be  somewhat  tender,  and  they  will 
always  lessen  the  quantity  of  milk  obtained  from  that  quarter.  The 
iodine  will  seldom  fail  of  dispersing  these  tumours.  The  ointment  just 
recommended  should  be  well  rubbed  in  twice  every  day,  and  if  the  en- 
largement does  not  speedily  subside,  the  hydriodate  should  also  be  given 
internally.  Mr.  Christian,  of  Canterbury,  and  the  author's  friend,  Mr. 
May,  of  Maldon,  relate  two  cases  of  chronic  garget,  in  one  of  which  the 
induration  had  existed  four  months,  and  occupied  two  of  the  quarters,  and 
was  accompanied  by  the  occasional  discharge  of  blood;  and  in  the  other  it 
had  been  observed  more  than  a  twelvemonth,  and  was  increasing.  An 
ointment  was  used  by  Mr.  Christian,  in  the  form  of  the  iodine  itself  tritu- 
rated with  lard;  and  a  liniment  composed  of  the  tincture  of  iodine  with 
soot  by  Mr.  May.  In  the  course  of  three  weeks,  the  udder  was  in  both 
cases  as  well  as  if  it  never  had  been  diseased.*  The  hydriodate  of  potash 
is,  however,  the  most  manageable  and  the  most  effectual  preparation  of 
iodine. 

The  causes  of  garget  are  various;  the  thoughtless  and  unfeeling  expo- 
sure of  the  animal  to  cold  and  wet,  at  the  time  of,  or  soon  after  partu- 
rition, the  neglect  of  physic  or  bleeding  before  calving,  or  suffering  the 
cow  to  get  into  too  high  condition,  are  frequent  causes.  So  powerful  is 
the  latter  one,  that  instances  are  not  unfrequentof  cows,  that  have  for  some 
time  been  dried,  and  of  heifers  that  have  never  yielded  milk,  having  vio- 
lent inflammation  of  the  udder.f  The  hastily  drying  of  the  cow  has  given 
rise  to  indurations  in  the  udder  that  have  not  easily  been  removed.  An 
awkward  manner  of  lying  upon,  and  bruising  the  udder  is  an  occasional 
cause;  and  a  very  frequent  one  is  the  careless  habit  of  not  milking  the  cow 
clean,  but  leaving  a  portion  in  the  bag,  and  the  best  portion  of  the  milk 
too,  and  which  gradually  becomes  a  source  of  irritation  and  inflammation 
in  the  part.  Connected  with  this  last  cause  is  the  necessity  of  the  advice 
already  given,  to  milk  the  cow  as  clean  as  possible  at  least  twice  in  the 
day,  during  the  existence  and  treatment  of  garget. 

THE  COW-POX. 

The  consideration  of  this  disease  may  be  conveniently  introduced  here. 

*  It  often  happens  to  fattening  cows,  but  more  in  certain  districts  than  others,  so 
much  so,  that  on  some  marsh  lands  in  the  county  of  Lincoln,  a  cow  cannot  be  fattened, 
nor  even  a  heifer  that  lias  never  given  milk:  an  ox  has  there  been  known  to  exhibit 
symptoms  of  garget. —  Parkinson  on  Live  Cattle,  vol.  i.  p.  245. 

+  Veterinarian,  Jan.  1830,  and  May,  1833. 


THE  COW-POX.  555 

Cows  are  subject  to  two  distinct  species  of  pustular  eruption  on  the  teats. 
Little  vesicles  or  bladders  appear;  they  often  differ  considerably  in  size 
and  form,  and  are  filled  with  a  purulent  matter.  In  the  course  of  a  few 
days  a  scab  forms  upon  them,  which  peels  off,  and  the  part  underneath  is 
sound.  If  the  pustules  are  rubbed  off  in  the  act  of  milking,  or  in  any 
other  way,  small  ulcers  are  left,  which  are  very  sore,  and  sometimes  diffi- 
cult to  heal. 

The  best  treatment  is  washing  and  fomenting;  a  dose  of  physic,  and 
the  application  of  the  ointment  for  sore  teats  recommended  in  page  552. 
The  cause,  like  that  of  many  other  pustular  eruptions,  is  unknown;  except 
that  it  is  contagious,  and  is  readily  communicated  from  tlie  cow  to  the 
milker  if  the  hand  is  not  quite  sound,  and  from  the  milker  to  other  cows. 

There  is  another  kind  of  pustular  eruption,  of  a  more  important  charac- 
ter, and  with  which  the  preceding  one  has  been  confounded.  It  also  con- 
sists of  vesicles  or  bladders  on  the  teats;  but  they  are  larsrer,  round,  with 
a  little  central  depression;  they  are  filled  at  first  with  a  limpid  fluid,  which 
by  degrees  becomes  opaque  and  purulent,  and  each  of  them  is  surrounded 
by  a  broad  circle  of  inflammation.  This  is  more  decidedly  a  constitutional 
disease  than  the  former.  The  cow  exhibits  evident  symptoms  of  fever; 
she  does  not  feed  well;  sometimes  she  ceases  to  ruminate,  and  the  secre- 
tion of  milk  is  usually  diminished. 

These  pustules  go  through  a  similar  process  with  the  former  ones — they 
dry  up,  and  at  length  the  scabs  fall  off  leaving  the  skin  beneath  sound; 
but  if  they  are  broken  before  this,  the  ulcers  are  larger,  deeper,  of  a  more 
unhealthy  character,  and  generally  far  more  difficult  to  heal.  This  is  the 
genuine  cow-pox. 

The  treatment  is  nearly  the  same,  except  that  being  accompanied  by 
more  constitutional  disturbance,  an  aperient  is  more  necessary,  and  it  may 
occasionally  be  prudent  to  abstract  blood.  The  frequent  application  of  a 
Goulard's  lotion,  with  an  equal  portion  of  spirit  of  wine,  will,  at  least  in 
the  early  stage  of  the  ulcer,  be  preferable  to  the  ointment;  but  better  than 
this,  and  until  the  ulcers  are  beginning  to  heal,  will  be  the  dilute  solution 
of  the  chloride  of  lime.  If  the  teats  are  washed  with  this  before  the  cow 
is  milked,  it  will  go  far  towards  preventing  the  communication  of  the 
disease. 

There  is  some  difliculty  respecting  the  cause  of  this  disease.  It  is  as 
contagious  as  the  other,  and,  perhaps,  usually  propagated  by  contact;  but 
it  occasionally  appears  when  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  possibility 
of  contact,  directly  or  indirectly,  with  any  other  animal  previously  simi- 
larly affected.  It  was  the  opinion  of  Jenner,  and  is  still  the  opinion  of 
many  medical  men,  that  the  cow-pox  originated  from  infection  by  the  mat- 
ter of  grease  in  horses,  and  which  had  been  conveyed  to  the  teat  of  the 
cow  by  means  of  the  unwashed  hands  of  some  one  who  had  the  care  of 
the  horses  while  he  was  occasionally  employed  in  the  dairy.*  This,  when 
brought  to  the  test  of  experience,  has  been  proved  to  be  altogether  erro- 

*  '  He  (Jenner)  conceived  the  sanious  fluid  of  the  grease  to  be  the  original  disease, 
and  the  cow-pox,  in  the  cow  itself,  to  be  nothing  more  than  a  casual  inoculation  pro- 
duced by  the  cows  lying  down  in  a  meadow,  where  the  affected  horse  had  been  pre- 
viously feeding,  and  her  udder  coming  in  contact  with  the  discharge  which  had  dropped 
on  the  grass  and  lodged  there;  and  lie  endeavoured  to  show  the  identity  of  the  fluids 
by  the  identity  of  their  effects,  in  respect  of  the  small- pox.' — Dr.  Mason  Good's  Study 
of  Medicine,  vol.  iii.  p.  59.  Dr.  George  Gregory,  in  his  'Practice  of  Physic,'  says,  '  It 
has  been  rendered  highly  probable,  that  the  cow-pox  is  only  a  secondary  disease  in 
cows;  that  originally  it  is  an  affection  of  the  hoof  of  the  horse,  comniunicated  to  roan 
directly  or  to  him  through  the  cow.' — p.  113, 


556  CATTLE. 

neons.  A  pustular  disease  has  been  communicated  by  contact  with  tlie 
matter  of  grease,  but  it  resembled  far  more  the  spurious  vesicle  that  has 
been  described  in  the  last  page  than  the  genuine  cow-pox.  In  a  great 
many  instances,  however,  nothing  that  could  be  considered  as  bearing  any 
analogy  to  the  true  vaccine  disease  followed  inoculation  by  the  matter  of 
grease.  Woodville,  Simmons,  Professor  Coleman  of  the  Veterinary  Col- 
lege, Bartholini,  and  others,  failed  entirely  in  producing  cow-pox  in  tliis 
way;  and  Dr.  Pearson  very  satisfactorily  proved  that  the  cow-pox  was  oc- 
casionally found  in  diseases  where  the  attendants  on  the  cows  could  have 
had  no  communication  with  greasy  horses,  nor,  in  fact,  with  any  horses 
sick  or  well;  and  where  the  cows,  likewise,  had  no  access  to  pastures  on 
which  horses  had  fed  for  many  years  before.  Whatever  may  still  be  the 
opinion  of  a  few  medical  men,  it  will  be  difficult  to  find  a  veterinary  sur- 
geon whose  life  is  spent  amidst  these  diseases,  and  who  ought  to  be  well 
acquainted  with  their  nature,  causes,  and  effects,  who  believes  that  grease 
is  the  origin  of  cow-pox,  or  that  there  is  the  slightest  connexion  between 
them.* 

The  next  interesting  circumstance  connected  with  this  pustular  eruption 
is,  that  the  persons  on  whom  it  appeared  were,  for  a  considerable  period, 
(it  was  once  thought,  during  life,)  protected  from  the  small-pox.  'J'his 
was  known  among  farmers  from  time  immemorial,  and  that  not  only  in 
England,  and  almost  every  part  of  the  continent,  but  also  in  the  New 
World.  The  majority  of  medical  men,  however,  had  regarded  it  as  a 
mere  popular  error,  and  to  no  one,  whom  experience  had  convinced  of  the 
active  protective  power  of  the  cow-pox,  had  it  occurred  to  endeavour. to 
ascertain,  whether  it  might  not  be  'possible  to  propagate  the  affection  by 
inoculation  from  one  human  being  to  another,  and  thus  communicate  secu- 
rity against  small-pox  at  will.' 

To  the  mind  of  Mr.  Jenner,  then  a  surgeon  at  Berkeley  in  Gloucestershire, 
the  probability  of  accomplishing  this,  first  presented  itself.  He  spoke  of  it 
to  his  medical  friends;  but  from  every  one  of  them  he  met  with  discourage- 
ment. They  sportively  threatened  to  banish  him  from  their  club,  if  he 
continued  to  tease  them  with  his  wild  speculations.  For  more  than  twenty 
years  he  brooded  on  the  subject,  ere  he  could  summon  sufficient  resolution 
to  oppose  himself  to  the  ridicule  of  his  friends  and  of  the  profession  gene- 
rally by  making  the  decisive  experiment.  At  length  he  inoculated  a  boy 
with  the  matter  taken  from  the  hands  of  a  milkmaid,  who  had  been  in- 
fected by  her  master's  cow.  The  disease  was  communicated,  and  with  it 
the  immunity  which  he  expected.  He  multiplied  his  experiments,  and  he 
was  successful  in  all  of  them;  and,  although  his  brethren  and  the  public 
were  slow  to  believe  him,  he  at  length  established  the  power  of  vaccination, 
and  proved  himself  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  benefactors  to  the  human  race 
that  ever  lived.t  This  account  of  the  progress  of  vaccination  is  not  out  of 
place,  since  the  prophylactic  against  that  destructive  scourge  of  the  human 
race,  the  small-pox,  was  derived  from  the  animal  to  the  consideration  of 

*  See  a  very  candid  and  satisfactory  statement  of  the  argument  on  both  sides  in  Dic- 
tionnaire  de  Med,  et  de  Chirurgie  Vet.  par  Hurtrel  d'Arboval,  Eaux  aux  Jambes. 

t  The  followijjg  picture  of  what  passed  in  his  mind  before  he  had  quite  accomplished 
his  object  cannot  fail  of  being  interesting  to  the  reader.  '  While  the  vaccine  discovery 
was  progressive,  the  joy  felt  at  the  prospect  before  me,  of  being  the  instrument  destined 
to  take  away  from  the  world  one  of  its  greatest  calamities,  blended  with  the  fond  hope 
of  enjoying  independence  and  domestic  peace  and  happiness,  were  often  so  excessive, 
that  in  pursuing  my  favourite  subject  among  the  meadows,  I  have  sometimes  found 
myself  in  a  kind  of  reverie.  It  is  pleasant  to  me  to  recollect,  that  those  reflections  al- 
ways ended  in  devout  acknowledgment  to  that  Being  from  whom  this  and  all  other 
blessings  flow.' — Bacon's  Life  of  Jenner. 


DISEASES  AND  MANAGEMENT  OF  CALVES.  557 

whose  general  and  medical  treatment  this  work  is  devoted;  and  some  prac- 
titioners of  no  little  eminence  have  recommended  (and  perhaps  it  deserves 
more  consideration  than  has  been  given  to  it)  a  return*  to  the  primary 
fountain  for  a  recruit  of  power  and  energy  after  the  lapse  of  a  certain  pe- 
riod, and  the  prosecution  of  a  certain  number  of  successive  experiments. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  GENERAL  DISEASES  AND  MANAGEMENT  OF  CALVES. 

The  management  of  the  calf,  so  far  as  the  profit  of  the  farmer  is  concerned, 
belongs  to  the  work  on  '  British  Husbandry,'  this  volume  having  re- 
lation to  that  only  which  is  connected  with  health,  or  disease,  or  general 
welfare,  or  improvement.  In  whatever  manner  the  calf  is  afterwards  to 
be  reared,  it  should  remain  with  the  mother  for  a  few  days  after  it  is 
dropped,  and  until  the  milk  can  be  used  in  the  dairy.  The  little  animal 
will  thus  derive  the  benefit  of  the  first  milk,  that  to  which  nature  has  given 
an  aperient  property,  in  order  that  the  black  and  glutinous  faeces  that  had 
been  accumulating  in  the  intestines,  during  the  latter  months  of  the  ftetal 
state  might  be  carried  off.  The  farmer  acts  wrongly  when  he  throws 
away,  as  he  is  too  much  in  the  habit  of  doing,  the  beastings,  or  first  milk 
of  the  cow. 

*  Good's  Studies  of  iMedicine,  vol.  iii.  p.  55;  Gregory's  Report,  April,  1821.  It  was 
the  opinion  of  Jenner,  and  it  is  still  the  belief  of  some  sportsmen,  that  the  cow-pox  is  a 
preventive  against  the  distemper  in  dogs.  It  might  be  observed,  that  there  is  not  the 
slightest  similarity  between  t!ie  two  diseases,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  they  affect  per- 
fectly different  textures;  it  might  also  be  urged  that  the  description  given  of  tlie  distem- 
per in  dogs,  by  the  advocates  of  the  power  of  vaccination,  is  altogether  so  erroneous  that 
no  dependence  can  be  placed  upon  it;  the  most  satisfactory  appeal,  however,  is  to  fact. 

There  is  \cry  great  caprice  with  regard  to  the  contagiousness  of  distemper,  whether 
depending  on  certain  modifications  of  the  disease;  or  a  certain  degree  of  predisposition 
of  the  \Vantof  it  in  the  animal  exposed  to  the  contagion;  or  on  diffsirent  states  of  atmos- 
pheric influ2nce.  The  reason  of  it  has  never  been  sufficiently  explained,  but  the  fact 
admits  of  no  denial,  that  during  two  or  tiiree  successive  years  there  may  be  isolated  ca- 
ses of  it  in  a  certain  kennel,  but  the  inhabitants  of  that  kennel  generally  seem  to  possess 
a  kind  of  immunity  against  its  power;  but  in  other  years,  no  sooner  does  the  distemper 
appear,  than  it  rapidly  spreads  among  the  dogs,  and  carries  off  the  majority  of  them 
There  is  also  no  fact  butter  known  among  sportsmen  than  that  much  of  the  susceptiblitv 
of  infection  depends  on  the  breed.  Some  dogs,  bred  too  much  in  and  in,  can  scarcely 
be  reared  at  all,  while  in  others  the  disease  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  from  common 
catarrh.  It  was  probably  at  some  of  these  periods  of  security,  or  the  subjects  of  his  ex- 
periments belonging  to  some  of  these  privileged  breeds,  that  Dr.  Sacco  of  Milan  inocu- 
lated two  hundred  and  thirty  dogs  with  vaccine  matter,  and  only  one  of  them  afterwards 
had  the  distemper  and  died;  and  it  was  probably  when  the  contagious  influence  of  the 
disease  was  more  powerful,  or  the  breed  predisposed  to  take  on  tlie  disease  in  its  most 
fearful  character,  that  Dr.  Valentin  of  Nancy  lost  from  distemper  two  dogs  out  of  three 
whicli  he  had  previously  inoculated  with  vaccine  matter;  and  tliatGohier  was  quite  un- 
successful in  obtaining  an  immunity  against  the  disease.  The  author  of  this  work  has 
inoculated  more  than  sixty  dogs,  and  the  result  of  his  experience  is,  that  the  vaccine 
matter  aeitlier  destroys  the  contagion,  nor  mitigates  the  disease. 

Numerous  experiments  were  made  on  the  effect  of  inoculation  with  the  vaccine  mat- 
ter, in  preventing  or  mitigating  the  scab  in  sheep,  and  the  strangles  in  horses.  Tlie 
accounts  given  by  the  experimentalists  are  inconsistent  to  a  degree  scarcely  credible; 
but  public  opinion  seems  to  have  decided  that  here  too  it  was  powerless.  It  was  only 
in  oneof  ttiose  moments  of'  reverie'  pardonable  in  a  mind  enthusiastically  devoted  to  the 
pursuit  of  a  benevolent  and  noble  object,  and  when  the  '  wish  is  fatlier'  to  many  a  con- 
clusion, that  it  could  be  believed  that  the  cow-pox  would  afford  protection  against  ra- 
bies. — Diet  de  Med  et  de  Chirurgie  Vet,  Vaccination. 
48* 


558  CATTLE. 


NAVEL-ILL. 


The  calf  being  cleaned,  and  having  begun  to  suck,  the  navel-string 
should  be  examined.  Perhaps  it  may  continue  slowly  to  bleed.  In  this 
case  a  ligature  should  be  passed  round  it  closer,  but,  if  it  can  be  avoided, 
not  quite  close  to  the  belly.  Possibly  the  spot  at  which  the  division  of  the 
cord  took  place  may  be  more  than  usually  sore.  A  pledget  of  tow  well 
wetted  with  Friar's  balsam  should  be  placed  over  it,  confined  with  a 
bandage,  and  changed  every  morning  and  night,  but  the  caustic  applica- 
tions, that  are  so  frequently  restored  to,  should  be  avoided. 

Sometimes  when  there  has  been  previous  bleeding,  and  especially  if  the 
caustic  has  been  used  to  arrest  the  hemorrhage,  and  at  other  times  when 
all  things  have  seemed  to  have  been  going  on  well,  inflammation  suddenly 
appears  about  the  navel  between  the  third,  and  eighth,  or  tenth  day. 
There  is  a  little  swelling  of  the  part,  but  with  more  redness  and  tenderness 
than  such  a  degree  of  enlargement  would  indicate.  Although  there  may 
be  nothing  in  the  first  appearance  of  this  to  excite  alarm,  the  navel-ill  is  a 
far  more  serious  business  than  some  imagine.  Mr.  Sitwell,  an  intelligent 
breeder  at  Barmoor  Castle  in  Northumberland,  says,  'that  in  his  part  of 
the  country,  as  soon  as  the  calf  takes  on  this  disease,  they  consider  it  as 
dead;  and  butchers  and  graziers  will  not  purchase  any  calves  until  the 
usual  time  for  having  the  disorder  is  passed.'*  Fomentation  of  the  part 
in  order  to  disperse  the  tumour — the  opening  of  it  with  a  lancet  if  it 
evidently  points,  and  the  administration  of  two  or  three  two-ounce  doses 
of  castor  oil,  made  into  an  emulsion  by  means  of  an  egg,  will  constitute 
the  first  treatment;  but  if,  when  the  inflammation  abates,  extreme  weak- 
ness should  come  on,  as  is  too  often  the  case,  gentian  and  laudanum,  with, 
perhaps,  a  small  quantity  of  port  wine,  should  be  administered. 

CONSTIPATION. 

If  the  first  milk  or  beastings  has  been  taken  from  the  calf,  and  consti- 
pation, from  that,  or  from  any  other  cause,  succeeds,  an  aperient  should 
be  administered  without  delay.  The  sticky  black  faeces,  with  which  the 
bowels  of  the  newly  born-calf  are  often  loaded,  must  be  got  rid  of.  Castor 
oil  is  the  safest  and  the  most  eff'ectual  aperient  for  so  young  an  animal. 
It  should  be  given,  mixed  up  with  the  yolk  of  an  egg,  or  in  thick  gruel, 
in  doses  of  two  or  three  ounces;  and  even  at  this  early  age,  the  carminative 
which  forms  so  usual  and  indispensable  an  ingredient  in  the  physic  of  cat- 
tle must  not  be  omitted — a  scruple  of  ginger  should  be  added  to  the  oil. 

Constipation  of  another  kind  may  be  prevented,  but  rarely  cured.  If  the 
weather  will  permit,  and  the  cow  is  turned  out  during  the  day,  and  the 
calf  with  her,  the  young  one  may  suck  as  often  and  as  much  as  it  pleases — 
the  exercise  which  it  takes  with  its  mother,  and  the  small  quantity  of  green 
meat  which  it  soon  begins  to  crop,  will  keep  it  healthy;  but  if  it  is  under 
shelter  with  its  dam,  and  lies  quiet  and  sleepy  the  greater  part  of  the  day, 
some  restraint  must  be  put  upon  it.  It  must  be  tied  in  a  corner  of  the 
hovel  and  not  permitted  to  suck  more  than  three  times  during  the  day, 
otherwise  it  will  take  more  milk  than  its  weak  digestive  powers  will  be  able 
to  dispose  of,  and  which  will  coagulate,  and  form  a  hardened  mass,  and  fill 
the  stomach  and  destroy  the  animal.  The  quantity  of  this  hardened  curd 
which  has  sometimes  been  taken  from  the  fourth  stomach  almost  exceeds 
belief.  This  is  particularly  the  case  when  a  foster  mother,  that  probably 
had  calved  several  weeks  before,  is  given  to  the  litUe  one,  or  the  calf  has 
too  early  been  fed  with  the  common  milk  of  the  dairy.     The  only  chance 

*  British  Farmer's  Magazine. 


HOOSE.  659 

of  success  in  ibis  disease  lies  in  the  frequent  administration  (by  means  of 
the  stomach-pump,  or  the  drink  poured  gently  down  from  a  small  horn) 
of  plenty  of  warm  water,  two  ounces  of  Epsom  salt  being  dissolved  in 
the  quantity  used  at  each  administration. 

At  a  later  period,  the  calf  is  sometimes  suffered  to  feed  too  plentifully  on 
hay,  before  the  manyplus  has  acquired  sufficient  power  to  grind  doAvn  the 
fibrous  portions  of  it.  This  will  be  indicated  by  dulness,  fever,  enlarge- 
ment of  the  belly,  and  the  cessation  of  rumination,  but  no  expression  of 
extreme  pain.  The  course  pursued  must  be  the  same.  The  manyplus 
must  be  emptied  either  by  washing  it  out,  by  the  frequent  passage  of 
warm  water  through  it,  or  by  stimulating  it  to  greater  action,  through  the 
means  of  the  sympathetic  influence  of  a  purgative  on  the  fourth  stomach, 
and  the  intestinal  canal. 

A  tendency  to  costiveness  in  a  calf  should  be  obviated  as  speedily  as 
possible — it  is  inconsistent  with  the  natural  and  profitable  thriving  of  the 
animal,  and  it  can  never  long  exist  without  inducing  a  degree  of  fever,  al- 
ways dangerous,  and  generally  fatal.  The  farmer  is  sadly  inattentive 
here,  and  loses  many  of  his  best  young  stock,  for  they  are  generally  the 
most  disposed  to  costiveness. 

DIARRHCEA. 

The  disease,  however,  to  which  calves  are  most  liable,  and  which  is  most 
fatal  to  them,  is  purging.  It  arises  from  various  causes — the  milk  of  the 
mother  may  not  agree  with  the  young  one;  it  may  be  of  too  poor  a  nature, 
and  then  it  produces  that  disposition  to  acidity,  which  is  so  easily  excited 
in  the  fourth  stomach,  and  the  intestines  of  the  calf;  or,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  may  be  too  old  and  rich,  and  the  stomach,  weakened  by  the  attempt  to 
convert  it  into  healthy  chyle,  secretes  or  permits  the  development  of  an  acid 
fluid.  It  is  the  result  of  starvation  and  of  excess — it  is  the  almost  neces- 
sary consequence  of  a  sudden  change  of  diet;  in  fact,  it  is  occasionally 
produced  by  every  thing  that  deranges  the  process  of  healthy  digestion. 

The  farmer  needs  not  to  be  alarmed  although  the  faeces  should  become 
thin,  and  continue  so  during  two  or  three  days,  if  the  animal  is  as  lively  as 
usual,  and  feeds  as  he  was  wont;  but  if  he  begins  to  droop,  if  he  refuses 
his  food,  if  rumination  ceases,  and  he  is  in  evident  pain,  and  mucus,  and 
perhaps  blood,  begin  to  mingle  with  the  dung,  and  that  is  far  more  foetid 
than  in  its  natural  slate,  not  an  hour  should  be  lost.  The  proper  treat- 
ment has  already  been  described  under  the  titles  of  diarrhoea  and  dysentery, 
pp.  475,  et  seq.  A  mild  purgative  (two  ounces  of  castor  oil,  or  three  of 
Epsom  salt)  should  first  be  administered,  to  carry  away  the  cause  of 
the  disturbed  state  of  the  bowels.  To  this  should  follow  anodyne  and 
astringent  and  alkaline  medicines,  with  a  mild  carminative.  The  whole 
will  consist  of  opium,  catechu,  chalk,  and  ginger.  The  union  of  these 
constitutes  the  medicine  known  under  the  name  of  the  '  Calves'  Cordial;' 
but  the  carminative  generally  exists  in  unnecessary  and  dangerous  pro- 
portions. The  proportions  of  each  have  already  been  given  in  p.  476, 
when  describing  the  treatment  of  diarrhoea.  The  use  of  this  mixture 
should  be  accompanied  by  frequent  drenching  with  starch  or  thick  gruel; 
by  the  removal  of  green  or  acescent  food,  and  by  giving  bran  mashes, 
with  a  little  pea  or  bean  flour. 


A  sufficiently  alarming  view  has  been  given  of  this  disease  in  adult 
cattle,  but  calves  are  even  more  subject  to  it:  it  takes  on  in  them  a  more 


660  CATTLE. 

dangerous  cliaracter,  and  more  speedily  terminates  in  Avasting  and  in  death. 
Hoose  often  assumes  an  epidemic  form  in  cattle  of  a  twelvemonth  old  and 
upwards;  it  often  appears  as  an  epidemic  among  calves,  and  carries  off 
great  numbers  of  them.  The  treatment  recommended  for  grown  cattle 
under  the  article  Hoose,  in  p.  378  etseq.,  should,  with  such  deviation  as 
the  different  age  and  situation  of  the  beast  require,  be  adopted  here.  The 
bleeding,  perhaps,  should  not  be  carried  to  so  great  an  extent,  and  even 
somewhat  more  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  comfort  of  the  animal. 

CASTRATION. 

There  used  to  be  a  strange  difference  of  opinion  among  farmers  as  to 
the  time  when  this  operation  should  be  performed.  In  some  parts  of  the 
north  of  the  kingdom  it  is  delayed  until  the  animal  is  two  years  old;  but 
this  is  done  to  the  manifest  injury  of  his  form,  his  size,  his  propensity  to 
fatten,  the  quality  of  his  meat,  and  his  docility  and  general  usefulness  as  a 
working  ox.  The  period  which  is  now  pretty  generally  selected  is  between 
the  first  and  third  months.  The  nearer  it  is  to  the  expiration  of  the  first 
month,  the  less  danger  attends  the  operation. 

Some  persons  prepare  the  animals  by  the  administration  of  a  dose  of 
physic;  but  others  proceed  at  once  to  the  operation  when  it  best  suits 
their  convenience,  or  that  of  the  farmer.  Care,  however,  should  be  taken 
that  the  young  animal  is  in  perfect  health.  The  mode  formerly  practised 
was  simple  enough: — a  piece  of  whipcord  was  tied  as  tightly  as  possible 
round  the  scrotum.  The  supply  of  blood  being  thus  completely  cut  off,  the 
bag  and  its  contents  soon  became  livid  and  dead,  and  were  suffered  to 
hang,  by  some  careless  operators,  until  they  dropped  off,  or  were  cut  off  on 
the  second  or  third  day. 

It  is  now,  however^  the  g2neral  practice  to  grasp  the  scrotum  in  the 
hand,  between  the  testicles  and  the  belly,  and  to  make  an  incision  on  one 
side  of  it,  near  the  bottom,  of  sufficient  depth  to  penetrate  through  the  inner 
covering  of  the  testicle,  and  long  enough  to  admit  of  its  escape.  The 
testicle  immediately  bursts  from  its  bag,  and  is  seen  hanging  by  its  cord. 

The  careless  or  brutal  operator  now  firmly  ties  a  piece  of  small  string 
round  the  cord,  and  having  thus  stopped  the  circulation,  cuts  through  the 
cord  half  an  inch  below  the  ligature,  and  removes  the  testicle.  He,  how- 
ever, who  has  any  feeling  for  the  poor  animal  on  which  he  is  operating, 
considers  that  the  only  use  of  the  ligature  is  to  compress  the  blood-vessels 
and  prevent  after  hemorrhage,  and  therefore  saves  a  great  deal  of  un- 
necessary torture,  by  including  them  alone  in  the  ligature,  and  afterwards 
dividing  the  rest  of  the  cord.  The  other  testicle  is  proceeded  with  in 
the  same  way,  and  the  operation  is  complete.  The  length  of  the  cord 
should  be  so  contrived  that  it  shall  immediately  retract  into  the  scrotum, 
but  not  higher,  while  the  ends  of  the  string  hang  out  through  the  wounds. 
In  the  course  of  about  a  week  the  strings  will  usually  drop  ofl',  and  the 
wounds  will  speedily  heal.  It  will  be  rarely  that  any  application  to  the 
scrotum  will  be  necessary,  except  fomentation  of  it,  if  much  swelling 
should  ensue. 

A  few,  but  their  practice  cannot  be  justified,  seize  the  testicle  as  soon 
as  it  escapes  from  the  bag,  and,  pulling  violently,  break  the  cord  and 
tear  it  out.  It  is  certain  that  when  a  blood-vessel  is  thus  ruptured, 
it  forcibly  contracts,  and  very  little  bleeding  follows;  but  if  the  cord  breaks 
high  up  and  retracts  into  the  belly,  considerable  inflammation  has  occa- 
sionally ensued,  and  the  beast  has  been  lost.  This  tearing  of  the  cord 
may  be  practised  on  smaller  animals,  as  pigs,  or  lambs,  or  rabbits;  the 
vessels  are  small,  and  there  is  but  little  substance  to  be  torn  asunder: 


CASTRATION.  561 

but  even  there  the  knife,  somewhat  bhmt,  will  be  a  more  surgical  and  hu- 
mane substitute.  This  laceration  should  never  be  permitted  in  the  castra- 
tion of  the  calf  or  the  colt. 

The  application  of  torsion,  or  the  twisting  of  the  arteries  by  means  of 
a  pair  of  forceps  which  will  firmly  grasp  ihem,  promises  to  supersede 
every  other  mode  of  castration,  both  in  the  larger  and  the  smaller  domes- 
ticated animals.  The  spermatic  artery  is  exposed,  and  seized  with  the 
forceps,  which  are  then  closed  by  a  very  simple  mechanical  contrivance; 
the  vessel  is  drawn  a  little  out  from  its  surrounding  tissue,  the  forceps  are 
turned  round  seven  or  eight  times,  and  the  vessel  liberated.  It  will  be 
found  perfectly  closed;  a  small  knot  will  have  formed  on  its  extremity;  it 
will  retract  into  the  surrounding  substance,  and  not  a  drop  more  blood  will 
flow  from  it:  the  cord  may  be  then  divided,  and  the  bleeding  from  any  lit- 
tle vessel  arrested  in  the  same  way.  Neither  the  application  of  the  hot 
iron  or  of  the  wooden  clams,  whether  with  or  without  caustic,  can  be  ne- 
cessary in  the  castration  of  the  calf.* 

*  In  many  parts  of  France  the  bull-calf  is  castrated  by  means  of  a  curious  species 
of  torsion,  termed  histournuge.  The  animal  is  tlirown  and  secured;  tlie  operator  places 
himself  behind  the  animal,  and  opposite  to  the  tail;  he  seizes  the  testicles  with  both 
his  hands,  and  pushes  them  violently  upwards  and  downwards  several  times,  in  order 
to  destroy  their  adhesion  to  their  coverings.  He  continues  this  manipulation  until  he 
thinks  that  he  has  produced  sufficient  lengthening  of  the  cords,  and  dilatation  of  tlie 
hpg  itself;  he  then  pushes  up  the  left  testicle  as  nearly  as  possible  to  tlie  ring,  leaving 
the  right  one  low  in  the  bag;  he  seizes  the  cord  of  the  right  testicle  between  the  finger 
and  thumb  of  the  left  hand,  about  an  inch  above  tlie  testicle,  and  grasping  the  bottom 
of  the  scrotum  with  his  right  hand,  he  turns  the  testicle,  and  pushes  it  forcibly  up- 
wards, until  he  has  reversed  it,  and  its  inferior  extremity  is  uppermost.  Some  little 
practice  is  required  in  order  readily  to  effect  this.  Then,  the  right  hand  holding  the 
testicle  while  the  left  hand  raises  the  cord,  the  testicle  is  turned  round  from  right  to 
left  four  or  five,  or  six  times,  until  there  is  a  degree  of  tension  and  difficulty  in  the 
turning,  which  indicates  that  the  spermatic  vessels  are  so  far  compressed  or  obliterated 
as  to  be  deprived  of  the  power  of  secreting  or  conveying  the  seminal  fluid.  The  testi- 
cle is  by  this  means  brought  up  nearly  to  the  abdominal  ring,  where  it  is  retained  by 
turning  the  scrotum  over  it,  while  the  left  testicle  is  brought  down,  reversed,  and  turned 
in  the  same  manner.  Last  of  all,  in  order  to  prevent  the  untwisting  of  the  cords  and 
the  descent  of  the  testicles,  the  operator  grasps  the  bottom  of  the  scrotum  in  his  left 
hand,  and  holding  one  end  of  a  piece  of  cord,  eighteen  inches  in  length,  and  about  as 
large  as  a  quill,  between  his  teeth,  and  having  the  other  end  in  his  right  hand,  he  makes 
with  it  several  turns  round  the  scrotum  with  considerable  firmness  below  and  close  to 
the  testicles,  yet  not  so  tightly  as  quite  to  stop  the  circulation  of  blood  through  the  bag. 
This  is  taken  away  at  the  end  of  the  second  day,  after  which  tlie  testicles  will  remain 
fixed  againstthe  abdomen,  and  will  gradually  wither  away.  The  animal  is  usually  bled 
after  the  operation,  and  half  of  its  allowance  of  food  is  for  a  while  taken  away,  and  it 
may  be  sent  to  pasture  on  the  second  or  third  day,  if  the  weather  is  favourable. 

This  mode  of  castration  does  not  appear  to  be  very  painful  to  the  animal,  and  is 
rarely  attended  by  any  dangerous  results.  It  is,  however,  principally  adapted  for  young 
cattle;  for  when  the  muscle  of  the  scrotum  is  powerful,  especially  in  cold  weather,  and 
when  there  is  much  adhesion  between  the  testicle  and  its  surrounding  tunics,  the  tor- 
sion  of  the  testicle  is  scarcely  practicable.  The  animals  that  are  thus  emasculated  are 
said  to  preserve  more  of  the  form  of  the  bull  than  others  from  whom  the  testicles  are 
excised:  they  also  retain  more  of  the  natural  desires  of  the  bull,  and  are  occasionally 
very  troublesome  among  the  cows. — Diet,  de  Med.  et  Chirurg.  Vet.  Castration. 


563  CATTLE. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

DISEASES  OF  THE  MUSCULAR  SYSTEM  AND  OF  THE  EXTREMITIES. 

RHEUMATISM. 

Although  some  writers  have  been  strangely  averse  to  acknowledge  the 
existence  of  this  disease  in  the  horse,  no  farmer  has  a  doubt  of  its  frequent 
occurrence  in  cattle.  It  is  inflammation  of  the  fascia,  or  cellular  coat  of 
the  muscles,  and  also  of  the  ligaments  and  synovial  membranos  of  the 
joints.  If  a  cow  has  been  necessarily,  or  carelessly  or  cruelly,  exposed 
to  unusual  cold  and  wet,  particularly  after  calving,  or  too  soon  after  reco- 
very from  serious  illness,  she  will  often  be  perceived  to  droop.  She  be- 
comes listless,  unwilling  to  move,  and  by  degrees  gets  off  her  feed.  If 
urged  to  move,  there  is  a  marked  stiffness  in  her  action,  at  first  referrible 
chiefly,  or  almost  entirely,  to  the  spine;  and  she  walks  as  if  all  the  articu- 
lations of  the  back  and  loins  had  lost  their  power  of  motion.  She  shrinks 
when  pressed  on  the  loins;  and  the  stiffness  gradually  spreads  to  the  fore 
or  hind  limbs.  The  farmer  calls  it  chine  fellon;  -if  it  gets  a  little  w^orse, 
it  acquires  the  name  oi  joint  fellon,  and  worse,  unless  care  is  taken,  it 
speedily  will  become.  Some  of  the  joints  swell:  they  are  hot  and  ten- 
der; the  animal  can  scarcely  bend  them;  and  he  cannot  move  without  dif- 
ficulty and  evident  pain. 

Who  could  doubt  that  the  same  causes  which  produce  rheumatism  in 
the  human  being  will  produce  it  also  in  the  quadruped?  Where  is  either 
the  proof  or  the  probability  of  exemption?  Thus  we  find  rheumatism  in 
cattle  chiefly  prevalent  in  a  cold,  marshy  country — in  places  exposed  to 
the  coldest  winds — in  spring  and  in  autumn,  when  there  is  the  greatest  vi- 
cissitude of  heat  and  cold — in  animals  that  have  been  debilitated  by  insuf- 
ficient diet,  and  that  cannot  withstand  the  influence  of  sudden  changes  of 
temperature — in  old  cattle  particularly,  and  such  as  have  been  worked 
hard,  and  then  turned  out  into  the  cold  air,  with  the  perspiration  still 
hanging  about  them. 

It  seems  to  assume  the  acute  and  the  chronic  form  as  evidently  as  it 
does  in  the  human  being.  One  animal  will  labour  under  considerable  fe- 
ver; he  will  scarcely  be  able  to  move  at  all,  or  when  he  does,  it  extorts 
from  him  an  expression  of  sufleriiig.  Another  seems  to  be  gay  and  well, 
when  the  air  is  warm  and  dry;  but  as  scon  as  the  wind  shifts,  or  immedi- 
ately before  it  changes,  he  is  uneasy,  and  comparatively  helpless.  On 
some  portions  of  a  farm,  nothing  seems  to  ail  the  cattle;  on  others,  lower, 
inoister,  or  more  exposed,  the  cattle  crawl  about  stiffly  and  in  pain.  In 
some  extreme  cases,  the  quantity  of  milk  rapidly  diminishes,  and  the  cow 
wastes  away  and  becomes  a  mere  skeleton. 

The  rheumatism  in  catde,  as  in  the  human  subject,  may  be  palliated, 
but  rarely  removed.  The  treatment  of  it  consists  in  making  the  animal 
comfortable — in  sheltering  her  from  the  causes  of  the  complaint — in  giving 
her  a  warm  aperient,  which,  while  it  acts  upon  the  bowels,  may  determine 
to  the  skin,  as  sulphur,  with  the  full  quantity  of  ginger.  The  practitioner 
will  afterwards  give  that  which  will  yet  more  determine  to  the  skin,  as 
anlimonial  powder,  combined  with  an  anodyne  medicine,  almost  any  pre- 
paration of  opium; — and  he  will  have  recourse  to  an  embrocation  stimu- 
lating to  the  skin,  and  thus  probably  relieving  the  deeper  seated  pain,  as 
camphorated  oil,  or  spirit  of  turpentine  and  laudanum. 


(  563  ) 

SWELLINGS  OF  THE  JOINTS. 

These  are  usually  the  consequence  of  rheumatism.  Small  tumours 
appear  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  joints  that  were  most  affected.  They 
seem  at  first  to  belong  to  the  muscles;  but  they  increase:  they  involve 
the  tendons  of  the  muscles,  and  then  the  ligaments  of  the  joints,  and  the 
lining  membrane  of  the  joints.  When  this  is  the  case,  other  diseases  are 
at  hand — inflammation  of  the  lungs  or  bowels;  but,  oftenesi  of  all,  rheu- 
matism degenerates  into  palsy.* 

The  superficial  veins  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  joints  sometimes 
become  full  and  large;  they  grow  decidedly  varicose.  When  the  causes 
of  rheumatism  are  removed,  the  situation  of  the  animal  changed,  and  the 
weather  has  become  more  congenial,  the  lameness  decreases,  the  swellings 
diminish,  but  the  varicose  veins  remain. 

The  enlargements  of  the  joints  connected  with,  or  the  consequences  of 
rheumatism  are  removed — but  in  the  majority  of  cases  only  temporarily — 
by  stimulating  embrocations,  of  which  spirit  of  turpentine  or  the  com- 
pound one  of  turpentine,  ammonia,  camphorated  spirit,  and  laudanum,  is 
the  most  eflfectual.  Some,  however,  will  not  disappear  without  the  appli- 
cation of  the  cautery. 

There  are  other  tumours  about  the  joints,  and  particularly  the  knees  of 
cattle,  which  are  not  necessarily  connected  with  rheumatism,  and  in  many 
cases  quite  independent  of  it,  although  they  are  found  only  in  beasts  that 
are  out  at  pasture. 

They  are  of  two  kinds.  The  first  occupies  the  fore-part  of  the  knee, 
and  generally  one  knee  at  a  time.  A  fluid  collects  in  the  tissue  imme- 
diately beneath  the  skin,  and  which  yields  to  the  pressure  of  the  finger. 
The  pressure  causes  no  pain,  nor  is  there  any  inflammation  of  the  skin, 
but  there  is  some  degree  of  lameness.  The  tumours  insensibly  increase; 
they  still  contain  a  fluid.  Inflammation  is  now  sufiicienlly  evident:  the 
lameness  is  very  great;  the  animal  is  incapable  of  work,  and  the  motion 
of  the  joint  is  almost  destroyed. 

Frictions  with  turpentine  and  hartshorn  are  often  employed:  sometimes 
one  composed  of  tincture  of  cantharides  is  used.  These  occasionally  dis- 
perse the  tumours  for  a  while,  but  they  speedily  re-appear.     The  budding 

*  Mr.  Tait  of  Portsoy  gives  an  interesting  account  of  these  affections  of  the  joints, 
under  tlie  designation  of  '  Crochles.''  He  says  that  the  early  symptoms  are  pains  in 
the  feet,  and  particularly  the  fore-feet,  with  enlargement  of  the  joints;  tlie  hind  quarters 
particularly  becoming  so  weak  and  contracted  that  the  animal  can  scEtrcely  stand;  and 
sometimes  she  lies  for  many  weeks  without  the  power  of  moving.  If  she  is  neglected 
she  certainly  dies  ;  and  then  the  cartilages  of  the  joints  are  always  ulcerated,  and  some- 
times nearly  destroyed.  Mr.  Tait  has  no  faith  in  any  medicine  or  external  application; 
but  he  believes  tliat  the  removal  of  the  animal  to  a  more  comfortable  situation,  and 
particularly  to  a  drier  pasture,  will,  in  the  early  stages  of  the  complaint,  be  attended 
witli  decided  good  effect.     It  is  a  very  simple  remedy,  and  is  worth  a  trial. 

A  brother  practitioner  related  a  very  curious  anecdote  of  the  occasional  treatment  of 
this  disease,  which  Mr. Tait  gives  in  his  own  words: — 'Soon  after  commencing  practice 
in  this  district,  I  was  particularly  struck  with  the  appearance  of  a  cow  belonging  to  a 
cottar.  Ou  inquiring  into  the  cause  of  the  animal's  apparent  iielplessness,  my  informant 
stated  to  me  that '  she  had  had  the  crochles,  but  was  now  in  a  way  of  getting  better,  a 
man  having  pared  out  the  worm  that  was  the  cause  of  the  awful  complaint;  that  the 
man  knew  the  very  spot  where  the  worm  lodged,  and  that  he  appeared  to  have  great 
experience,  having  travelled  much  as  a  beggar.^  In  fact,  he  had  sawn  off  two  inches 
from  each  claw  of  her  feet.  The  cow  was  in  a  woful  plight;  her  joints  enlarged,  her 
muscles  shrunk,  and  her  skin  clinging  to  her  bones." 

After  remonstrating  with  the  cottar  on  his  folly,  Mr.  Tait's  friend  persuaded  the  cot- 
tar to  remove  her  to  a  farm  which  the  disease  had  never  visited.  The  animal  in  a  very 
short  time  began  to  move  about,  and  would  have  become  perfectly  sound,  had  not  'the 
beggar'  removed  a  part  of  the  bones  of  her  feet  along  with  the  worm. — Veterinarian, 
August,  1834. 


664  CATTLE. 

iron  is  a  more  effectual  remedy.  If  the  tumour  is  pierced  with  it,  a  glairy 
fluid  escapes,  and  the  swelling  subsides.  A  blister  should  then  be  applied, 
and  the  animal  kept  in  the  cow-house.  The  tumour  does  not  often  return, 
but  it  is  a  considerable  time  before  the  lameness  quite  disappears. 

A  more  frequent  species  of  tumour  is  of  a  hard  character.  It  does  not 
yield  at  all  to  pressure;  it  evidently  causes  considerable  pain,  and  the  ani- 
mal is  very  lame.  These  tumours  are  almost  invariably  confined  to  one 
knee.  Here,  neither  frictions  nor  perforation  with  the  budding-iron  will 
be  of  material  benefit,  although  deep  firing  has  sometimes  succeeded. 

Other  tumours,  sometimes  immediately  on  the  joints,  and  at  other  times 
at  a  greater  or  less  distance  from  them,  and  of  variable  degrees  of  hardness; 
sometimes  adhering  to  and  identified  with  the  substance  beneath,  and  at 
other  times  more  or  less  pendulous,  do  not  appear  to  give  much  pain  to 
the  animal,  nor  do  they  often  interfere  with  the  motion  of  the  joints,  but 
they  are  a  great  eyesore,  and,  in  a  few  instances,  they  suddenly  take  on  a  dis- 
position to  increase  with  great  rapidity.  These  have  been  blistered  with- 
out effect — setons  have  been  passed  through  them  with  variable  result,  and 
occasionally  recourse  has  been  had  to  excision. 

Some  surgeons  have  very  lately  begun  to  treat  them  with  iodine; 
the  ointment  of  the  hydriodate  of  potash  has  been  well  rubbed  into  the 
tumours  and  the  neighbouring  parts;  and  the  hydriodate  has  at  the  same 
time  been  administered  internally.  The  success  of  this  treatment  with 
the  two  last  species  of  tumours,  has  been  almost  as  great  as  the  practitioner 
could  desire.  They  have  uniformly  very  much  diminished  in  size;  and 
in  the  great  majority  of  cases  they  have  disappeared.  The  ointment 
should  be  composed  as  already  recommended,  and  six  grains  of  the 
hydriodate  given  morning  and  night  in  a  mash.  On  the  first  species  of 
tumour  unconnected  with  rheumatism,  the  iodine  has  seldom  had  decided 
effect. 

ULCERS  ABOUT  THE  JOINTS. 

These  tumours  sometimes  assume  very  much  the  appearance  of  farcy 
in  the  horse.  They  run  in  lines,  they  follow  the  apparent  course  of  the 
veins,  but  they  belong  to  the  absorbents.  They  frequently  ulcerate — the 
wounds  are  painful,  deep,  and  spreading.  They  have  already  been  de- 
scribed (p.  313,)  when  the  question  of  farcy  in  cattle  was  considered. 

The  dilute  solution  of  the  chloride  of  lime  will  form  the  best  applica- 
tion, and  will  usually  be  successful;  especially  if  occasionally  aided  by 
some  caustic  wash,  as  a  solution  of  blue  vitriol,  or  dilute  nitric  acid. 

OPENED  JOINTS. 

These  sometimes  occur  from  the  injudicious  lancing  of  the  first  kind 
of  tumour,  but  oftener  from  accident.  The  principle  of  the  treatment  of 
open  joints  is  the  same  as  was  recommended  in  the  '  Treatise  on  the 
Horse,'  p.  242,  namely,  to  close  the  orifice  as  soon  as  possible,  and  be- 
fore the  secretion  of  the  joint  oil  is  stopped,  and  the  cartilages  of  the  op- 
posing bones  rub  on  each  other,  and  the  delicate  membrane  which  lines 
these  cartilages  becomes  inflamed,  and  the  animal  suffers  extreme  torture, 
and  a  degree  of  fever  ensues  by  which  he  is  speedily  destroyed.  The 
wound  is  best  closed  by  means  of  the  firing  iron.  For  a  description  of 
the  operation  the  reader  is  referred  to  '  the  Horse,'  under  the  title  '  Bro- 
ken Knees.' 

SPRAINS. 

Working  oxen,  and  those  that  have  been  driven  long  journeys,  are  liable 


FOUL  IN  THE  FOOT.  565 

to  s/>mtn,  and  particularly  of  the  fetlock  joint.  The  division  of  the  lower 
part  of  the  cannon  or  shank  bone,  in  order  that  it  may  articulate  with  the 
two  pasterns  into  which  the  leg  is  divided  renders  this  joint  particularly 
weak  and  susceptible  of  injury.  The  treatment  is  the  same  as  in  the  horse, 
and  consists  of  fomentation  of  the  part,  to  which  should  succeed  band- 
ages very  gradually  increasing  in  tightness,  cold  lotions,  and  afterwards,  if 
the  deep-seated  inflammation  cannot  otherwise  be  subdued,  stimulating 
applications,  blistering,  or,  as  the  last  resource,  firing.  The  inflammation 
attending  sprain  of  this  joint  is  often  very  great,  and  enormous  bony 
enlargement  and  anchylosis  are  not  unfrequently  seen.  They  embrace 
the  fedock  joint;  they  frequendy  include  the  pastern:  but  oftener,  the 
inflammation  and  bony  enlargement  extend  up  the  leg,  and  particularly 
the  posterior  part  of  it  almost  to  the  knee;  for  the  division  of  the  flexor 
tendons,  in  order  to  reach  both  toes,  takes  place  considerably  above  the 
fedock  (the  precise  place  varying  in  diff'erent  animals,)  and  these,  from 
the  oblique  direction  which  they  take,  are  peculiarly  liable  to  strain,  with 
probability  of  serious  injury.  The  firing  iron  must  be  severely  applied 
before  the  mischief  has  proceeded  to  this  extent. 

DISEASES  OF  THE  FEET. 

These  are  numerous  and  serious.  The  leg  of  the  ox  is  divided  at  the 
fetlock.  There  are  two  sets  of  pasterns,  two  cofiin  bones,  and  two  hoofs 
to  each  leg.  The  shank-bone  is  double  in  the  foetus,  but  the  cartila- 
ginous substance  between  the  two  larger  metacarpals  is  afterwards 
absorbed,  and  they  become  one  bone;  the  lower  bones,  however,  con- 
tinue separate.  Each  division  has  its  own  ligaments  and  tendons,  and 
is  covered  by  its  own  integument.  This  gives  rise  to  various  inflam- 
mations and  lamenesses,  which  have  been  confounded  under  the  very 
objectionable  term  of 

FOUL  IX  THE  FOOT. 

Hard  and  irritating  substances  often  insinuate  themselves  between 
the  claws,  and  becoming  fixed  there,  and  wounding  the  claws  on  one 
or  both  sides,  become  a  source  of  great  annoyance,  pain,  and  inflam- 
mation, and  the  beast  suddenly  becomes  lame,  and  the  pasterns  are  much 
swelled.  They  should  be  carefully  examined,  the  interposed  substance 
should  be  removed,  the  wound  \vashed  thoroughly  clean,  and  a  pledget 
of  tow  dipped  in  friar's-balsam,  or  covered  with  healing  ointment,  in- 
troduced between  the  claws,  and  diere  confined  by  means  of  a  roller. 
Lameness  from  this  cause  will,  in  general,  be  readily  removed. 

The  foot  being  thus  divided,  and  the  ox  unexpectedly  treading  on  an 
uneven  surface,  or  being  compelled  long  to  do  so  when  ploughing  a  steep 
field,  the  weight  of  the  animal  will  be  unequally  distributed  on  the 
pasterns,  and  severe  sprain  will  be  the  result.  This  is  indicated  by  the 
sudden  lameness  which  comes  on,  and  by  the  swelling  and  heat  and 
tenderness  being  confined  to  one  claw,  and  referrible  to  the  fetlock  or 
pastern,  or  coffin  joints.  Rest  and  fomentation,  or  the  application  of 
cold,  witli  bleeding  from  the  veins  of  the  coronet  will  usually  remove  this 
kind  of  lameness.  The  bleeding  may  be  easily  effected  by  means  of  a 
small  fleam  or  lancet,  for  the  veins  of  the  foot  of  the  ox  are  larger  and 
more  tortuous  than  those  of  the  horse,  and  rise  more  distincdy  above  the 
coronet,  and  climb  up  the  pastern.  It  is  the  increased  vascularity  which 
often  gives  so  serious  a  character  to  sprains  of  the  coffin  or  pastern  joints 
in  the  ox,  and  disposes  to  anchylosis  of  these  joints  much  oftener  than  in 
the  horse. 
49 


566  CATTLE. 

Tlie  foot  of  the  ox,  or  that  part  which  is  inclosed  within  the  horny  box, 
is  liable  to  the  same  injuries  and  diseases  as  that  of  the  horse;  bnt  they 
generally  are  not  so  difficult  to  treat,  nor  do  they  produce  such  destruc- 
tive consequences,  because  the  weight  of  the  animal  being  divided 
between  the  two  claws,  the  first  concussion  or  injury  was  not  so  great, 
and  the  animal  was  able  afterwards  to  spare  the  injured  claw,  by  throw- 
ing a  considerable  portion  or  the  whole  of  the  weight  on  the  sound  one. 
Injuries  of  the  feet  arise  from  pricking  in  shoeing,  wounds  from  nails  or 
glass,  or  from  the  sole  being  bruised,  and  sometimes  the  horn  being  worn 
almost  through,  by  travelling  or  working  on  hard  roads. 

It  is  generally  believed  that  there  is  a  constitutional  tendency  to  dis- 
eases of  the  foot  in  cattle,  resembling  the  rot  in  sheep;  but  this  has  never 
been  satisfactorily  proved,*  and  the  simplest  explanation  of  the  matter 
is,  that  inflammation  was  produced  by  some  external  cause;  that  it  ran 
its  usual  course;  that  suppuration  followed,  and  matter  was  formed; 
that  it  burrowed  in  various  parts  of  the  foot,  and  broke  out  at  the  coro- 
net; that  sinuses  remained;  that  the  ulcer  took  on  an  unhealthy  character; 
functus  shooted  up,  in  short  there  was  the  quittor  or  canker  of  the  horse, 
but  on  a  smaller  scale  and  more  manageable.  This  is  a  simple  view  of 
the  case,  and  at  once  points  out  a  mode  of  treatment,  intelligible  and 
generally  successful. 

It  is  true  that/oi//  in  the  foot  is  most  prevalent  in  low  marshy  countries; 
but  the  hoof  is  there  softened,  macerated  by  its  continual  immersion  in 
moisture,  and  rendered  unable  to  resist  the  accidents  to  which  it  is 
occasionally  exposed.  It  is  there  that  canker  and  quittor  are  most  pre- 
valent in  the  horse,  and  most  difficult  to  be  treated. 

When  a  beast  becomes  suddenly  lame  he  should  be  taken  up,  and,  if 
necessarj^  secured.  The  lameness  will  generally  be  referrible  to  one 
claw.  The  heat,  and  tenderness,  and  redness,  and  enlargement  round 
the  coronet  will  prove  this.  The  foot  should  be  carefully  examined — is 
there  any  prick  or  wound  about  the  sole?  if  so,  let  the  horn  be  pared 
away  there — ^let  the  matter  which  is  pent  up  within  escape — let  the  horn 
be  removed  as  fiir  as  it  has  separated  from  the  sensible  parts  beneath — 
let  a  little  butyr  of  antimony  be  applied  over  the  denuded  part — let  a 
pledget  of  soft  dry  tow  be  bound  tightly  upon  the  part,  and  let  the  animal 
be  placed  in  a  dry  yard  or  cow-house. 

If  there  is  no  evident  wound,  let  the  foot  of  the  beast,  like  tliat  of 
the  horse,  be  tried  round  with  the  pincers;  and  if  he  decidedly  flinches 
when  pressed  on  a  particular  part,  let  the  foot  be  opened  there — let  the 
coronet  be  closely  examined — is  there  any  soft  reddish  shot  upon  it?  if  so, 
freely  plunge  the  lancet  into  it. 

If  the  examiner  is  foiled  in  this  attempt  to  discover  the  seat  of  mischief, 
let  him  envelop  the  foot  in  a  povdtice;  that  will  soften  the  neighbouring 
parts,  and  cause  even  the  horn  to  be  a  little  more  yielding,  and  will  abate 
the  inflammation;  if  it  should  be  pure  inflammation  without  previous  meeiia- 
nical  injury,  that  will  hasten  the  process  of  suppuration,  and  the  matter  will 
more  quickly,  and  with  less  destruction  to  the  neighbouring  parts,  find 
its  way  to  the  coronet.  As  soon  as  it  does  so,  the  soft  projecting  red  or 
black  spot  should  be  opened,  and  a  probe  should  be  introduced  into  the 

*  M.  Favre,  of  Geneva,  instituted  numerous  experiments,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether 
tlie  foot-rot  in  sheep,  and  foul  in  tiie  foot  in  cattle,  were  the  same  or  similar  diseases. 
He  inoculated  sheep  with  the  matter  taken  from  between  the  claws,  and  witli  some  from 
the  denuded  surface  of  the  sole,  and  some  also  which  he  had  taken  from  a  sinus  run- 
ning deep  into  the  foot:  in  neither  case  did  he  produce  any  thing  analogous  to  tlic 
fool-rot. — Journal  de  Med.  Vet.  et  Comparec,  1826,  p.  319. 


FOUL  IN  THE  FOOT.  567 

opening  and  the  sinuses  carefully  ascertained,  and  every  portion  of 
detached  horn  removed  from  above  them,  and  the  healthy  horn  around 
thinned  and  smoothed.  It  will  always  in  these  cases  be  prudent  to  admi- 
nister a  dose  of  Epsom  salt. 

The  character  of  the  surface  exposed  should  now  be  considered.  If, 
the  matter  having  been  all  evacuated,  the  wound  or  wounds  have  a 
tolerably  healthy  appearance  a  light  application  of  the  butyr  of  antimony, 
and  that  repeated  daily,  will  soon  induce  a  secretion  of  new  horn ;  but  if 
there  is  a  portion  of  the  surface  that  looks  black  or  spongy,  or  the  edges 
of  which  are  separated  from  the  parts  around,  here  was,  probably,  the 
original  seat  of  injury — the  life  of  that  portion  has  been  destroyed  and  it 
must  be  removed — it  must  slough  out.  A  poultice  of  linseed  meal,  with 
a  fourth  part  of  common  turpentine,  must  be  put  on,  changed  twice 
in  the  day  and  continued  until  the  separation  is  complete.  A  light 
application  of  the  butyr  should  then  follow,  or  in  favourable  cases,  a 
pledget  soaked  in  friar's  balsam  should  be  placed  on  the  wound,  bound 
tighdy  down,  and  daily  renewed;  the  removal  of  every  portion  of  detached 
horn,  dryness,  firm,  but  equable  pressure  on  the  part,  and  moderate 
stimulus  of  the  exposed  surface  are  the  principles  which  wuU  carry  the 
practitioner  successfully  through  every  case  of  foul  in  the  foot. 

Nothing  has  been  said  of  the  fungous  excrescence  between  the  claws,  in 
order  to  remove  w^iich,  as  well  as  to  stimulate  the  surface  beneath  and  dis- 
pose it  to  throw  out  healthy  horn,  the  cart-rope  or  the  horse-hairline  used 
to  be  introduced  between  the  claws,  and  drawn  backwards  and  forwards, 
inflicting  sad  and  unnecessary  torture  on  the  animal.  This  fungus  will 
rarely  make  its  appearance,  if  the  horn,  which  had  lost  its  attachment  to 
the  living  surface  beneath,  yet  still  continue  to  press  upon  it,  has  been 
carefully  removed.  If  any  fungus  appears,  it  should  be  levelled  by 
means  of  a  sharp-knife,  and  the  caustic  applied.*  There  can  be  no 
doubt,  that  pure  inflammation,  without  wound  or  mechanical  injury,  does 
sometimes  attack  the  feet  of  cattle,  especially  of  those  that  are  in  high 
condition.  On  one  day  the  beast  is  perfectly  free  from  lameness,  or 
illness  of  any  kind ;  on  the  following  day  probably  the  foot  is  swelled,  the 
claws  stand  apart  from  each  other,  they  are  unusually  hot,  and  the  animal 
can  scarcely  rest  any  portion  of  his  weight  on  one  foot :  he  is  continually 
shifting  his  posture,  or  he  lies  down  and  cannot  be  induced  to  rise.  If 
the  beast  is  neglected,  the  inflammation  and  swelling  increase  untU  an 
ulcer  appears  at  the  division  of  the  claws,  and  which  cannot  be  healed 
until  a  considerable  core  has  sloughed  out. 

A  linseed-meal  poultice  should  be  applied  to  the  part  as  soon  as  this 
inflammation  is  observed,  and  it  may  be  easily  retained  in  its  situation  by 
means  of  a  cloth  through  which  two  holes  have  been  cut  to  admit  die 
claws.  This  will  either  abate  the  inflammation  or  hasten  the  suppuration; 
and  as  soon  as  the  swelling  begins  to  point  it  should  be  opened.  The 
poultice  must  be  continued  until  this  sloughing  process  has  taken  place,  or 
tlie  ulcer  begins   to  have  a  healthy   surface,  a  litde   common  turpentine 

*  Tlic  following  recipe  is  copied  as  a  perfect  unique  in  veterinary  practice ; — '  My 
father's  method  (of  curing;  foul  in  the  foot)  was  to  cut  up  a  sod  where  the  diseased  foot 
had  trodden,  and  either  turn  it  over  sward  side  downwards,  of  hang  it  on  a  hedge  in  that 
position.  I  am  unable  to  account  for  this  cure;  to  me  it  is  incompreliensible ;  but  in 
all  the  experiments  I  have  tried,  this  remedy,  so  simple  and  cheap,  has  proved  the  best. 
The  first  year  I  was  at  Slane,  we  had  many  cattle  troubled  with  this  complaint ;  I 
applied  nothing  else  but  what  may  be  called  a  charm,  and  they  all  more  readily 
recovered  than  when  I  used  severer  applications;  therefore,  in  future,  I  mean  never 
to  have  recourse  to  any  remedy  but  the  sod,  tiiough  probably  rest  is  tlie  great  restorative.' 
— Parkinson  on  Live  Stock,  vol.  i.  p.  245. 


568  CATTLE. 

having  been  added  to  it.  Proud  flesh  must  be  subdued,  by  the  caustic ; 
equal  parts  of  verdigris  and  sugar  of  lead  will  constitute  the  best 
application  for  this  purpose.  Foul  and  fretid  discharge  must  be  cor- 
rected by  the  chloride  of  lime ;  and  when  the  ulcer  looks  healthy,  the 
tincture  of  myrrh  or  friar's  balsam  must  be  used. 

By  this  mode  of  treatment  the  disease  will  readily  be  subdued,  but  the 
application  of  corroding  caustic  substances  in  the  early  stage  of  it  will 
add  fuel  to  fire ;  and  the  suffering  the  abscess  to  remain  unopened  until 
the  pus  has  burst  its  way  through  the  thick  skin  of  the  leg  will  produce 
sinuses  that  will  run  in  every  direction,  remain  open  month  after  month, 
and  leave  permanent  lameness  behind.  Some  have  imagined  that  this 
variety  of  foul  in  the  foot  is  contagious.  That  is  not  quite  ascertained, 
although  there  are  some  suspicious  cases  on  record ;  the  f;\rmer,  therefore, 
will  act  prudently,  who  immediately  separates  the  lame  beast  from  the 
herd. 

In  one  respect,  these  diseases  of  the  feet  of  cattle  differ  materially  from 
quittor  or  canker  in  the  horse.  There  is  a  laminated  connexion  between 
the  hoof  of  the  ox  and  the  sensible  parts  beneath  as  in  the  horse ;  but  the 
horny  plates  of  the  hoof  and  the  fleshy  ones  of  the  substance  which  covers 
the  coflin-bone  are  not  so  wide  or  so  deep,  and  therefore  the  attachment 
between  the  hoof  and  the  foot  is  not  so  -strong.  Thence  it  happens  that 
the  matter  finds  great  difliculty  in  forcing  a  way  for  itself  in  the  foot  of 
the  horse  and  deep  sinuses  are  formed  which  reach  to,  and  corrode  the 
bone,  and  there  is  sometimes  core  upon  core  to  be  detached,  and  portion? 
of  bone  to  be  thrown  ofi',  and  whence  results  the  cankered  state  of  the 
foot,  and  the  difficulty  of  cure.  In  cattle  less  resistance  to  the  progress 
of  the  matter  is  experienced;  the  hoof  is  more  easily  separated  from  the 
parts  beneath,  and  that  which  would  produce  deep  ulceration  and  caries 
in  the  one,  rarely  to  be  perfectly  repaired,  leads  to  the  casting  of  the  hoof 
in  the  other,  while  the  foot  has  received  comparatively  little  injury. 
The  form  of  the  foot,  in  these  cases,  is  much  changed,  and  all  its 
functions  impaired  in  the  one  ;  in  the  other  a  new  hoof  speedily  covers 
a  foot  that  has  escaped  all  serious  detriment,  and  the  animal  becomes  as 
useful  as  he  ever  was.  Cases,  however,  do  sometimes  occur  in  which 
the  hoof  is  lengthened  and  curved,  and  twisted  in  a  very  carious  way, 
and  the  coffin  bone  takes  on  a  similar  distortion. 

There  is  no  frog  in  the  foot  of  catde,  nor  are  there  the  provisions  for 
the  expansion  and  elasticity  of  the  foot  which  we  admire  in  the  horse ; 
therefore  there  is  not  any  disease  that  can  be  considered  as  correspond- 
ing with  the  '  thrusli'  in  that  animal,  but  there  is  occasionally  something 
not  much  unlike  grease.  A  sore  appears  upon  the  heel,  not  however  so 
much  in  the  form  of  a  crack  as  of  a  circular  superficial  ulcer.  It  has 
a  brown  unhealthy  hue  ;  fungus  often  springs  from  it,*  and  it  causes  con- 
siderable lameness.  It  is  best  treated  with  the  chloride  of  lime,  or  that 
and  a  strong  solution  of  alum  may  be  alternately  applied.  A  bandage 
should  seldom  be  used  because  it  can  scarcely  be  put  on  whhout  ex- 
coriating the  parts  and  increasing  the  evil,  and  because  the  ox  is  much 
more  impatient  of  the  restraint  of  the  bandage  than  is  the  most  fidgetty  or 
vicious  horse. 

Constant  pain  seems  to  prey  more  speedily  and  injuriously  on  cattle 

*  Where  the  case  has  been  neglected,  projection  of  the  fungus  sometimes  hardens 
and  acquires  a  resemblance  to  the  grapes  on  the  heels  of  greasy  horses;  more  frequently, 
however,  it  becomes  like  a  seedy  wart,  and  is  very  tender  and  troublesome,  and  bleeds 
after  the  slightest  touch.  The  chloride  or  butyr  of  antimony  is  tlie  best  remedy 
for  this. 


SHOEING.  569 

than  on  the  horse — ruminants  have  not  the  courage  and  endurance  ot 
this  noble  animal,  and  therefore  it  is  that  these  diseases  of  the  feet 
soon  begin  very  materially  to  interfere  with  the  condition  of  the  beast. 
It  has  been  remarked  (p.  304,)  that  '  there  is  not  a  farmer  that  has  not 
had  cows  in  his  dairy  that  have  lost  for  a  time  full  half  of  their  milk  on 
account  of  the  pain  which  tender  and  diseased  feet  have  occasioned;  the 
grazier  sometimes  loses  the  advantage  of  three  or  four  months'  feeding 
from  the  same  cause,  and  in  London  dairies  tender  feet  are  often  a  most 
serious  ailment,  and  compel  the  milkman  to  part  with  some  of  his  best 
cows,  and  that  in  very  indifferent  condition.'  These  things  would  indi- 
cate the  propriety  of  having  recourse  to  the  operation  of  neurotomy.  It 
is  an  operation  which,  resorted  to  in  proper  cases,  will  never  be  under- 
valued as  it  regards  the  horse;  and  the  time  is  not  far  distant,  when  vete- 
rinary surgeons,  better  instructed  in  the  anatomy  and  ailments  of  catUe, 
will  often  practise  it  to  relieve  the  torture,  and  to  improve  the  condition 
of  ruminants. 


This,  as  in  the  horse,  is  anecessary  evil.  A  beast  used  for  road  work 
would  soon  be  crippled  and  ruined  wilhout  shoes;  and  the  farmer  would 
find  it  his  interest  never  to  send  an  ox  to  plough  unshod.  He  would 
be  well  repaid  for  the  expense  of  shoeing  by  the  increased  speed,  the 
greater  capabUity  of  work,  the  endurance  and  the  superior  condition  of  his 
catde.  Little  skill  is  required  in  the  smith  in  order  to  adapt  the  shoe  to 
the  foot  of  the  ox;  there  is  no  weakness  of  particular  parts,  no  corn,  no 
jtenderness  of  frog,  no  disposition  to  contraction  to  be  studied ;  the 
simple  principle  is  to  cover  the  sole  effectually.  Around  the  outer  rim  the 
shoe  should  follow  the  line  of  the  foot — it  should  somewhat  project  in- 
wardly towards  the  toe,  and  be  rounded  towards  the  heel,  Avith  the  pro- 
jection likewise  inward.  It  should  be  fastened  by  three  nails  on  the  outer 
edge,  the  posterior  nail  being  about  the  middle  of  that  edge.  The  nails 
should  be  thin,  and  flat-headed,  so  that  when  driven  close  they  shall 
occupy  a  considerable  portion  of  the  ground  surface  of  the  fore  part  of  the 
shoe.  Both  the  ground  and  foot  surfaces  should  be  flat,  and  the  shoes 
made  of  good  iron,  but  thin  and  light.  The  only  difference  between  the 
fore  and  the  hind  shoe  is  that  the  hind  shoe  is  thinner  and  lighter,  not 
quite  so  broad  or  so  much  curved,  and,  particularly,  more  pointed,  and 
more  turned  up  at  the  toe. 


A.  The  ground-surface  of  the  fore-shoe 

B.  Do.  of  the  hind  shoe. 

Some  farmers  shoe  the  fore  feet  only,  others  take  in  the  two  outside  claws 
of  the  hind  feet;  but  it  would  be  litde  additional  trouble  or  expense  to 
shoe  them  all  round,  and  then  they  would  be  safe. 

49* 


670  CATTLE. 

The  principal  objection  to  shoeing  the  ox  arises  from  the  difficulty  of 
putting  the  shoes  on.  The  beast  will  seldom  submit  quietly,  and  recourse 
must  be  had  to  the  trevis  or  to  casting  him.  The  latter  is  dangerous 
and  frequently  accompanied  by  accident  either  to  the  ox  or  the  smith. 
The  best  trevis  is  that  recommended  by  Bakewell,  a  description  and  en- 
graving of  Avhich  may  be  found  in  the  'British  Husbandry,'  p.  221. 
Much  of  the  unruliness  of  the  beast,  however,  might  be  overcome  by  kind 
treatment,  and  by  often  handling  the  steer,  and  lifting  his  feet,  and  strik- 
ing them  gently  with  a  hammer.  Finding  that  no  harm  is  done  to  him, 
he  will  permit  tliis  without  fear,  and  he  will  be  likely  to  submit  to  the 
apparently  similar  process  of  shoeing.  It  is  fear,  and  not  natural  indo- 
cility,  Avhich  causes  the  resistance  of  the  beast. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
THE  DISEASES  OF  THE  SKIN. 

The  skin  of  the  ox  differs  little  from  that  of  the  horse,  except  that  ii  is 
thicker,  and  apparently  less  sensible;  therefore  for  some  observations  on 
the  structure  and  functions  of  the  skin,  the  reader  is  refenred  to  the  Trea- 
tise on  the  Horse,  p.  369:  they  apply  equally  to  the  greater  part  of  our 
domesticated  animals. 

The  horseman  properly  attaches  great  importance  to  the  state  of  the 
skin  in  that  animal.  If  it  is  hard  and  dry,  a.id  unyielding,  he  says  that 
the  horse  is  out  of  condition;  and  then  he  knows  full  well  that  although 
the  animal  may  have  no  decided  disease  about  him,  yet  he  is  scarcely 
capable  of  discharging  his  ordinary  duty,  and  altogether  unequal  to  any 
extraordinary  exertion.  Graziers  know  as  well  that  the  beast  whose  skin  is 
not  soft,  and  mellow,  and  elastic,  can  never  carry  any  profitable  quantity 
of  flesh  and  fat;  therefore  they  judge  of  the  value  of  the  animal  even 
more  by  the  handling  than  they  do  by  the  conformation  of  parts. 

The  skin  is  filled  with  innumerable  little  glands  which  pour  out  an 
oily  fluid,  that  softens  and  supplies  it,  so  that  we  can  easily  take  it  between 
the  finger  and  thumb,  and  raise  it  from  the  parts  beneath;  and  while 
we  are  doing  this,  we  are  sensible  of  its  peculiar  mellowness  and  elasticity. 
At  another  time  or  in  another  animal,  the  skin  seems  to  cling  to  the  muscles 
beneath,  and  feels  harsh  and  rough  when  we  handle  it;  but  the  skin  is  not 
altered  or  diseased,  it  is  this  secretion  of  oily  fluid  that  is  suspended. 
We  attach  the  idea  of  health  to  the  mellow  skin,  and  of  disease  to  the 
harsh  and  immoveable  one,  because  the  experience  of  ourselves  and  of 
every  body  else  has  confirmed  this  connection,  and  the  principle  is  that 
when  one  secretion  is  properly  discharged,  the  others  will  generally  be  so, 
and  when  one  is  interrupted  the  harmony  of  the  system  is  too  much 
disturbed  for  the  animal  to  thrive  or  to  be  in  vigour. 

Then,  as  a  symptom  of  a  diseased  state  of  the  constitution  generally, 
the  attention  is  first  directed  to 

HIDE-BOUND. 

The  term  is  very  expressive — the  hide  seems  to  be  bound,  or  to  cling 
to  the  muscles  and  bones.     It  does  not  actually  do  so,  but  it  has  lost  its 


HIDE-BOUND.  571 

softness,  and  we  can  no  longer  raise  it,  or  move  it  about.  The  secretion 
of  the  oily  fluid  which  supplies  the  skin  is  disturbed;  this  argues  dis- 
turbance elsewhere,  and  the  feeling  of  the  skin  usually  indicates  the  degree 
of  that  disturbance. 

With  hide-bound  is  connected  a  rough  and  staring  coat.  The  surface 
of  the  skin  is  become  hard  and  dry;  the  minute  scales  wdth  which  it  is 
covered  no  longer  yield  to  the  hair,  but  separating  themselves  in  every 
direction,  they  turn  it  in  various  ways,  and  so  give  to  it  that  irregular 
and  ragged  appearance  which  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  want  of 
condition. 

These  two  circumstances — hide-bound  and  a  staring  coat — are  unerring 
indications  of  evil.  A  cow  may  be  somewhat  off  her  feed — she  may 
hoose  a  little — she  may  have  various  litde  ailments ;  they  should  not  be 
neglected;  but  while  the  skin  is  loose  and  the  hair  lies  smooth  the  farmer 
has  not  much  to  fear:  if,  however,  the  coat  begins  to  stare,  and  the  skin  to 
cling  to  the  ribs,  it  behoves  him  to  examine  into  the  matter.  What  dis- 
ease unobserved  has  been  preying  upon  the  constitution? — has  hoose  been 
degenerating  into  phthisis? — has  some  chronic  aflection  of  the  liver  been 
weakening  the  strength  of  the  digestive  organs  ?  or  what  has  been  wrong 
in  the  management  of  the  beast?  Has  she  been  unnecessarily  and 
cruelly  exposed  to  cold  and  wet — has  she  been  fed  on  unwholesome 
provender,  or  has  she  been  half  starved  ? 

If  the  thrifty  appearance  cannot  be  traced  to  any  evident  cause,  still 
there  can  he  no  doubt  that  something  is  wrong.  Ilide-bound  is  rarely 
a  primary  disease;  it  is  a  symptom  of  disease,  and  oftener  than  of  any  other 
disease  of  the  digestive  organs.  A  dose  of  physic  should  be  given  (eight 
ounces  of  sulphur,  with  half  an  ounce  of  ginger,)  and  a  few  mashes  should 
be  allowed.  After  this  medicines  should  be  administered  that  have  a  ten- 
dency to  rouse  the  vessels  of  the  skin  to  their  due  action,  as  sulphur, 
nitre,  and  antimonial  pov/der,  with  a  small  quantity  of  ginger.  No 
direct  tonic  should  be  administered  while  the  cause  of  this  want  of 
condition  is  unknown,  but  warm  purgatives  and  diaphoretic  medicines 
will  often  have  a  good  efl'ect. 


This  is  the  most  serious  among  the  diseases  of  the  skhi  in  catde.  The 
first  symptom  is  a  constant  itchiness.  The  cow  eagerly  rubs  herself 
against  every  thing  that  she  can  get  at.  The  hair  comes  quite  oft'  or  gets 
thin  on  various  parts  of  the  body.  There  are  few  scabs  or  sores;  but  either 
in  consequence  of  the  rubbing,  or  as  an  effect  of  the  disease,  a  thick  scur- 
finess  appears,  particularly  along  the  back,  and  in  patches  on  other  places. 
It  is  first  seen  about  the  tail,  and  thence  it  spreads  in  every  direction.  The 
cow  soon  begins  to  lose  condition,  the  ridge  of  her  back  becomes  promi- 
nent, and  her  milk  decreases,  and  sometimes  is  deteriorated  in  quality. 

The  causes  are  various ;  they  are  occasionally  as  opposite  as  it  is  pos- 
sible for  them  to  be.  Too  luxuriant  food  will  produce  it;  it  will  more 
certainly  follow  starvation.  The  skin  sympathizes  with  the  over-taxed 
powers  of  digestion  in  the  one  case,  and  with  the  general  debility  of  the 
frame  in  the  other;  and  nothing  is  so  certain  of  bringing  on  the  worst 
kind  of  it  as  the  sudden  change  from  comparative  starvation  to  luxuriant 
food.  Want  of  cleanliness,  although  highly  censurable,  has  been  oftener 
accused  as  the  cause  of  mange  than  it  deserves ;  but  to  nothing  can  it 
more  frequently  be  traced  than  to  contagion. 

The  treatment  is  simple  and  efl^ectual.  The  diseased  cattle  should  be 
removed  to  some  distant  stable  or  shed  where  there  can  be  no  possible 


572  CATTLE. 

communication  with  the  others.  The  disease,  however  produced,  must 
be  considered  and  treated  as  a  local  one.  The  scurfiness  of  the  skin  must 
first  be  got  olT,  by  means  of  a  hard  brush,  or  a  curry-comb,  somewhat 
lightly  applied.  To  this  must  follow  the  application  of  an  ointment 
which  appears  to  have  a  specific  effect  on  the  mange,  and  which  must  be 
well  nibbed  in  with  a  soft  brush,  or,  what  is  far  better,  with  the  hand, 
morning  and  night:  there  is  no  danger  of  the  disease  being  communicated 
to  the  person  so  employed.  The  ointment  must  have  sulphur  as  its  basis, 
aided  by  turpentine,  whicli  somewhat  irritates  the  skin  and  disposes  it  to 
be  acted  upon  by  the  sulphur;  and,  to  render  it  still  more  efficacious,  a 
small  portion  of  mercury  must  be  added.  The  following  will  be  a  safe,  and 
very  effectual  application — there  are  few  cases  which  will  resist  its  power. 
'Take  of  flowers  of  sulphur  a  pound,  common  turpentine  four  ounces, 
strong  mercurial  ointment  two  ounces,  and  linseed  oil  a  pint.  Warm  the 
oil  and  melt  the  turpentine  in  it;  when  they  begin  to  get  cool  add  the 
sulpliur,  and  stir  the  ingredients  well  together,  and  afterwards  incorporate 
the  blue  ointment  with  the  mass  by  rubbing  them  together  on  a  marble 
slab.' 

Vast  numbers  of  cattle  have  been  lost  by  the  use  of  stronger  and  poi- 
sonous applications.  Corrosive  sublimate,  in  the  form  of  an  almost 
saturated  solution  of  it,  is  a  favourite  lotion  with  many  practitioners.* 
Arsenic — hellebore — tobacco!  have  had  their  advocates,  and  have  murdered 
thousands  of  cattle. 

The  practitioner  must  not,  however,  confine  himself  to  mere  local  treat- 
ment, physic  should  always  be  administered.  Sulphur,  in  doses  of  eight 
ounces  every  third  day,  will  materially  assist  in  effecting  a  cure;  and 
on  the  intermediate  days  nothing  better  can  be  given  than  the  powder 
recommended  for  hide-bound  (p.  571. _)  Mashes  also  should  be  allowed 
every  night. 


Mange  neglected  or  improperly  treated  may  degenerate  into  a  worse 
disease,  but  fortunately  not  one  of  frequent  occurrence.  The  scurf  will 
be  succeeded  by  scabs — there  have  been  cases  in  which  the  scabs  have 
appeared  from  the  beginning — and  the  skin  becomes  thickened  and  cor- 
rugated, and  covered  with  scales,  and  occasionally  the  scales  peel  off,  and 
corroding  ulcers  appear  beneath. 

*The  author  of  this  Treatise  attended  five  cows  belonging  to  a  gentleman  that  were 
afflicted  witli  bad  mange.  lie  applied  the  ointment  and  the  powders  here  recommended, 
and  the  ease  was  going  on  slowly  but  satisfactorily.  He  did  not  wish  to  make  too  much 
Jiaste  in  tlic  business,  for  the  disease  had  been  of  considerable  standing,  and  the  animals 
had  been  much  reduced  by  it.  He  was  afraid  of  a  worse  evil  if  he  repelled  this  con- 
firmed and  general  cutaneous  eruption  too  quickly.  The  gentleman,  however,  was  im- 
patient; the  cowherd  was  more  .so,  and  the  case  was  put  under  the  hands  of  a  farrier. 
He  brought  a  great  bottle  of  some  lotion;  he  applied  it  freely  about  them;  lie  used 
almost  tlic  whole  of  it.  In  a  little  more  that  twelve  hours  one  of  them  began  to  foam 
at  tlic  mouth — she  staggered,  fell,  and  died.  In  less  than  twenty-four  hours  they  were 
all  dead.  The  first  practitioner  was  sent  for  in  great  haste,  and  arrived  just  in  time  to 
witness  the  death  of  the  last  cow.  He  secured  the  bottle  :  it  contained  a  strong  solution 
of  corrosive  sublimate  mixed  with  some  unknown  vegetable  decoction. 

t  A  friend  of  the  Editor  was  requested  to  see  four  cows  that  had  been  dressed  for 
mange.  One  of  tiiem  was  dead  when  he  arrrivcd;  another  died  afterwards;  the  other  two 
recovered,  and  were  found  to  be  cured  of  the  mange.  Another  friend  who  sometimes 
uses  a  decoction  of  tobacco,  says  that  he  is  sometimes  thoroughly  frightened  by  it — that 
the  animal  breaks  out  into  profuse  perspiration,  and  falls  and  rolls,  and  there  is  great 
prostration  of  strength:  and  that  nothing  should  induce  him  to  have  recourse  to  this 
mode  of  treatment,  except  in  his  own  stables,  and  under  his  immediate  inspection. 


LICE.  573 

The  same  ointment  but  with  double  the  quantity  of  mercury,  must  be 
used  for  this  aggravated  state  of  the  disease,  and  a  stronger  aUerative 
powder,  consisting  of  two  drachms  of  Ethiop's  Mineral,  added  to  the  one 
already  recommended.  All  this  mercury,  however,  must  be  used  with 
caution,  for  it  is  not  a  drug  that  always  agrees  with  the  ruminant;  and 
salivation  would,  temporarily  at  least,  and  in  most  cases  permanently, 
injure  the  beast,  both  for  the  dairy  and  the  pasture. 

In  those  sadly  aggravated  cases  that  come  under  the  observation  of  the 
practitioner,  in  which  the  whole  of  the  skin  is  thickened  and  corrugated, 
with  deep  chaps  running  down  on  either  side,  or  uniting  together  in  various 
directions — when  within  the  substance  of  the  skin  numerous  tubercles  can 
be  felt,  varying  from  the  size  of  a  millet-seed  to  that  of  a  kidney-bean — 
when  the  eye-lids  are  swelled  so  that  the  animal  can  scarcely  see,  and  a 
great  quantity  of  mucus  is  discharged  from  them — when  the  nostrils  and 
lips  are  thickened,  and  dense  and  yellow  mucus  runs  from  the  nose — 
when,  beginning  from  the  knees,  and  reaching  almost  to  the  hoofs,  the 
intervals  between  the  chaps  are  occupied  by  tuberculous  grapes,  of  dif- 
ferent sizes,  and  some  of  which  discharge  a  serous  fluid; — in  such  cases 
the  surgeon  may  well  be  puzzled  what  to  do. 

The  animal  must  be  bled  and  physicked;  but  his  strength  must  be 
supported  by  mashes  and  plenty  of  fresh  green  meat:  he  must  be  fomented 
all  over  many  times  every  day,  and  he  must  be  kept  where  he  cannot  com- 
municate the  infection.  If  the  inflammation  does  not  begin  to  subside,  he 
must  be  bled  again  and  again;  the  physic  must  be  repeated;  sulphur  will 
constitute  the  best  physic  here,  and  he  must  be  kept  under  its  purgative 
influence:  and,  at  length,  the  skin  beginning  to  supple — the  cutaneous 
inflammation  having,  to  a  considerable  degree  subsided — the  ointment 
and  the  powder  recommended  for  mange  must  be  used.  Should  they 
not  have  sufficient  eflect,  recourse  must  be  had  to  the  stronger  ones  pre- 
scribed for  leprosy.  Previous,  however,  to  the  use  of  either  of  the  oint- 
ments, and  after  the  inflammation  has  abated,  the  solution  of  the  chloride 
of  lime  may  be  applied  on  two  or  three  successive  days  with  much  advan- 


Connected  with  mange,  the  usual  accompaniment,  and  probably  the 
occasional  cause  of  it,  is  the  appearance  of  vermin  on  the  skin.  It  cannot 
be  supposed  that  they  are  originally  produced  by  any  disease  or  state  of 
the  skin;  but  the  ova  (eggs)  of  these  animalcule,  floating  in  the  atmo- 
sphere, find  in  the  skin  of  cattle,  under  certain  circumstances,  and  under 
those  alone,  a  proper  nidus,  or  place  where  they  may  be  hatched  into  life. 
A  beast  in  good  health  and  condition  will  not  have  one  of  those  insects 
upon  him  unless  he  mixes  with  lousy  cattle;  but  if  he  is  turned  out  in  the 
straw-yard  in  winter,  and  is  half-starved  there,  and  his  coat  becomes 
rough,  and  matted,  and  foul,  they  will  soon  swarm  upon  him.  By  the 
constant  irritation  which  they  excite,  they  Avill  predispose  the  skin  to  an 
attack  of  mange  from  other  causes,  if  they  do  not  actually  produce  it. 

He  who  had  not  personal  observation  of  the  fact,  would  hardly  believe 
how  numerous  they  soon  become.  There  are  myriads  of  them  on  the  hide 
of  the  ill-fated  beast.  They  keep  him  in  a  constant  state  of  torment,  and 
are,  in  a  manner,  devouring  him  before  his  time.     It  cannot  be  surprising 

*  For  illustrations  of  this  form  of  the  disease,  the  reader  is  referred  to  a  Memoir,  by 
M.  Santin,  on  Elephantiasis  in  cattle,  and  also  to  the  Journal  Pratique  for  1829,  p.  421, 
and  for  1831,  p.  10.  A  useful  paper  will  also  be  found  in  the  Rec.  de  Med.  Vet-,  1830, 
P.  42. 


674  CATTLE, 

that  they  rapidly  spread  from  one  animal  to  another.  The  slightest  con- 
tact, the  lying  on  the  same  lair,  or  the  feeding  on  the  same  pasture,  is  suf- 
ficient to  enable  them  to  be  communicated  from  the  infected  beast  to  all 
the  rest.  The  animalcule  thrives  every  where,  although  the  ovum  did  not 
find  a  proper  nidus  on  the  skin  of  the  healthv  beast;  and  the  vermin, 
once  established  there,  soon  change  the  character  of  the  skin,  and  cover  it 
with  scurf  and  mange. 

Various  powders  and  lotions  have  been  recommended  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  these  parasites.  A  powder  can  scarcely  be  brought  into  contact 
with  a  thousandth  part  of  them;  nor  can  a  lotion,  unless  used  in  a  quan- 
tity sufficient  to  kill  the  beast  as  well  as  those  that  are  feeding  upon  him. 
An  ointment  is  the  most  convenient  apphcation,  and  by  dint  of  rubbing,  a 
little  of  it  may  be  made  to  go  a  great  way.  The  common  scab  ointment 
for  sheep  (one  part  of  strong  mercurial  ointment  and  five  of  lard)  will  be 
effectual  for  this  purpose;  and  if  a  little  of  it  is  well  rubbed  in,  instead  of 
a  great  deal  being  smeared  over  the  animal,  there  will  be  no  danger  of 
salivation. 


Towards  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  and  the  beginning  of  autumn, 
and  especially  in  fine  and  warm  weather,  cattle  out  at  pasture  are  fre- 
quently annoyed  by  a  fly  of  the  Diplera  order  and  the  (Estrus  genus,  that 
seems  to  sting  them  with  great  severity.  The  animal  attacked  runs  bel- 
lowing from  his  companions,  with  his  head  and  neck  stretched  out,  and 
his  tail  extending  straiglit  from  his  body,  and  he  seeks  for  refuge,  if  pos- 
sible, in  some  pool  or  stream  of  water.  (The  fly  seems  to  fear,  or  to 
have  an  aversion  to  the  water,  and  cattle  are  there  exempt  from  its  attack.) 
The  whole  herd,  having  previously  been  exposed  to  the  same  annoy- 
ance, are  frightened,  and  scamper  about  in  every  direction,  or,  one  and 
all,  rush  into  the  stream.  Under  the  excitation  of  the  moment,  they  dis- 
regard all  control,  and  even  oxen  at  work  in  the  fields  will  sometimes 
betake  themselves  to  flight  with  the  plough  at  their  heels,  regardless  of 
their  driver  or  of  the  incumbrance  which  they  drag  behind  them. 

The  formidable  enemy  that  causes  this  alarm,  and  seems  to  inflict  so 
much  torture,  is  the  (Eslnis  Bovis,  the  Breeze  or  Gad-fly,  which  at  this 
time  is  seeking  a  habitation  for  its  future  young,  and  selects  the  hides  of 
cattle  for  this  purpose.  It  is  said  to  choose  the  younger  beasts,  and  those 
that  are  in  highest  condition.  There  has  evidently  been  considerable 
exercise  of  selection,  for  a  great  many  of  the  cattle  in  the  same  pastures 
will  have  only  a  few  warbles  on  their  backs,  while  others  will,  in  a  man- 
ner, be  covered  by  them. 

Naturalists  and  agriculturists  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Bracy  Clark  for  a 
very  accurate  account  of  this  fly;  and  the  author  acknowledges  his  obli- 
gations to  this  celebrated  veterinarian,  and  more  particularly  to  tliat  excel- 
lent French  entomologist,  M.  Reaumur,  for  much  of  that  which  he  is 
enabled  to  offer  respecting  the  history  of  this  insect. 

The  oestrus  bovis  iH  \he  \&\'gesi  and  most  beautiful  of  this  genus.  Its 
head  is  white,  and  covered  with  soft  down — its  thorax  yellow  anteriorly, 
with  four  black  longitudinal  lines — the  centre  of  the  thorax  is  black,  and 
the  posterior  part  of  an  ashen  colour — the  abdomen  is  also  of  an  ashen 
eolour,  wi'th  a  white  black  band  in  the  centre,  and  covered  posteriorly  with 
yellow  hair.  It  does  not  leave  its  chrysalis  state  until  late  in  the  summer, 
and  is  then  eagerly  employed  in  providing  a  habhation  for  its  future  pro- 
geny. It  selects  the  back  of  the  ox,  at  no  great  distance  from  the  spine 
on  either    side,  and  alighting  there  it  speedily  pierces  the   integument, 


WARBLES.  675 

deposits  an  egg  in  the  cellular  substance  beneath  it,  and  probably  a  small 
quantity  of  some  acid,  which  speedily  produces  a  little  tumour  on  the 
part,  and  accounts  for  the  apparent  suffering  of  the  animal.* 

The  egg  seems  to  be  hatched  before  the  wound  is  closed,  and  the  larva 
or  maggot,  occupies  a  small  cyst  or  cell  beneath  it.  The  tail  of  the  larva 
projects  into  this  opening,  and  the  insect  is  thus  supplied  with  air,  the  prin- 
cipal air-vessels  being  placed  posteriorly;  while  with  the  mouth,  deep  at 
the  bottom  of  the  abscess,  it  receives  the  pus,  or  other  matter  that  is 
secreted  there.  A  fluid,  resembling  pus,  can  always  be  squeezed  from  the 
tumour,  and  increasing  in  quantity  as  the  animal  approaches  his  change 
of  form.  In  its  early  stage  of  existence  the  larva  is  white  like  that  of 
most  other  flies;  but  as  it  approaches  its  maturity,  it  becomes  darker,  and 
at  length  almost  black.  These  little  tumours  form  the  residence  of  the 
larva,  and  are  recognised  by  the  name  of  icarbles. 

The  abscess  having  been  once  formed,  appears  to  be  of  little  or  no  in- 
convenience to  the  beast  on  whose  back  it  is  found.  It  certainly  does  not 
interfere  with  his  condition,!  and  the  butcher  regards  the  existence  of 
these  warbles  even  as  a  proof  of  a  disposition  to  thrive.  The  injury  to  the 
skin,  however,  is  another  affair,  and  tne  tanner  would  probably  tell  a  dif- 
ferent story.  The  larva,  if  undisturbed,  continues  in  his  cyst,  until  the 
month  of  June  or  July  in  the  following  year,  and  then  forces  itself  through 
the  aperture  already  described,  and  the  accomplishment  of  which  occupies 
two  days.  It  is  soft  when  it  first  escapes,  but  it  soon  hardens;  and  if  it 
is  fortunate  enough  to  escape  the  birds  which  are  on  the  look-out  for  it, 
or  if  it  does  not  fall  into  the  water,  which  the  cattle  seem  now  instinc- 
tively to  seek,  as  it  were  to  destroy  as  many  of  their  enemies  as  possible,  it 
conceals  itself  in  the  nearest  hiding-place  it  can  find,  where  it  remains 
motionless  until  it  changes  to  a  chrysalis,  which  is  speedily  effected;  it 
continues  in  its  new  form  about  six  weeks,  and  then  bursts  from  its  shell 
a  perfect  fly. 

It  is  a  very  singular  circumstance,  that  the  escape  of  the  larva  from  its 
prison  on  the  back  of  the  ox  always  takes  place  in  the  morning,  and 
between  six  and  eight  o'clock.  Is  the  mysterious  principle  of  instinct 
already  at  work?  Does  the  maggot  know,  that  if  it  forced  itself  through 
the  hole  in  the  warble  at  a  later  period,  the  heat  of  the  sun  would  destroy 
it;  or  that  if  it  fell  during  the  night,  it  would  perish  before  it  could 
reach  a  place  of  refuge? 

Being  also  exposed  to  many  dangers  in  its  chrysaline  state,  it  is  then 
covered  with  a  scaly  box  of  great  strength,  and  from  which  it  would  seem 
impossible  lor  it  ever  to  make  its  escape;  but  when  its  change  is  com- 
plete, and  it  begins  to  struggle  within  its  prison,  a  valve  at  one  end  of  its 
narrow  house,  and  (listened  only  by  a  slight  filament,  Hies  open,  and  the 
insect  wings  its  way,  first  to  find  its  mate,  and  then  to  deposit  its  eggs 
on  the  cattle  in  the  nearest  pastures. 

Some  farmers  are  very  careless  about  the  existence  of  these  warbles; 
others  very  properly  endeavour  to   destroy  the   grub   that  inhabits  them. 

*  Tiie  weapon  by  means  of  wliicli  the  pcrnoration  is  effected  is  a  very  singular  one. 
It  seeni.5  to  lie  Ibrined  of  three  ditierent  pieces,  inclosed  the  one  witliin  another,  like 
the  divisions  of  a  telescope,  and  from  tlie  farthest  and  smallest  the  true  auger,  or  perfo- 
rator, proceeds. 

t  In  18:23  and  1824,  however,  tlie  ajstri  were  so  numerous  in  the  department  of 
Loiret,  in  France,  and  the  tumours  accumulated  to  that  extent  on  the  cattle,  that  they 
occasioned  fever,  inBammalion,  and  death.  There  was  a  disposition  to  inflammatory 
fever  prevailing  at  the  same  time  amongst  most  species  of  domesticated  animals. — Rap- 
port a  la  Societe  Royale  et  Centrale  d' Agriculture,  1826. 


6r8  Cattle. 

This  is  effected  in  various  ways — a  little  corrosive  liquor  is  poured  into 
the  hole,  or  a  red-hot  needle  introduced,  or  the  larva  is  crushed  or  forced 
out  by  pressure  with  the  finger  and  thumb.  Although  the  existence  of 
the  warble  is  a  kind  of  proof  of  the  health  and  condition  of  the  animal,  yet 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  best  beasts  should  be  tormented  by  the  gad- 
fly, or  the  strongest  and  best  hides  be  perforated,  and,  in  a  manner, 
spoiled  in  their  best  parts.  Although  when  the  larva  escapes  or  is 
expelled,  the  tumour  soon  subsides,  the  holes  made  are  scarcely  filled  up 
during  that  season;  and  even  a  twelvemonth  afterwards,  a  weakness  of 
the  hide,  and  disposition  to  crack,  will  show  Avhere  the  bot  has  been. 
If  all  the  farmers  could  be  induced  to  search  for  and  destroy  the  insect 
when  a  larva,  the  cattle  of  that  district  might  be  nearly  or  quite  freed 
from  this  pest. 

AXGLE-BERRIES,    OR  WARTS. 

Cattle  are  subject  to  various  excrescences  growing  from  the  cuticle  at 
first,  but  afterwards  identified  with  the  true  skin.  They  assume  many 
forms,  from  that  of  scales  of  greater  or  less  thickness,  and  accompanied 
sometimes  by  chaps  and  sores,  to  fungous  growth,  of  different  size  and 
hardness,  and  bearing  the  character  of  warts.  They  are  occasionally  very 
numerous  and  exceedingly  troublesome;  and  they  are  most  numerous  and 
exceedingly  ti-oublesome  about  the  teats.  When  they  grow  about  the  eye- 
lids they  are  a  sad  nuisance  to  the  beast. 

When  they  are  only  exfoliations  and  scales  of  the  cuticle,  friction 
with  camphorated  oil  will  occasionally  remove  them.  It  has  been  known 
to  disperse  the  warty  excrescences.  Mercurial  preparations,  whether  blue 
ointment,  or  corrosive  sublimate  and  soap,  are  dangerous,  but  they  Avill 
usually  get  rid  of  the  angle-berries.  When  they  are  numerous,  and  parti- 
cularly about  the  udder,  the  practitioner  will  probably  try  to  remove  the 
largest  of  them  by  means  of  a  ligature  passed  round  their  roots.  This, 
however,  will  often  be  an  almost  endless  affair,  and  recourse  must 
be  had  to  the  knife  and  the  cautery.  The  cautery  will  stop  the  bleeding, 
destroy  the  root  of  the  wart,  and  thus  prevent  its  springing  again.  When 
they  are  small,  this  will  be  most  successfully  attacked  by  means  of  the 
nitrate  of  silver,  the  Avarts  being  touched  daily  with  it  in  a  solid  form,  if 
they  are  few  and  distinct;  or  washed  with  a  strong  solfltion  of  it,  if  they 
are  more  numerous  and  scattered  over  a  large  surface.  They  have  been 
attributed  to  various  causes,  as  contusions,  stings  of  insects,  want  of  con- 
dition, inflammation  of  the  skin;  but  in  most  cases  the  actual  cause  is 
unknown. 

A  singular  case  of  the  periodical  appearance  of  warts  occun-ed  in  the 
author's  practice.  At  uncertain  intervals,  from  six  to  nine,  or  ten  months, 
a  cow  suddenly  lost  flesh,  her  coat  stared,  she  would  scarcely  eat,  and  at 
length,  rumination  was  entirely  suspended;  then  would  appear,  and  nearly 
all  over  her,  and  particularly  about  the  udder  and  in  the  mouth,  and  on  the 
eyelids,  a  thick  crop  of  warts,  varying  from  the  size  of  a  millet-seed  to 
twice  that  bulk.  She  was  Avell  physicked,  and  mashes  were  given  to  her 
— she  recovered  her  appetite  and  spirits,  the  warts  began  to  diminish,  and 
in  a  fortnight  they  were  gone. 

Mr.  Starks  of  Westwoodside,  Lanark,  relates  a  somewhat  similar  case. 
He  had  a  cow  mostly  of  a  white  colour  with  some  black  spots.  She  be- 
came ill  from  being  over  heated  as  Mr.  Starks  supposed — her  appetite 
failed — she  yielded  no  milk — she  became  exceedingly  weak,  and  her  eyes 
sunk  in  their  sockets — the  pulse  was  sixty — the  skin  warm — the  extremi- 
ties cold.    She  soon  became  hide-bound,  and  her  skin  was  strangely  hard 


MEDICINES  USED  IN  THE  TREATMENT  OF  CATTLE.      577 

She  was  bled  and  purged,  and  sulphur  was  given  daily  as  an  alterative, 
and  she  was  well  rubbed  with  oil  in  order  to  soften  the  skin.  In  a  little 
while  the  cuticle,  or  outer  layer  of  the  skin,  began  lo  separate  from  the 
cutis  or  true  skin  beneath;  the  hair  separated  along  with  it,  until  from  the 
mouth  to  the  tail,  and  half-way  down  the  legs,  there  was  not  a  particle  of 
hair  remaining,  except  where  there  had  been  a  spot  of  black,  and  on  that 
place  it  continued  quite  soft  and  healthy.  From  the  moment  of  the  falling 
of  the  hair,  the  cow  began  to  get  better,  and  speedily  recovered  her  appe- 
tite, and  yielded  her  usual  quantity  of  milk;  the  hair,  likewise,  was  by  de- 
grees reproduced  on  every  part  but  the  shoulders.* 


CHAPTER  XX. 


A  LIST  OF  THE    MEDICINES    USED  IN   THE  TREATMENT  OP 
THE  DISEASES  OF  CATTLE. 

In  the  present  imperfect  state  of  the  knowledge  of  the  diseases  of  cattle 
and  their  remedial  treatment,  it  may  be  supposed  that  many  gross  errors 
are  committed — many  inert  or  injurious  medicines  administered — many 
complaints  aggravated,  and  thousands  of  animals  lost.  The  pharmacopoeia 
of  the  cow-leech  does  not  indeed  contain  a  numerous  list  of  drugs,  but  a 
considerable  proportion  of  them  are  either  useless  or  dangerous,  or  ad- 
ministered in  ineffectual  or  destructive  doses.  It  is  not,  however,  the  ob- 
ject of  the  editor  of  this  work  to  draw  up  a  catalogue  of  errors  and  abuses 
in  catde-practice,  although  he  might  easily  present  one,  ridiculous  and  dis- 
gusting to  an  almost  inconceivable  degree;  but  to  describe  the  properties, 
and  doses,  and  combinations  of  those  medicines  which  the  experience  of 
rational  practitioners  in  former  times,  and  the  inquiries  of  scientific  men  in 
these  later  years  of  veterinary  improvement,  have  sanctioned. 

Alcohol. — There  are  two  circumstances  which  not  only  render  the  prac- 
tice of  giving  stimulants  to  cattle  far  more  excusable  than  in  the  horse,  but 
absolutely  necessary:  the  first  is  the  disposition  which  all  the  inflammatory 
diseases  of  cattle  have  to  take  on  a  typhoid  form,  and  assume  a  malignant 
character — and  the  second  is,  the  construction  of  the  stomachs  of  these 
animals,  in  consequence  of  which  a  considerable  portion  of  the  medicine 
falls  into  the  comparatively  insensible  paunch.  Hence,  inflammation  hav- 
ing been  subdued,  the  practitioner  is  always  anxious  to  support  the  strength 
of  the  constitution;  and  even  while  he  is  combating  inflammation  he  cau- 
tiously adds  a  stimulant  to  the  purgative,  in  order  that  he  may  dispose  the 
tissues  with  which  that  purgative  may  come  into  contact  to  be  affected  by 
it.  Hence  ginger  forms  an  indispensable  ingredient  in  every  aperient 
drink;  hence  the  recourse  to  wine  in  many  cases  of  low  fever;  and  hence 
also  the  foundation  of,  and  the  excuse  for,  the  custom  of  adding  the  sound 
home-brewed  ale  to  almost  every  purgative,  and  especially  for  young  and 
weakly  cattle,  when  evident  inflammatory  action  does  not  forbid  it.  The 
fiery  spices  and  the  almost  undiluted  spirit  administered  by  the  cow-leech 
can  never  be  justified;  yet,  in  cattle-practice,  the  beneficial  effect  of  the 
aperient  often  depends  fully  as  much  on  the  carminative  by  which  it  is  ac- 
companied, as  on  the  purgative  power  of  the  drug  itself. 

*  Veterinarian,  April,  1834,  p.  97. 
50 


578  CATTLE. 

Aloes. — This  is  the  best,  and  almost  the  only  purgative  on  which  de- 
pendence can  be  placed  in  the  treatment  of  the  horse;  but  it  holds  a  secon- 
dary rank,  or  might  be  almost  dismissed  from  the  list  of  cattle-aperients. 
It  is  always  uncertain  in  its  effect,  and  sometimes  appears  to  be  absolutely 
inert.  Six  ounces  have  been  given  without  producing  any  appreciable  ef- 
fect; and,  in  another  case,  a  snnilar  dose  was  given,  which  was  followed 
by  considerable  irritation  and  fever,  but  it  did  not  purge.  The  animal  was 
destroyed  on  the  following  day,  in  order  to  ascertain  how  far  this  apparent 
inertness  might  be  attributed  to  that  state  of  the  oesopha-gean  canal  in  which 
the  greater  part  of  the  medicines  administered  enters  the  rumen,  and  being 
detained  there  cannot  possibly  produce  its  destined  effect.  A  very  small 
quantity  of  the  drug  was  found  in  that  stomach.  Still,  however,  as  there 
is  no  case  on  record  in  which  it  has  destroyed  the  ox  by  superpurgation, 
as  it  too  often  has  the  horse,  and  as  occasionally  it  does  seem  to  exert  some 
purgative  effect,  it  may  be  admitted  in  combination  with,  or  alternating 
with  other  purgatives  when  constipation  is  obstinate:  few,  however,  would 
think  of  resorting  to  it  in  the  first  instance. 

The  Barbadoes  Aloes  should  be  selected,  for  the  horse;  and  on  account 
of  the  construction  of  the  stomachs  of  ruminants,  it  must  be  always  ad- 
ministered in  solution,  for  a  ball  would  break  through  the  floor  of  the 
cesophagean  canal  and  be  lost  in  the  rumen.  Two  ounces  of  aloes,  and 
one  ounce  of  gum-arabic  (in  order  to  suspend  the  imperfectly  dissolved  por- 
tion of  the  aloes)  should  be  put  into  a  pint  of  boiling  water,  and  the  mix- 
ture frequendy  stirred  during  the  first  day;  then  two  ounces  of  tincture  of 
ginger  are  to  be  added,  not  only  to  prevent  the  mixture  from  fermenting, 
but  because  that  aromatic  seems  to  be  so  useful,  and  in  a  manner  indispen- 
sable in  cattle  purgatives.  The  dose  should  consist  of  from  half  a  pint  to 
a  pint  of  the  solution,  or  from  four  to  seven  or  eight  drachms  of  the  aloes. 
Some  persons  boil  the  aloes  in  the  water,  but  the  purgative  effect  of  the 
drug  is  much  lessened  by  this. 

Aloes  are  very  useful  in  the  form  of  tmcture.  Eight  ounces  of  powdered 
aloes  and  one  ounce  of  powdered  myrrh  should  be  put  into  two  quarts  of 
rectified  spirit,  diluted  with  an  equal  quantity  of  water.  The  mixture 
should  be  daily  well  shaken  for  a  fortnight,  when  it  will  be  fit  for  use.  It 
is  one  of  the  best  applications  for  recent  wounds;  and  in  old  wounds  espe- 
cially, accompanied  by  any  foulness  of  them,  or  discharge  of  fiEtid  pus,  no- 
thing will  be  more  serviceable  than  equal  parts  of  this  tincture  and  a  solu- 
tion of  the  chloride  of  lime. 

Alteratives. — These  are  medicines  that  are  supposed  to  have  a  slow 
yet  beneficial  effect  in  altering  some  diseased  action  of  the  vessels  of  the 
skin  or  of  the  organs  of  circulation  or  digestion.  To  a  cow  with  yellows, 
or  mange,  or  that  cannot  be  made  to  acquire  condition,  or  where  the  milk 
is  diminishing,  small  quantities  of  medicine  are  often  administered  under 
the  tempting,  but  deceptive,  term  of  alteratives.  They  had  much  better  be 
let  alone  in  the  majority  of  cases.  If  a  cow  is  really  ill,  let  her  be  treated 
accordingly;  let  her  be  bled  or  physicked,  or  both;  but  let  her  not  be  nau- 
seated, or  her  constitution  ruined,  by  continually  dosing  her  with  various 
drugs.  The  want  of  condition  and  thriving  in  cattle  is  far  more  connected 
with  a  diseased  state  of  their  comphcated  stomachs,  and  particularly  with 
obstruction  in  the  manyplus,  than  with  any  other  cause;  the  alteratives, 
then,  should  be  small  quantities  of  purgatives,  with  aromatics,  as  Epsom 
salt,  or  sulphur  with  ginger;  or,  what  would  be  still  preferable,  rock  salt 
in  the  manger  for  them  to  lick,  or  common  salt  mingled  with  their  food. 
There  can,  however,  be  no  doubt  that  in  many  cutaneous  affections,  and 
especially  where  mange  is  suspected,  alterative  medicines  will  be  verj- 


MEDICINES  USED  IN  THE  TREATMENT  OF  CATTLE.    579 

beneficial.  They  should  be  composed  of  iEthiop's  mineral,  nitre,  and 
sulphur,  in  thf  proportions  of  one,  two,  and  four,  and  in  daily  doses  of 
from  half  an  ounce  to  an  ounce. 

Alum. — This  is  a  useful  astringent  in  diarrhoea,  and  especially  in  the 
purging  of  calves.  It  is  best  administered  in  the  form  of  alum  whey, 
which  is  composed  of  two  drachms  of  powdered  alum,  dissolved  in  a  pint 
of  hot  milk;  a  drachm  of  ginger  may  be  added;  and,  if  the  purging  is  vio- 
lent, a  scruple  of  opium.  Alum  is  rarely  used  externally  in  the  treatment 
of  catde,  unless  for  canker  in  the  mouth,  and  as  a  useful  wash  after  the 
tongue  has  been  lanced  in  blain;  and  unless  in  the  form  just  mentioned,  the 
less  it  is  used  internally  the  better. 

Ammonia  is  not  frequendy  used.  In  the  form  of  hartshorn  it  enters  in- 
to the  composition  of  some  stimulating  liniments,  as  in  cases  of  palsy. 
The  carbonate  of  ammonia  has  been  extolled  as  a  specific  for  hoove.  The 
author  always  doubted  this;  he  put  it  to  the  test,  and  it  failed.  It  was  ad- 
ministered as  a  chemical  principle,  it  being  supposed  that  the  alkali  would 
neutralize  the  acid  gas  that  was  extricated  from  the  fermenting  food;  but 
it  has  been  proved  that  this  gas  consists  chiefly  either  of  carburetled  or 
sulphuretted  hydrogen:  besides  which  there  is  another  consideration,  that, 
except  administered  by  means  of  Reed's  pump,  not  one  drop  of  the  am- 
monia would  find  its  way  into  the  paunch. 

Anodynes. — The  only  one  used  in  cattle-practice  is  opium.  The  doses 
in  which  it  may  be  employed  have  already  been  pointed  out  when  treat- 
ing of  the  diseases  in  which  it  is  indicated. 

Antimony. — There  are  but  three  preparations  of  it  that  can  be  useful  to 
the  practitioner  on  catde.     The  first  is 

Emetic  Tartar,  which,  in  doses  from  half  a  drachm  to  a  drachm,  and 
combined  with  nitre  and  digitalis,  has  great  efficacy  in  lowering  the  circu- 
lation of  the  blood  in  inflammation  of  the  lungs  and  every  catarrhal  affec- 
tion, and  particularly  in  that  species  of  pleurisy  to  which  cattle  are  so  sub- 
ject. Emetic  tartar,  rubbed  down  with  lard,  constitutes  a  powerful  and 
very  useful  stimulant  when  applied  to  the  skin. 

Antimonial  Powder — the  powder  of  oxide  of  antimony  with  phosphate 
of  lime.  It  is  frequendy  sold  in  the  shops  under  the  name  of  James's 
Powder,  and  possesses  all  the  properties  of  that  more  expensive  drug.  It 
is  a  useful  febrifuge  in  cases  where  it  may  not  be  advisable  ta  nauseate  the 
beast  to  too  great  a  degree. 

Chloride  (Butyr)  of  Antimony. — Where  it  is  wished  that  a  caustic 
shall  act  only  superficially,  this  is  the  most  useful  one  that  can  be  employ- 
ed. It  has  a  strong  affinity  for  water,  and  therefore  readily  combines  with 
the  fluids  belonging  to  the  part  to  which  it  is  applied,  and  so  becomes  di- 
luted and  comparatively  powerless,  and  incapable  of  producing  any  deep 
and  corroding  mischief.  It  has  also  the  advantage,  that,  by  the  change  of 
colour  which  it  produces,  it  accurately  marks  the  extent  of  its  action,  and 
therefore  forms  an  unerring  guide  to  the  surgeon.  For  warts,  foul  in  the 
foot,  cankered  foot,  and  for  some  indolent  and  unhealthy  wounds,  it  is  a 
valuable  caustic  and  stimulant. 

Antispasmodics. — Opium,  for  its  general  power,  and  particularly  for  its 
efficacy  in  locked  jaw,  stands  unrivalled.  The  spirits  of  turpentine  and 
nitrous  ether  are  useful  in  cases  of  colic. 

Astringents. — These  are  few  in  number,  but  they  are  powerful:  alum, 
catechu,  opium  (an  astringent  because  it  is  an  anodyne)  and  blue  vitriol 
comprise  the  list:  the  first  used  both  externally  and  iniernally;  the  two 
next  internally;  and  the  last  internally,  but  chiefly  powerful  as  arresting 
nasal  discharge. 


580  CATTLE. 

Blisters. — The  thickness  of  the  skin  of  cattle  renders  it  somewhat  dif- 
ficult to  produce  any  great  degree  of  vesication.  The  part  should  be  pre- 
viously fomented  with  hot-water,  then  thoroughly  dried,  and  the  blistering 
application  well  rubbed  in.  With  these  precautions  the  common  blister 
oiiitiuent  will  act  very  fairly;  the  turpentine  tincture  of  cantharides  still 
belter;  while  an  ointment  composed  by  triturating  one  drachm  of  eme- 
tic tartar  with  six  of  lard  will  produce  more  powerful  and  deeper  irritation, 
but  not  so  much  actual  blistering.  Sometimes  boiling  water,  and  in  a  few 
cases,  and  especially  in  bony  enlargements  about  the  legs  attended  by  much 
lameness,  the  hot  iron  will  be  resorted  to. 

Calamine. — See  Zinc. 

Calombo. — A  very  useful  tonic,  and  especially  in  those  cases  of  debili- 
ty which  accompany  or  follow  dysentery.  It  should  be  given  in  doses  of 
from  one  to  three  drachms,  combined  with  ginger. 

Calomel. — See  Mercury. 

Camphor. — Used  externally  alone  in  catde-practice.  It  is  a  component 
part  in  the  liniments  for  palsy  and  garget. 

Cantharides — the  principal  ingredient  in  all  blistering  ointments,  and 
to  which  they  owe  their  power.  Corrosive  sublimate,  sulphuric  acid,  and 
euphorbium,  may  increase  the  torture  of  the  animal,  but  they  will  gene- 
rally blemish,  and  often  lay  the  foundation  for  deep  and  corroding  ulcers. 
The  best  blister  ointment  for  cattle  is  composed  of  one  part  of  cantharides 
(Spanish  flies)  finely  powdered,  three  of  lard,  and  one  of  yellow  resin; 
the  lard  and  the  resin  should  be  melted  together,  and  the  Hies  added  when 
these  ingredients  begin  to  cool. 

Carraways. — The  powder  of  these  seeds  may  be  used  as  an  occasion- 
al change  for  ginger;  yet  it  is  not  so  stomachic  as  the  ginger,  and  is  de- 
cidedly inferior  to  it,  except  in  cases  of  flatulent  colic.  It  may  be  given 
in  doses,  from  half  an  ounce  to  two  ounces. 

Castor  Oil. — An  effectual  and  safe  purgative  for  cattle  in  doses  from 
twelve  ounces  to  a  pint,  and  that  will  be  properly  employed  when  Epsom 
salt  or  other  aperient  drugs  have  not  produced  their  desired  effect.  It  is 
usually  made  into  a  kind  of  emulsion  with  the  yolk  of  an  egg.  It  is  how- 
ever to  be  doubted  whether  it  is  much  superior  to  a  less  expensive  purga- 
tive, the  linseed-oil. 

Catechu  is  an  extract  from  the  wood  of  one  of  the  acacia  trees.  It  is 
much  less  expensive  than  the  Gum  Kino,  and  it  is,  when  unadulterated, 
more  eflfectual  than  that  gum  in  subduing  the  diarrhoea  of  calves  or  adult 
catde.  The  quantity,  and  the  drugs  with  which  it  should  be  combined, 
have  been  stated  in  p.  476. 

Caustics. — In  the  treatment  of  foul  in  the  foot,  these  are  indispensable, 
and  the  chloride  (butyr)  of  antimony  has  no  rival  in  the  certainty  with 
which  it  destroys  the  fungus  or  otherwise  unhealthy  surface  to  which  it  is 
applied,  and  the  equal  certainty  of  its  destructive  power  being  confined  to 
the  surf^ace.  For  warts,  angle-berries,  &c.,  externally  situated,  the  nitrate 
of  silver  in  substance,  or  in  the  form  of  a  strong  solution,  will  be  most  ef- 
fectual; for  canker  in  the  mouth,  barbs,  and  paps,  a  strong  solution  of 
alum  will  be  as  useful  as  any  thing;  and  in  order  to  stimulate  indolent  and 
unhealthy  ulcers,  nothing  can  compare  with  the  diluted  nitric  acid. 

Chalk. — See  Lime. 

Chamomile. — If  it  were  necessary  to  add  another  tonic  to  the  gentian 
and  calombo  it  would  be  the  chamomile,  and  on  the  principle  of  not  being 
so^jowerful  as  either  of  the  others,  and  therefore  used  in  somewhat  doubt- 
ful cases,  when,  if  the  state  of  fever  has  not  quite  passed  over  a  stronger 
stimulant  might  have  been  prejudicial. 


MEDICINES  USED  IN  THE  TREATMENT  OF  CATTLE.   581 

Charges. — These  are  thick  adhesive  plasters  spread  over  parts  that 
have  been  strained  or  weakened,  or  that  are  affected  with  rheumatism, 
and  which,  being  applied  warm,  mingle  so  with  the  hair,  that  they  cannot 
be  separated  for  a  long  time  afterwards.  They  give  a  permanent  sup- 
port to  the  part,  and  likewise  exert  a  gentle  but  constant  stimulating 
power.  Old  cows,  weakened  and  rendered  almost  useless  by  a  rheumatic 
affection  of  the  loins,  which  is  degenerating  into  palsy,  often  derive  much 
benefit  from  the  application  of  a  ciiarge.  It  is  also  useful  when  the 
joints  are  the  seat  of  rheumatic  lameness. 

Clysters. — The  importance  of  the  administration  of  injections  has 
not  yet  been  sufficiently  acknowledged  in  cattle  practice.  A  recurrence 
to  the  account  which  has  been  given  of  the  lower  or  larger  intestines  of 
cattle,  and  which,  although  long,  are  not  capacious  compared  with  those  of 
the  horse,  and  whose  surface  is  not  irregular  and  cellated  as  in  that  ani- 
mal, but  perfectly  smooth,  so  that  a  fluid  will  readily  pass  along  them 
and  to  their  full  extent,  will  show  the  propriety  of  having  frequent 
recourse  to  this  mode  of  administering  medicine.  A  soothing  and 
emollient  injection  may  be  brought  into  contact  with  the  inflamed  and 
irritable  surface  of  these  intestines;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  that  surf\\ce  may 
be  extensively  and  beneficially  stimulated  by  the  direct  application 
of  purgative  medicine.  The  former  is  a  most  important  consideration 
in  diarrhoea  and  dysentery;  and  the  latter  is  not  of  less  moment  when 
the  comparative  insensibility  of  the  three  first  stomachs  of  catde  is 
regarded.  Much  may  be  done  by  means  of  the  bladder  and  pipe,  but 
the  newly-invented  stomach  and  enema-pump  of  Read  enables  the  prac- 
titioner to  derive  from  injections  all  the  advantages  that  can  be  connected 
with  their  administration. 

Copper. — There  are  but  two  compounds  of  this  metal  that  have  any 
value  in  cattle-practice,  and  they  are  the  Blue  Vitriol,  or  sulpliate 
of  copper,  and  Verdigris,  or  acetate  of  copper.  The  use  of  the  first  is 
limited  to  the  coryza,  or  inflammation  of  and  defluxion  from  the  nose 
in  catde,  accompanied  by  little  or  no  cough  or  fever,  and  which  is  some- 
times in  a  manner  epidemic.  The  manner  of  administering  it  is  de- 
scribed in  p.  313.  As  a  caustic  the  blue  vitriol  is  altogether  superseded' 
by  those  mentioned  under  that  head. 

Verdigris  is  employed  externally  only,  in  one  of  the  varieties  of  foul 
in  the  foot,  in  order  to  repress  fungous  growths.  It  is  mixed  with  an 
equal  portion  of  the  sugar  of  lead,  reduced  to  a  fine  powder,  and  sprinkled 
on  the  diseased  surface. 

Cordials. — These  are  destructively  abused  by  many  cow-leeches,  but, 
as  has  been  again  and  again  stated,  there  is  that  in  the  structure  and 
constitution  of  catde,  which  will  excuse  their  administration  much  ofiener 
than  in  the  horse.  Except  in  extreme  cases,  and  when  their  use  is  sanc- 
tioned by  the  decision  of  a  competent  veterinary  practitioner,  they  should 
not  extend  beyond  good  home-brewed  ale,  and  ginger  and  carraways; 
or,  perhaps,  because  the  farmer  will  seldom  believe  that  a  drink  for  a 
cow  can  be  good  for  anything  unless  it  stinks  of  aniseed,  a  few  drops 
of  the  oil  of  those  seeds  may  be  allowed.  The  bay  berries,  and  cardamom 
seeds,  and  coriander  seeds,  and  cumin  seeds,  and  diapente,  and  elecam- 
pane, and  fennel  seeds,  and  fenugreek  seeds,  and  grains  of  paradise, 
and  juniper  berries,  and  horse-spice,  and  pepper,  and  various  other  pungent 
aromalics  that  encumber  the  shelves  and  loads  the  drinks  of  him  of  the 
old  school,  should  be  banished  from  the  pharmacopreia  of  the  rational 
practitioner  of  cattle-medicine. 

Corrosive  Sublimate. — See  Mercury. 
50* 


583  CATTLE. 

Croton  Seeds. — These  can  scarcely  be  admitted  into  practice  on 
ordinary  occasions,  or  as  a  usual  purgative;  but  in  cases  of  phrenitis, 
tetanus,  inflammatory  fever,  and  in  those  strange  constipations  which  so 
often  puzzle  and  annoy,  the  croton  seed,  in  doses  of  i'rom  ten  to  sixteen 
grains,  may  be  allowed.  The  bowels  having  been  opened,  the  prac- 
titioner will  keep  up  the  purgative  action  by  means  of  a  milder  and  safer 
aperient.  The  seeds  should  be  kept  in  a  close  bottle,  and  when  wanted, 
should  be  deprived  of  their  shells,  and  pounded  for  use.  The  farina  soon 
loses  its  power,  and  the  oil  is  shamefully  adulterated. 

Diaphoretics. — The  thick  hide  of  the  ox  forbids  us  to  expect  much 
advantage  from  those  drugs  which  are  supposed  to  have  their  principal 
influence  determined  to  the  skin,  and  tluis  to  increase  the  sensible  and 
insensible  perspiration;  yet  emetic  tartar  and  sulphur  are,  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  valuable  in  cases  of  fever — and  the  latter  most  certainly 
in  cutaneous  eruption  and  mange,  by  opening  the  pores  of  the  skin,  or 
exciting  its  vessels  to  healthy  action.  One,  however,  of  the  best  diapho- 
retics is  that  which  has  been  comparatively  lately  introduced  in  the  general 
management  of  cattle,  viz.,  friction  applied  to  the  skin.  It  needs  but  the 
slightest  observation  to  be  convinced  that  the  health  of  the  stall-fed  beast, 
and  his  thriving  and  getting  into  condition,  are  materially  promoted  by  the 
liberal  use  of  the  brush,  and  sometimes  even  of  the  curry-comb. 

Digitalis  (Foxglove.) — The  leaves  of  this  plant,  gathered  about 
the  flowering  season,  dried,  kept  in  the  dark,  and  powdered  when 
wanted,  are  most  valuable  in  diminishing  the  frequency  of  the  pulse, 
and  the  general  irritability  of  the  system  in  cattle.  A  reference  to  the 
treatment  of  almost  every  febrile  disease  will  illustrate  this.  The  dose  is 
from  half  a  drachm  to  a  drachm,  with  emetic  tartar,  nitre  and  sulphur, 
and  administered  twice  or  thrice  in  the  day,  according  lo  the  urgency  of 
the  case.  The  practitioner  must  not  be  alarmed  at  the  intermittent  pulse 
which  is  produced.  It  is  by  means  of  certain  pauses  and  intermissions 
in  the  action  of  the  heart,  that  the  rapidity  of  the  circulation  is  dimi- 
nished when  this  drug  is  exhibited.  The  intermittent  pulse  is  that  which 
the  practitioner  will  be  anxious  to  obtain,  and  which  he  will  generally 
regard  as  the  harbinger  of  returning  health. 

Diuretics. — These  fortunately  are  not  so  much  used  in  cattle-practice 
as  in  that  of  the  horse;  they  are,  however,  allowable  and  beneficial  in 
swelled  legs,  foul  in  the  foot,  and  all  dropsical  affections,  while  they 
advantageously  alternate  Math  other  medicines  in  the  treatment  of  mange, 
and  all  cutaneous  afl'ections,  and  in  cases  of  mild  or  chronic  fever.  Nitre 
and  liquid  turpentine  are  the  best  diuretics;  and  almost  the  only  ones  on 
winch  dependence  can  be  placed.  The  doses  have  been  already  pointed 
out. 

Drinks. — It  is  needless  again  to  explain  the  reason  why  all  medicines 
that  cannot  be  concealed  in  the  food  must  be  administered  to  cattle  in  the 
form  of  DRINKS.  If  they  are  exhibited  in  a  solid  form,  they  will  break 
through  the  floor  of  the  oesophagean  canal,  and  enter  the  rumen.  Far- 
riers and  cow-leeches,  however,  often  give  to  their  drinks  the  force  arid 
momentum  of  a  ball,  by  the  large  vessels  from  which  they  are  poured  all 
at  once  down  the  throat.  There  are  few  things  of  more  consequence  than 
attention  to  the  manner  in  which  a  drink  is  administered. 

Elder. — The  leaf  of  this  tree  is  used  boiled  in  lard.  It  forms  one  of 
the  most  soothing  and  suppling  ointments  that  can  be  applied.  The  prac- 
titioner should  make  his  own  elder  ointment,  for  he  will  often  receive  from 
the  druggist  an  irritating  unguent  formed  of  lard  coloured  with  verdigris, 
instead  of  the  emollient  one  furnished  by  the  elder. 
Epsom  Salt. — See  Magnesia. 


MEDICINES  USED  IN  THE  TREATMENT  OF  CATTLE.     583 

Fomentations. — If,  owing  to  the  greater  thickness  of  the  skin,  these 
are  not  quite  so  effectual  in  cattle  as  in  tlie  horse,  yet,  as  opening  the  pores 
of  the  skin  and  promoting  perspiration  in  the  part,  and  thus  abating  local 
swellings,  and  relieving  pain,  and  lessening  inflammation,  they  are  often 
exceedingly  serviceable.  The  practitioner  may  use  the  decoction  of  what 
herbs  he  pleases,  but  the  chief  virtue  of  the  fomentation  depends  on  the 
warmth  of  the  water. 

Gentian. — An  excellent  stomachic  and  tonic,  whether  at  the  close  of 
illness,  or  as  a  remedy  for  chronic  debility.  Its  dose  varies  from  one  to 
four  drachnis,'  and  should  be  almost  invariably  combined  with  ginger. 

Ginger. — The  very  best  aromatic  in  the  list  of  cordials  for  cattle,  and 
with  tlie  exception  of  carraways,  superseding  all  the  rest.  The  dose  will 
vary  from  half  a  drachm  to  four  drachms. 

Goulard's  Extract. — See  Lead. 

Hellebore,  Black. — The  root  of  it  forms  an  excellent  seton  when 
passed  through  the  dew-lap;  it  produces  plenty  of  swelling  and  discharge, 
and  rarely  or  never  runs  on  to  gangrene. 

Iodine. — The  use  of  this  mineral  is  limited  to  a  few  cases,  but  there  its 
effect  is  truly  admirable.  It  will  scarcely  ever  fail  of  dispersing  enlarge- 
ments of  the  glands,  or  hardened  tumours,  whether  under  or  at  the  side  of 
the  jaw,  or  round  the  joints.  One  part  of  hydriodate  of  potash  must  be 
triturated  with  seven  parts  of  lard,  and  the  ointment  daily  and  well  rubbed 
on  and  round  the  part.  Indurations  of  the  udder  seldom  resist  its  power, 
unless  the  ulcerative  process  has  already  commenced. 

There  is  a  still  more  important  use  to  which  this  drug  may  be  applied. 
It  possesses  some  power  to  arrest  the  growth  of  tubercles  in  the  lungs,  and 
even  to  disperse  them  w'.en  recently  formed.  It  is  only  since  the  former 
part  of  this  work  was  written  that  the  attention  of  the  author  has  been  so 
strongly  directed  to  this  property  of  iodine,  and  that  he  has  had  such  ex- 
tensive opportunities  of  putting  it  to  the  test.  He  will  not  say  that  he  has 
discovered  a  specific  for  phthisis  or  consumption  in  catde,  but  he  has  saved 
some  that  would  otherwise  have  perished,  and,  for  a  while,  prolonged  the 
existence  and  somewhat  restored  the  condition  of  more.  He  would  urge 
the  proprietor  of  cattle,  and  more  especially  his  fellow-practitioners,  to 
study  closely  the  symptoms  of  phthisis,  as  detailed  in  page  410;  to  make 
themselves  masters  of  the  inward,  feeble,  painful,  hoarse,  gurgling  cough 
of  consumption;  and  as  soon  as  they  are  assured  that  this  termination,  or 
consequence  of  catarrh,  or  pneumonia,  or  pleurisy,  begins  to  have  exist- 
ence— that  tubercles  have  been  formed,  and,  perhaps,  have  begun  to  sup- 
purate, let  them  have  recourse  to  the  iodine,  in  the  form  of  the  hydriodate 
of  potash,  given  in  a  small  mash  in  doses  of  three  grains  morning  and 
evening  at  the  commencement  of  the  treatment,  and  gradually  increased  to 
six  or  eight  grains.  To  this  should  be  added  proper  attention  to  comfort; 
yet  not  too  much  nursing;  and  free  access  to  succulent,  but  not  stimulating, 
food;  and  the  medicine  should  be  continued  not  only  until  the  general  con- 
dition of  the  beast  begins  to  improve,  but  until  the  character  of  the  cough 
has  been  essentially  changed. 

Ipecacuanha. — This  drug  is  used  in  the  composition  of  the  Dover's,  or 
compound  ipecacuanha  powder,  which  has  been  recommended  by  some 
practitioners  in  the  treatment  of  dysentery.  It  is  thus  made — '  Take 
ipecacuanha  root  powdered,  and  opium  also  in  powder,  of  each  a  drachm, 
and  sulphate  of  potash  an  ounce.  Rub  them  together  to  a  fine  powder.' 
The  dose  is  from  two  to  four  drachms.  This,  however,  is  not  an  efficient 
medicine  for  such  a  disease. 

Lard. — This  is  the  principal  basis  of  all  ointments. 


681  CATTLE. 

Laudanum. — See  Opium, 

Lead,  Sugar  of — (Superacetate  of  Lead.) — This,  mixed  with  the 
subacetate  of  copper  (verdigris,  which  see,)  forms  a  useful  caustic  for  the 
destruction  of  fungous  growths. 

Goulard's  Extract — (Liquor  Plumbi  Supebacetatis.) — When  the 
skin  is  unbroken,  this  preparation  of  lead  is  completely  thrown  away, 
whether  used  either  as  a  lotion  to  subdue  inflammation,  or  to  disperse  tu- 
mours or  effusions.  It  is  principally  serviceable,  applied  in  a  very  dilute 
form,  to  abate  inflammation  of  the  eye. 

White  Lead  (Subcarbonas  Plumbi)  is  the  basis  of  a  cooling,  drying 
ointment,  used  chiefly  for  excoriations,  or  superficial  wounds. 

Lime.  Carbonate  of  Lime,  Chalk. — This  is  a  useful  ingredient  in 
all  the  drinks  given  in  diarrhcEa  or  dysentery.  In  every  stage  of  these 
diseases  there  is  a  tendency  in  the  fourth  stomach,  and  perhaps  in  the  in- 
testines, to  generate  a  considerable  quantity  of  acid,  than  which  a  greater 
source  of  irritation  can  scarcely  be  imagined.  The  chalk,  or  the  alkali  of 
the  chalk,  will  unite  with  this  acid,  and  neutralize  it,  and  render  it  harm- 
less. In  the  diarrhosa  of  the  calf  it  is  absolutely  indispensable,  for  there 
the  acid  principle  is  frequendy  developed  to  a  great  degree.  The  dose 
will  vary  from  a  drachm  to  an  ounce. 

Chloride  of  Lime. — The  list  of  medicines  for  cattle  does  not  contain 
any  thing  more  valuable  than  this.  As  a  disinfectant — if  the  walls,  the 
floor,  and  the  furniture  of  the  cow-honse  or  stable,  are  twice  or  thrice 
well  washed  with  it,  the  souiid  cattle  may  return  to  the  building  with  per- 
fect safety,  however  contagious  may  have  been  the  disease  of  those  that 
had  previously  perished  there.  Applied  to  the  pudenda  of  the  cow  that 
has  aborted,  it  destroys  that  peculiar  smell  which  causes  abortion  in  others, 
more  readily  than  any  preparation  of  the  most  powerful  or  nauseous  in- 
gredient, in  blain,  garget,  foul  in  the  foot,  and  sloughing  ulcers  of  every 
description,  it  removes  the  foe  tor;  and,  if  the  process  of  decomposition 
has  not  proceeded  too  far,  gives  a  healthy  surface  to  the  ulcers  which 
nothing  else  could  bring  about — and,  administered  internally  in  blain,  in 
the  malignant  epidemic,  and  in  diarrhoea  and  dysentery,  it  is  of  essential 
service.  In  the  last  disease  it  is  particularly  beneficial  in  changing  the 
nature  of  the  intestinal  discharge,  and  depriving  it  of  its  putridity  and 
infection,  and  disposing  the  surface  of  the  intestine  to  take  on  a  more 
healthy  character.  Half  an  ounce  of  the  powder,  dissolved  in  a  gallon  of 
water,  will  give  a  solution  of  sufficient  strength,  both  as  a  disinfectant  ap- 
plied to  the  cow-house,  and  for  external  and  internal  use  as  it  regards  the 
animal. 

Linseed. — Nothing  can  compare  with  the  linseed  meal  as  an  emollient 
poultice — if  the  ulcer  is  foul,  a  litUe  of  the  chloride  of  lime  should  be 
mixed  with  it.  If  the  object  of  the  poultice  is  to  bring  an  ulcer  into  a 
proper  state  of  suppuration,  a  Hide  common  turpentine  may  be  added;  but 
the  cruelly-torturing  caustics  of  the  cow-leech  and  the  farrier  should  never 
disgrace  the  regular  pracutioner. 

An  excellent  mash  in  cases  of  catarrh  or  sore-throat,  and  as  an  emollient 
in  any  intestinal  aflection,  is  made  by  adding  bran  to  an  infusion  of  lin- 
seed. 

Linseed  Oil. — This  is  little  inferior  to  castor-oil  as  a  purgative; 
it  is  much  cheaper,  and  it  is  equally  safe.  Where  the  case  seems  to  in- 
dicate an  oily  purgative,  and  the  first  dose  of  castor-oil  fads,  it  may  be 
followed  up  by  smaller  doses  of  linseed  oU,  until  the  desired  effect  is 
produced. 

Magnesia,  Sulphate  of.     Epsom  Salt. — This  may  be  regarded  as 


MEDICINES  USED  IN  THE  TREATMENT  OF  CATTLE.     585 

the  staple  purgative  of  cattle.  It  is  as  safe  as  Glauber's  salt;  it  is  more 
certain,  and  it  will  dissolve  in  one-third  of  the  quantity  of  water.  The 
first  dose  of  physic  should  always  consist  of  the  Epsom  salt,  quickened  in 
its  action,  in  extreme  cases,  by  the  farina  of  the  croton-nut;  the  purgative 
effect  may  be  kept  up  by  means  of  sulphur  or  Epsom  salt,  in  doses  of  six 
ounces  of  the  former,  or  eight  of  the  latter,  as  the  state  of  the  animal  may 
appear  to  require.  The  medium  dose  is  about  a  pound,  with  a  quarter  of 
an  ounce  of  ginger,  but  a  pound  and  a  half  may  be  given  to  a  large  beast 
without  the  slightest  danger. 

Mashes  are  very  useful  in  cattle-practice,  not  so  much  to  prepare  for 
physic,  or  to  get  into  condition,  as  to  form  a  soothing  and  cooling  substitute, 
when  the  case  requires  a  temporary  abstinence  from  dry  and  stimulating 
food.  They  may  be  composed,  like  those  of  the  horse,  of  bran  only,  with 
hot  or  cold  water;  or  of  bran  with  a  decoction  of  linseed.  In  cases  of  de- 
bility, steeped  or  ground  oats  may  be  mixed  with  the  bran,  or  malt  may 
be  used  as  a  substitute  for  the  bran  and  oats. 

Mercury.  Mercurial  Ointment. — The  practitioner  should  be  very 
cautious  in  his  use  of  this  on  cattle.  Indeed,  it  is  scarcely  allowable  ex- 
cept in  a  very  diluted  slate,  and  with  the  common  sulphur  ointment,  in  bad 
cases  of  mange;  or  a  small  quantity  of  it  may  be  mixed  with  lard  for  the 
destruction  of  vermin. 

Sulphate  of  Mercury,  ^thiop's  Mineral. — A  very  useful  alterative 
combined  with  sulphur  and  nitre,  where  there  is  any  cutaneous  affection. 
The  circumstances  under  which  it  may  be  administered,  and  the  doses, 
will  be  found  in  various  parts  of  this  work. 

Proto-chloride  of  Mercury.  Calomel. — This  should  rarely  be  given 
to  calde,  and  never  as  a  purgative.  In  chronic  inflammation  of  the  liver, 
it  often  has  a  decidedly  injurious  effect:  in  jaundice,  caused  by  a  gall-stone 
obstructing  the  biliary  ducts,  or  in  that  of  a  more  chronic  nature  accompa- 
nied by  debility  and  declining  condition,  the  experience  of  the  writer  will 
not  warrant  him  in  recommending  the  administration  of  calomel:  he  would, 
on  the  contrary,  be  disposed  to  confine  its  use  to  dysentery,  in  which, 
combined  with  and  guarded  by  opium,  irritation  is  allayed,  while  the  na- 
tural action  of  the  bowels  is  promoted. 

Bichloride  or  Mercury.  Corrosive  Sublimate. — This  drug  may 
almost  be  dispensed  with  by  the  practitioner  on  cattle.  It  can  never  be 
administered  internally;  it  is  highly  dangerous  used  externally  in  conside- 
rable or  efficient  quantity  for  the  cure  of  mange  or  any  cutaneous  erup- 
tion, and  as  a  caustic  there  are  many  as  good. 

Mint. — An  infusion  or  decoction  of  this  plant  will  be  a  useful  vehicle  in 
which  other  medicines  may  be  administered  for  the  cure  of  diarrhoea  or  colic. 

Myrrh. — The  tincture  of  myrrh  is  a  useful  application  to  wounds,  and 
is  also  applied  to  the  cankered  mouth;  but  it  contains  nothing  to  render  it 
preferable  to  the  tincture  of  aloes  in  the  former  case,  or  a  solution  of  alum 
in  the  latter. 

Nitre — See  Potash. 

Nitrous  Ether,  Spirit  of. — A  favourite  medicine  with  may  practition- 
ers in  the  advanced  stages  of  fever.  It  is  said  to  rouse,  to  a  certain  degree, 
the  exhausted  powers  of  the  animal,  while  it  rarely  brings  back  the  dan- 
gerous febrile  action  that  was  subsiding.  It  is  not,  however,  a  stimulant  to 
which  the  author  has  often  dared  to  have  recourse,  except  in  the  advanced 
stages  of  epidemic  catarrh,  or  the  malignant  epidemic.  The  dose  should 
not  exceed  half  an  ounce. 

Nux  Vomica. — This  is  not  introduced  from  any  experience  which  the 
author  has  had  of  its  efficacy,  but  from  the  favourable  opmion  which  some 


586  CATTLE. 

continental  veterinarians  have  expressed  of  it  in  the  cure  of  palsy.  The 
doses  which  they  gave  consisted  of  more  than  an  ounce.  The  author  has 
tried  the  nux  vomica,  and  its  essential  principle,  the  strychnine,  as  a  cure 
for  palsy  in  the  dog,  but  never  with  success. 

Opium. — As  an  anti-spasmodic,  an  allayer  of  irritation,  and  an  astrin- 
gent because  it  does  allay  irritation,  opium  stands  unrivalled.  It  is  that 
on  which  the  chief,  or  almost  the  only  dependence  is  placed  in  locked  jaw, 
A  colic  drink  would  lose  the  greater  part  of  its  efficacy  without  it;  and  if 
it  were  left  out  of  the  medicines  for  diarrhoea  and  dysentery,  almost  every 
other  drug  would  be  administered  in  vain.  It  is  most  conveniently  given 
in  the  form  of  powder,  and  held  in  suspension  with  other  medicines  in 
thick  gruel. 

The  tincture  of  opium  (laudanum)  is  useful  in  inflammation  of  the  eyes; 
and  a  poultice  of  linseed  meal  made  with  a  decoction  of  poppy-hends  often 
has  an  admirable  effect  when  applied  to  iriitable  ulcers,  or  to  parts  labouring 
under  much  inflammation. 

Pitch. — This  is  only  useful  as  the  principal  ingredient  in  charges,  so 
useful  in  cases  of  palsy,  or  sprain,  or  chronic  local  debility. 

Potash,  Nitrate  of  Nitre. — As  useful  to  cattle  as  to  the  horse.  It  has 
an  immediate  effect  in  abating  inflammation,  and  it  is  a  mild  diuretic.  The 
dose  would  vary  from  two  to  four  drachms.  When  dissolved  in  water  it 
much  lowers  the  temperature  of  that  fluid,  and  therefore  the  solution,  ap- 
plied immediately  after  it  is  made,  forms  an  excellent  application  in  cases 
of  sprains,  or  where  there  is  much  superficial  inflammation  without  any  le- 
sion of  the  skin.  Combined  with  antimonial  powder,  or  emetic  tartar  and 
digitalis,  it  forms  an  almost  indispensable  ingredient  in  every  fever  drink. 

Sulphate  of  Potash. — An  ingredient  in  the  Dover's  powder. 

Poultices. — These  are  justly  valued  for  abating  inflammation,  cleansing 
wounds,  and  disposing  them  to  heal.  In  some  cases  of  foul  in  the  foot, 
and  especially  in  that  most  painful,  and  occasionally  fatal  variety  whose 
immediate  seat  is  at  the  division  of  the  pasterns,  also  in  ulcers  about  the 
throat  or  joints,  and  in  garget,  poultices  can  scarcely  be  dispensed  with. 
The  basis  will  generally  be  linseed  meal,  rendered  even  more  soothing  by 
opium;  or  to  which  activity  may  be  given  by  the  addition  of  common  tur- 
pentine or  chloride  of  lime. 

Rye,  Ergot  of. — The  spurred  rye  has  lately,  and  with  considerable 
advantage,  been  introduced  into  veterinary  practice  in  protracted  or  difficult 
parturition,  in  order  to  stimulate  the  uterus  to  renewed  and  increased  ac- 
tion, when  the  labour  pains  appeared  to  be  subsiding.  For  the  testimony 
in  favour  of  and  against  the  ergot,  the  reader  is  referred  to  p.  535  of  this 
work. 

Setons. — The  use  of  setons  in  practice  on  the  diseases  of  cattle  is  in  a 
manner  limited  to  the  passing  of  a  piece  of  hair,  rope,  or  of  black  hellebore 
root  through  the  dewlap;  and,  as  exciting  inflammation  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  diseased  part,  and  thus  lessening  the  original  one,  and  causing 
a  determination  of  blood  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  to  this  new  seat  of  irri- 
tation, they  are  useful  both  in  acute  and  chronic  inflammation  of  the  respi- 
ratory organs.  In  young  cattle  rapidly  thriving,  and  placed  in  pasture 
perhaps  a  litUe  too  luxuriant,  permanent  setons  are  highly  beneficial.  They 
act  as  a  salutary  drain,  and  prevent  that  accumulation  of  the  circulating 
fluid,  which  is  the  usual  cause  of  inflammatory  fever  and  other  fatal  com- 
plaints. 

Sulphate  of  Soda,  Glauber's  Salt. — A  very  common  purgative  for 
cattle;  and  a  very  good  one,  but  inconvenient  on  account  of  its  requiring 
tliree  times  it^  weight  of  water  in  order  to  dissolve  it,  and  also  on  account 


MEDICINES  USED  IN  THE  TREATMENT  OF  CATTLE.    587 

of  its  so  readily  efflorescing  when  it  is  exposed  to  the  atmosphere,  and,  in 
its  state  of  efflorescence  or  powder,  becoming  more  purgative  than  wlien 
in  its  crystalhne  form.  The  practitioner  sometimes  finds  it  a  little  difficult 
to  calculate  the  amount  of  the  dose  which  he  should  give,  on  account  of 
this  variation  in  form  and  effect;  and  this  may  explain  the  occasional 
uncertainty  of  the  Glauber's  salt.  The  Epsom  salt,  a  very  litde  dearer, 
dissolving  in  its  own  weight  of  water,  and  retaining  the  same  form  and 
the  same  purgative  power  under  every  state  of  the  atmosphere  or  of  expo- 
sure to  it,  is  now  rapidly  superseding  the  Glauber's. 

Chloride  of  Sodium.  Common  Salt. — The  experience  of  almost  every 
farmer  will  now  confirm  the  benefit  derived  from  the  mixture  of  salt  with 
the  food  of  cattle.  It  appears  to  be  the  natural  and  universal  stimulus 
to  the  digestive  organs  of  animated  beings.  In  this  place,  however, 
its  medicinal  power  alone  is  the  subject  of  consideration.  It  is  a  purga- 
tive, second  only  to  the  Epsom  salt  in  the  first  instance;  and,  whetfier 
from  the  effect  of  the  change  of  medicine,  or  of  some  chemical  composi- 
tion or  decomposition  which  takes  place,  it  is  the  surest  aperient  that 
can  be  given  when  the  Epsom  salt  has  failed;  but  the  writer  does  once 
more  indignantly  protest  against  the  disgraceful,  beastly  menstruum  in 
which  it  is  frequently  administered.  It  is  a  tonic  as  well  as  a  purgative, 
and  therefore  perhaps  somewhat  objectionable  in  the  early  stage  of  fever. 
It  frequently  recalls  the  appetite  more  speedily  than  any  stomachic.  When 
a  dose  of  it  is  given  to  the  animal  recovering  from  acute  disease,  debilita- 
ted, listless,  careless  about  or  refusing  its  food,  it  sometime^  has  an  almost 
magical  effect  in  creating  a  disposition  to  feed.  It  is  a  vermifuge  which, 
in  cattle,  seldom  fails. 

Silver,  Nitrate  of.  Lunar  Caustic. — Used  for  the  destruction  of 
warts  either  in  its  solid  state,  or  that  of  a  strong  solution;  and,  from  the 
full  command  which  the  operator  has  over  it,  and  the  firm  eschar  which 
it  forms,  is  the  very  best  caustic  that  can  be  applied  to  a  wound  inflicted 
by  the  bite  of  a  rabid  dog. 

Sulphur. — A  very  good  aperient  when  the  object  is  merely  to  evacuate 
the  bowels,  or  when  there  is  any  cutaneous  affection;  but  not  sufficiently 
powerful  in  cases  of  fever:  yet  even  there  purgation,  once  established, 
may  be  kept  up  by  means  of  it.  The  dose  varies  from  eight  to  twelve 
ounces.  As  an  alterative  for  hide-bound,  mange,  or  generally  untiirifty 
appearance,  it  is  excellent  combmed  with  ^thiop's  mineral  and  nitre;  and 
it  constitutes  the  basis  of  every  ointment  for  the  cure  of  mange. 

Tonics. — These  are  indicated  in  cases  of  great,  and  especially  of  chronic 
debility,  but,  administered  injudiciously,  they  have  destroyed  thousands  of 
beasts.  They  have  done  so  when  they  have  been  poured  in  while  the 
fever  continued,  or  too  soon  after  the  subsidence  of  the  fever,  and  when 
too  great  a  disposition  to  its  reappearance  prevailed.  When  disease  has 
been  once  removed,  the  powers  of  nature  are  usually  sufficient  to  re-esta- 
blish health.  Gentian,  calombo,  and  cascarilla,  are  the  best,  and  almost 
the  only  safe  tonics  for  catde. 

Turmeric,  or  coloured  pea-flour,  for  it  is  seldom  any  thing  more,  is  fit 
only  to  give  that  yellow  colour  to  cattle-medicines,  which  long  usage 
has  accustomed  the  cow-herd  and  the  cow-leech  to  consider  as  indispen- 
sable. 

Turpentine. — Several  of  the  products  of  the  fir  tree  are  more  or  less 
useful  in  the  medical  treatment  of  catUe. 

Tar,  spread  upon  coarse  cloth,  is  the  best  covering  for  broken  horns, 
and  excludes  both  the  fly  and  the  atmospheric  air.  It  is  useful  for  the 
same  purpose  in  cases  of  wounds  puncturing  the  belly  or  chest.     Alone, 


588  CATTLE. 

or  in  combination  with  some  greasy  matter,  is  used  to  defend  sore  or 
diseased  feet  from  becoming  wet  or  bruised. 

Pitch  is  the  principal  ingredient  in  charges. 

Common  Liquid  Turpentine  is  useful  as  a  digestive,  or  to  produce  a 
heahiiy  appearance  or  action  in  wounds,  and  dispose  them  to  heal.  For 
this  purpose  it  is  added  to  the  linseed  poultice  or  to  the  simple  ointment. 
Some  practitioners  administer  it  as  a  diuretic,  and  with  good  eflect. 

Oil,  or  Spirit  of  Turpentine,  is  applied  as  an  external  irritant,  either 
alone,  or  in  the  form  of  a  tincture  of  cantharides.  It  is  administered  in- 
ternally in  colic;  and  some  give  it  in  red-water  with  a  view  to  cause  the 
debilitated  blood-vessels  to  contract,  and  thus  arrest  the  passive  hemorrhage 
which  they  imagine  is  then  taking  place.  From  the  rapidity  and  great 
extent  with  which  it  is  taken  up  by  the  absorbents,  and  carried  into  the  cir- 
culation, and  the  destructive  effect  which  it  is  known  to  have  on  intestinal 
worms  when  otherwise  brought  into  contact  with  them,  the  trial  of  its 
power  would  be  justified  in  bronchitis,  the  too  frequent  and  fatal  concomi- 
tant of  which  is  the  presence  of  thousands  of  worms  in  the  air-passages. 

Reskn"  is  often  used  to  give  consistence  to  plasters,  where  the  degree 
of  irritation  which  it  might  produce  is  not  regarded,  or  would  be  benefi- 
cial. 

Vinegar. — This  used  to  be  considered  almost  a  specific  in  distention 
of  the  rumen  with  gas,  but  on  what  principle  it  would  be  diflficult  to  ex- 
plain. It  has  also  been  given  with  manifest  impropriety  in  cases  of  fever. 
On  the  thick  skin  of  the  ox  it  can  have  little  preference  to  hot  water  as  a 
fomentation,  and  may  with  no  great  loss  be  erased  from  the  list  of  medi- 
cines. 

Wax. — Its  only  use  is  to  give  consistence  to  ointments  and  plasters. 

Zinc.  Native  Carbonate  of  Calamine. — This  is  the  basis  of  an 
ointment  which,  from  its  soothing,  and,  at  the  same  time,  drying  qualities, 
is  termed,  in  various  parts  of  this  work,  '  the  healing  ointment.'  It  is 
useful  in  superficial  wounds,  and  in  deeper  ones  when  they  have  been 
brought  to  a  healthy  character. 

White  Vitriol. — This  is  a  useful  tonic  application  to  the  eyes,  when 
the  inflammation  has  been  subdued,  and  debility  of  the  vessels  alone  re- 
mains. It  is  particularly  useful  after  inflammation  of  the  haw  of  the  eye. 
Some  administer  it  in  red-water,  and  others  in  dysentery,  very  improperly. 
As  a  general  canstic  it  is  superseded  by  many  others. 


Li'brary 
N.  C.  State  College 


INDEX 


Aberdeenshire  cattle,  description  of  the, 
103,  106. 

Aberdeenshire  cattle,  origin  of  the  present 
breed  of,  105. 

Aberdeenshire  polled  cattle,  account  of  the, 
106. 

Abomasum,  the  internal  structure  of,  423. 
424,  426,  428. 

Abomasum,  diseases  of  the,  455. 

Abortion,  the  symptoms  of,  527. 

Abortion,  the  usual  causes  of,  530. 

Abortion,  precautions  to  prevent  the  recur- 
rence of,  532. 

Abyssinian  cattle,  enormous  length  of  the 
horns  of,  282. 

African  ox,  description  of  the,  4,  5. 

Age,  the  natural,  of  cattle,  323. 

Age,  as  indicated  by  the  horns,  279. 

Age  as  indicated  by  the  teeth,  318. 

Age,  the  proper,  for  breeding,  526. 

Alderney  cattle,  account  of  them,  267. 

Allinson,  Mr.,  his  favourable  opinion  of  the 
action  of  ergot  of  rye,  535. 

Althorp,  Lord,  description  of  his  bull  Firby, 
241,  368,  371. 

Althorp,  Lord,  cuts  and  description  of  his 
cow  and  heifer,  236,  237. 

Aloes,  not  a  good  purgative  for  cattle,  578. 

Alteratives,  their  nature,  and  the  best  com- 
position of  them,  578. 

Alum,  the  medicinal  properties  of,  579. 

Ammonia,  the  medicinal  properties  of,  579. 

Anglesey  may  be  considered  as  the  native 
country  of  the  Welsh  cattle,  59. 

Anglesey  cattle,  description  of,  61. 

Anglesey  cattle,  comparison  between  them 
and  the  Scotch,  61. 

Angus  cattle,  ^description  of  the   horned 
breed  of,  113,  114. 

Angus   farmers,  a  curious   description  of 
them  in  1760  and  1790—113. 

Angus  polled  cattle,  166. 

Angus    polled   cattle,   difference    between 
them  and  the  Galloways,  167,  169. 

Angus  polled  cattle,  Mr.  Watson's  breed, 
a  very  superior  one,  167. 

Angus  polled  cattle,  curious  anecdote  re- 
specting them,  171. 

Antimony,  the  medicinal  properties  of, 579. 

Antrim,   the    principal    improvers   of  the 
breed  of  cattle  in,  182. 

Apoplexy,  symptoms  and  treatment  of,  294. 
296. 

Appetite,  voracious  in  oxen,  curiously  ac- 
counted for,  454. 

Argyleshire  sheep-husbandry,   first   intro- 
duced by  John  Campbell,  78. 

Argyleshire,  North,  description  of  the  cat- 
tle, and  their  management,  78,  79. 

Argyleshire,  South,  the  cattle  of,  80. 
51 


Arran,  the  great  improvement  effected 
there  by  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  74, 

Arran,  description  of  the  cattle,  75. 

Arteries,  their  structure  and  functions,  353. 

Arteries,  the  smallness  of,  in  the  ox,  com- 
pared with  the  veins,  346. 

Assynt,  the  breed  of  cattle  in,  94. 

Astringents,  the  best  for  cattle,  574. 

Aylesbury,  vale  of,  the  fertility  of,  214. 

Ayrshire  cow,  Mr.  Alton's  description  of 
her,  127. 

Ayrshire  cow,  origin  of,  128,  130. 

Ayrshire  cow,  the  present,  131. 

Ayrshire  cow,  compared  with  the  Alder- 
nej',  Holderness,  and  Devon,  132. 

Ayrshire  cow,  the  quantity  of  her  milk, 
and  the  quantity  of  butter,  131,  132. 

Backlev,  tlie  African,  interesting  descrip- 
tion of,  5. 

Badsworth,  Mr.  Milton's  old  bull,  descrip- 
tion of,  250 

Bagot,  Lord,  a  patron  of  the  Staffordshire 
long  horns,  223. 

Bakewell,  Mr.,  the  great  improver  of  the 
long  horns,  190. 

Bakewell,  Mr.,  his  supposed  principles,  as 
stated  by  Mr.  Marshall,  191. 

Bakewell,  Mr.,  description  of  his  cattle,  192. 

Bakewell,  Mr.,  his  benevolent  cliaracter,  ib. 

Bakewell,  Mr.,  the  practice  of  letting  bulle 
originated  with  him,  195. 

Banff  cows,  the  superiority  of,  101. 

Barbs  in  the  moutli,  treatment  of,  337. 

Bars  of  the  mouth,  description  of,  ih. 

Bedford,  Francis,  Duke  of,  used  to  be  a 
zealous  breeder  of  Devon  cattle,  21. 

Bedford,  the  Herefordshire  cattle  of  the  pre- 
sent Duke  of,  211. 

Bedfordshire,  the  breeds  of  cattle  in,  210. 

Belfast,  tlie  present  state  of  cattle,  186. 

Berkeley,  the  vale  of,  history  of  the  manu- 
factory of  cheese  in,  37. 

Berkshire  cattle,  account  of,  214. 

Berr}',  the  Rev.  H.,  his  admirable  account 
of  the  short  horns,  226. 

Berry,  the  Rev.  H.,  extracts  from  his  Prize 
Essay  on  Breeding,  522,  525,  526. 

Berwickshire,  the  cradle  of  Scottish  agri- 
culture, 150. 

Berwickshire,  turnips  introduced  there  in 
1755,  150. 

Berwickshire,  the  rapid  progress  of  agri- 
culture after  that,  151. 

Bile,  the  composition  and  uses  of,  459, 469. 

Black  water,  the  nature  and  treatment  of, 
356. 

Black  wafer,  the  treatment  of,  512. 

Bladder,  inversion  of  the,  521. 

Bladder,  protrusion  of,  treatment  of,  543. 


590 


INDEX. 


Bladder,  on  rupture  of  the,  520. 
Bladder,  stone  in  the,  symptoms  and  treat- 
ment of,  518. 
Bliiin.the  symptoms  and  treatment  of,  326. 
Blain,  contag^ious,  328. 
Blain,  sometimes  epidemic,  327. 
Bleeding-,  tlie  rule  by  which  it  should  be 

guided,  348. 
Bleeding,  places,  the  preferable,  ib. 
Blisters,  the  difficulty  of  raising  them  in 

cattle,  401. 
Blood,  determination  of  to  the  brain,  294. 
Blown — See  'Hoove.' 
Bloxedgc,  the  sire  of  the   long-horns,  an 

account  of  him,  190. 
Bolinbroke,  an   early  short-horn  bull,  an 

account  of  him,  230. 
Bone  of  the  heart,  description  of  the,  353. 
Booth's  establishment  for  fattening  cattle, 

account  of,  255. 
Boj-ening,  description  of,  132. 
Brahmin  cattle,  an  account  of  the,  269. 
Brain,  description  of  the,  285. 
Brain,  determination  of  blood  to,  294. 
Brain,  inflammation  of  the,  269. 
Brain,  hydatids  in  the,  294. 
Breast,  the  projecting  and  wide,  advantage 

of,  14,  368. 
Breast  bone,  description  of  the,  369. 
Brecknockshire  cattle,  description  of,  58. 
Breeding,  the  principles  of,  191,  522. 
Breeding,  the  grand  principle  of  it,  that 

like  produces  like,  522. 
Breeding,  comparative  influence  of  the  sire 

and  dam  in,  523. 
Breeding  in  and  in,  525. 
Breeding,  the  value  of  good  keep  in,  ib. 
Breeding,  tiie  proper  age  for,  526. 
Bridgewater  cheese,  account  of,  30. 
Brisket,  description  of  the,  370. 
Brisket,  remarkable  deepness  of,  in  some 

cattle,  ib. 
British  cattle,  early  history  of,  4. 
British  cattle,  the  original  were  probably 

middle-horned,  9. 
Bronchitis,  nature  and  treatment  of,  397. 
Bronchitis,    the    air-passages    tilled    with 

worms  in,  398. 
Buchan  cattle,  description  of  the,  107. 
Buelian  cattle,  calculation  of  the  value  of 

their  produce,  109. 
Buckinghamshire  cattle,  description  of  214. 
Buff'alo  cattle,  an  account  of,  269. 
Bute,  description  of  the  cattle  of,  and  their 

management,  77. 
Butter,  experiments  to  ascertain  the  various 

quantities  of,  from  different  breeds,  245. 
Butter,  extraordinary  quantity  of,  yielded 

by  a  Sussex  cow,  45. 

Cecum,  description  of  the,  467,  469. 
Caesarian    operation,    description    of,   and 

when  justifiable,  539. 
Caithness,  description  of  the  old  cattle,  87. 
Caitlmess,  the  improvement  effected  there 

by  Sir  John  Sinclair,  88. 
Caitlmess,  present  state  of  the  cattle  of,  ib. 
Caithness,  markets  and  trysts  of,  89. 


Calamine,  the  basis  of  the   best   healing 
ointnjcnt,  588. 

Calculi  in  the  rumen  of  cattle,  435,  496. 

Calculi  in  the  kidney,  composition,  symp- 
toms, and  treatment  of,  516. 

Calculi,  urinar}%  ditto,  ib.^ 

Caledonian  dairy,  account  of  the,  146. 

Calombo,  a  useful  tonic,  579. 

Calomel,  the  cases  in  which  it  should  be 
used,  585. 

Calves,  diseases  and  management  of,  557. 

Calving,  the  treatment  of  the  cow  before 
it,  533. 

Calving,  natural,  the  treatment  of,  535. 

Calving,  the  power  of  ergot  of  rye  in  ex- 
citing the  labour  pains,  ib. 

Calving,  the  man-igement  of  unnatural  pre- 
sentations, 536. 

Calving,  when  the  calf  should  be  cut  away, 
and  description  of  the  operation,  540. 

Calving,  on  retention  of  the  foetus,  543. 

Calving,  attention  to  the  cow  after  it,  544. 

Cambridgeshire,  the  breeds  of  cattle  in,  209. 

Cambridgeshire,  butter,  account  of,  ib. 

Camphor,  its  medicinal  properties,  580. 

Cancer  of  the  eye,  treatment  of,  293. 

Cantharidcs,  the  basis  of   the  best  blister 
application,  580. 

Capillary  vessels,  description  of  them,  353. 

Cardiganshire  cattle,  description  of,  57. 

Carmarthenshire,  the  hill  breed,  an  indif- 
ferent kind  of  cattle,  ih. 

Carmarthenshire,  description  of  the  differ- 
ent breeds  of  the  vale  districts,  ib. 

Carnarvonshire  cattle,  a  smaller  and  infe- 
rior variety  of  the  Angleseys,  62. 

Carotid  artery,  description  of  the,  335,  346. 

Carraway,  a  useful  aromatic,  580. 

Castor  oil,  the  use  of  it  as  a  medicine,  ib. 

Castration  of  calves,  the  various  methods 
of,  560. 

Castration  will  often  remove  rupture  in  the 
calf;  502. 

Cataract,  treatment  of,  293. 

Catarrh,  nature  and  treatment  of,  376. 

Catarrh,  the  necessity  of  attention  to  it  on 
its  first  appearance,  377. 

Catarrh,  epidemic,  symptoms  of,  ib. 

Catechu,  its  useful  astringent  properties,  580 

Cattle,   British,    the    number    slaughtered 
yearly,  1. 

Cattle,  British,  the  aggregate  value  of,  ib. 

Cattle,  British,  average  mortality  of,  ib. 

Cattle,  the  diseases  of,  too  much  neglected 
by  all  veterinary  v.'riters,  ib. 

Cattle,  ditto,  in  tlie  principal  English  vete- 
rinary school,  394. 

Cattle,  the  state  of  in  the  middle  ages,  7. 

Cattle,  the  average  weight  of,  in  1710  and 
1830,  257. 

Cattle,  the  proper  points  of,  generally,  12, 

Cattle,  the  intelligence  of,  285. 

Cattle,  wild,  account  of,  7. 

Cattle,  dealing  system  of,  in  the  South  of 
Scotland,  138,  162. 

Caustics,  those  used  in  cattle  practice,  580. 

Cavan,  the  principal  improvers  of  the  breed 
of  cattle  in,  182. 


INDEX. 


591 


Chalk,  its  utility  in  the  treatment  of  dy- 
sentery and  diarrhoea,  485,  584. 
Chamomile,  its  tonic  properties,  580. 
Charge,  Mr.,  an  account  of  his  fat  seven- 
year-old  ox,  235. 
CJiarges,  the  use  of,  and  the  method  of  ap- 
plying, 580. 
Cheese,  Cheddar,  an  account  of,  30. 
Cheese,  Cheshire,  an  account  of,  207. 
Cheese,  Gloucester,  history  of  the  manu- 
facture of,  38. 
Cheese,  Gloucester,  single  and  double,  the 

ditference  between,  ib. 
Cheese,  North  Wiltshire,  account  of,  218. 
Cheshire  cattle,  account  of  the,  205. 
Cheshire  cattle,  the  short-horns,  introduced 

with  doubtful  advantage,  2i)6. 
Chest,  the  advantage  of  a  capacious  one  in 

cattle,  12. 
Chest,  the  proper  form  of,  367. 
Chloride  of  lime,  the  value  of,  584,  443. 
Chlorine  gas,  might  it  destroy  worms  in 

the  bronchial  tubes  ?  39!). 
Choking  in  cuttle,  treatment  of,  415,  418. 
Chyle,  its  nature  and  formation,  4G8. 
Clackmannan,  account  of  the  cattle  of,  121. 
Clare,  the  principal  improvers  of  the  breed 

of  cattle  in,  183. 
Cleansing. — See  Placenta. 
Cleansing  drink,  the  best,  545. 
Cleveland,  character  of  the  cattle  in,  249. 
Clouted  cream,  description  of,  23. 
Clue-bound,  treatment  of,  441),  451. 
Clydesdale. — See  Lanarkshire. 
Clysters,  the  benefit  of,  580. 
Coates,  Mr.  G.,  the  author  of  the  '  Short- 
Horned  Herd  Book,'  234. 
Colic,  flatulent,  its  symptoms,  nature,  and 

treatment,  488. 
Colic,  spasmodic,  its  symptoms,  nature,  and 

treatment,  48U. 
Colic,  spasmodic,  too   often   leads   on    to 

strangulation  of  the  intestines,  ib. 
Colling,  .Mr.  Charles,  at  the  very  head  of 

the  improvers  of  the  short-horns,  228. 
Colling,  Mr.  Charles,  supposed  principally 
to  aim  at  their  improvement  by  reducing 
the  size  of  the  breed,  ib. 
Colling,  Mr.  Charles,  an  account  of  the  cross 

of  his  cattle  with  the  Galloway,  230. 
Colling,  Mr.  Charles,  a  detailed  account  of 
his  sale  of  the  improved  short-horns,  231. 
Colling,  Robert,  a  successful  improver  of 

the  short-horns,  233. 
Colling,  Robert,  the  sale  of  his  stock,  ib. 
Colon,  description  of  the,  467,  470. 
Colours,  the  prevailing  ones  of  cattle,  242. 
Constipation,  the  treatment  of,  495,  558. 
Consumption,  nature  and  treatment,  409. 
Consumption,  the  peculiar  cough  of,  411. 
Consumption,  delusive  character  and  pro- 
gress of,  412. 
Copper,  the  compounds  of,  used  in  cattle 

practice,  581. 
Cordials,  the  use  and  abuse  of,  ib. 
Cords,  the  nature  and  treatment  of,  490. 
Cork-screw  probang,  description  of  the,  419. 
Cornish  cattle,  description  of  the  native,  24. 


Cornwall,  a  sketch  of  its  agriculture  and 
commerce,  24. 

Cornwall,  management  of  dairy  cows  in,  25. 

Cornwall,  method  of  rearing  calves  in,  ib. 

Corrosive  sublimate,  its  use  in  cattle  prac- 
tice, 581. 

Corrosive  sublimate,  the  treatment  of  poi- 
soning by,  448. 

Coryza,  the  nature  and  treatment  of,  312. 

Corstorphine  cream,  account  of  the,  146. 

Cottar,  the  Scotch,  descriptiou  of  the,  112. 

Cows,  Swiss,  their  vanity,  6. 

Cows,  poetical  description  of,  245. 

Cows'  commons,  description  of  the,  219. 

Cow-club,  an  account  of  the,  251. 

Cow-pox,  distinction  between  the  true  and 
the  false,  545. 

Cow-pox,  history  of  its  establishment  as  a 
preventive  against  small-pox,  555. 

Cow-pox  has  not  its  origin  in  the  grease  of 
horses,  ib. 

Cow-pox  no  preventive  against  the  distem- 
per in  dogs,  556. 

Cow-pox  no  preventive  against  rabies,  557. 

Cow-quake,  description  of  the,  118. 

Craven,  the  native  country  of  the  long- 
horns,  188. 

Cravens,  two  distinct  breeds  of,  the  smaller 
and  larger,  189,251. 

Crochles  in  cattle,  symptoms  and  treat- 
ment of,  563. 

Cromarty,  general  history  of,  95, 

Croton,  a  powerful  purgative,  581. 

Cruelty  to  cattle  in  Smithfield,  259. 

Cud,  loss  of  the,  treatment  of,  445. 

Cumberland,  the  native  breed  of,  was  long- 
horned,  247. 

Cumberland,  history  of  the  establishment 
of  the  short-horns  there,  ib. 

D,  Mr.  Bakewell's  bull,  account  of,  193, 
198. 

Dairy  cows,  the  number  of,  kept  in  Lon- 
don, 255. 

Dairy  cows,  the  kind  of,  preferred,  261. 

Dairy,  the  system  of  management,  ffe.,  265. 

Denbighshire,  the  cattle  of,  03. 

Derbyshire  cattle,  account  of,  204. 

Derbyshire  cattle,  crosses  with,  ib.,  224. 

Devonshire  cattle,  23. 

Devonshire  cattle,  general  experience  is 
against  them  for  the  dairy,  20. 

Devonshire  ox,  his  activity  his  most  valu- 
able quality,  18. 

Devonshire  ox,  his  qualities  for  .-razing,  19. 

Devonshire  ox,  trial  of  his  fattening  pro- 
perties  with  different  breeds,  19,  31,  41. 

Devon,  South,  the  cattle  of,  22,  23. 

Devon,  South,  comparison  between  them 
and  the  North  Devons,  22. 

Devon  nats,  account  of  the,  179. 

Diaphragm,  rupture  of  the,  503, 

Diarrhoea,  acute,  the  nature  and  treatment 
of,  475. 

Diarrhoea,  distinction  between  it  and  dy 
scntery,  ib. 

Diarrhoea,  chronic,  the  nature  and  treat- 
ment of,  476, 


592 


INDEX, 


Diarrljoea  in  calves,  nature  and  treatment 

of,  559 
Digitalis,  its  mcdieinal  properties,  582. 
Distention  of  the  rumen  by  food,  nature 

and  treatment  of,  435, 
Distention  of  the  rumen  by  gas,  nature  and 

treatment  of,  438. 
Doncastcr  Agricultural  Society,  account  of 

the,  251. 
Donegal,  tlie  cattle  of,  184. 
Dorset  ox,  description  of  the,  2(5. 
Dorset  ox,  crossed  with   the   Devon   and 

Durham  advantageously,  ih. 
Dropsy,  general  remarks  on  the  causes  and 

treatment  of,  497. 
Drying  a  cow,  the  proper  period  for,  534. 
Dumbartonshire,  tlie  cattle  of,  122. 
Dumfries,  the  Galloways,  for  grazing,  and 

the  Ayrshires  for  the  dairy  there,  165. 
Dun,  Mr.  David,  the  Scottish  Bakewell,  ac- 
count of,  119. 
Dung,    the   different  qualities    of  that  of 

cattle  and  horses,  470. 
Dunlop  cheese,  account  of  the,  125,  137. 
Duodenum,  description  of  the,  467. 
Duodenum,  inflammation  of  the,  487. 
Durham  ox,  an  account  of  the,  229. 
Dysentery,  causes  and  symptoms  of,  477. 
Dysentery,  appearances  of,  alter  death,  478. 
Dysentery  is  inflammation  of  the  mucous 

membrane  of  tlie  large  intestines,  480. 
Dysentery,  treatment  of  it,  481. 
Dysentery,  the  value  of  the  chloride  of  lime 

in  the  treatment  of  it,  484. 

Ear,  description  of  the,  287. 

Ear,  the  form  and  shape  of,  connected  with 

the  beauty  of  the  animal,  ib. 
Ear,  the  diseases  of  the,  288. 
Earth,  the  eating  of  it,  prevents  .the  fer- 
mentation of  the  food,  317. 
Earth,  the  quantity  of,  eaten  daily  by  the 

Kintore  ox,  104. 
East  Indian  cattle,  an  account  of  the,  268. 
East  Lotliian,  the  breeds  of  cattle  of^  148. 
East  Lothian,  the  short-horns  introduced 

by  Mr.  .John  Rennic,  ih. 
Edinburgh,  the  Veterinary  School  at,  has 

improved  the  treatment  of  cattle,  394. 
Edinburghshire. — See  Mid  Lothian, 
Elgin,  description  of  the  cattle  in,  100. 
Elder,  the  leaves  of^  make  "a  good  soothing 

ointment,  582. 
Embryotomy,  when  justifiable,  and  a  de- 

scriptior.  of  the  operation,  540. 
Emetic,  tartar,  the  use  of,  579. 
Enteritis,  symptoms  of,  472. 
Enteritis,  appearances  after  death,  473, 
Enteritis,  causes  and  treatment  of,  474. 
Epidemic  catarrh. — See  Catarrh. 
Epidemics. — See  Murrain. 
Epiglottis,  difference  between  that  of  the 

horse  and  the  ox,  373. 
Epilepsy,  the  treatment  of,  300. 
Epping,  the  manufactory  of  butter  at,  254. 
Epsom  salt,  the  best  purgative,  585. 
Ergot  of  rye,  its  power  in  stimulating  the 

womb  to  action,  535. 


Essays  on  red-water,  511. 

Essex  has  no  distinguishing  breed  of  cat- 
tle, 253. 

Essex,  management  of  calves  in,  254. 

Essex  marshes,  the  principal  mode  of  feed- 
ing on,  ib, 

Exeter,  description  of  the  vale  of,  23. 

Eye,  general  description  of  the,  288. 

Eye,  inflammation  of  the,  the  nature  and 
treatment  of,  292. 

Eye,  worm  in  the,  treatment  of,  293. 

Eye,  wounds  of  the,  management  of,  289. 

Eyelids,  description  of  the,  290. 

Eyelids,  diseases  of  the,  ib. 

Farcy  in  cattle,  supposed  causes  o^  313. 

Fardel-bound,  description  of  it,  449. 

Fardel-bound,  several  cases  of,  451. 

Falkirk,  account  of  the  tryst  at,  120. 

Feet,  the,  descri])tion  of,  272. 

Feet,  diseases  of  tlic,  565. 

Ferrying  cattle,  the  method  of,  from  the 
Scottish  islands  to  the  mainland,  81. 

Ferocity,  occasional,  in  cattle,  296. 

Fever,  intermittent,  its  symptoms  and  treat- 
ment, 355. 

Fever,  pure  or  idiopathic,  does  often  e.xist  in 
cattle,  354. 

Fever,  pure  or  idiopathic,  its  symptoms  and 
treatment,  ih. 

Fever,  symptomatic,  frequent  and  danger- 
ous, 355. 

Fever,  inflammatory,  its  nature  and  treat- 
ment, ih. 

Fever,  typhus,  its  nature  and  treatment,  363. 

Fife  cattle,  description  of  the  old  breed, 
115. 

Fi  fe  cattle  crossed  with  the  short-horns,  116. 

Fife,  many  of  the  Durlianis  have  now  es- 
tablished tlicmselves  there,  117. 

Fife  bull,  admeasurement  of  one,  i6. 

Fife  cattle,  the  mingling  with  the  native 
breed  the  origin  of  the  Abcrdeens,  105. 

Findlater,  Lord,  account  of  his  improve- 
ments in  Banff,  101. 

Firby,  description  of  Lord  Althorp's  bull, 
241,  368,  371. 

Firing,  an  advantageous  mode  of,  for  some 
bony  tumours,  289. 

Fits,  tiic  treatment  of,  300. 

Fitzvvilliam,  Earl  of,  an  account  of  his  East 
Indian  cattle,  270. 

Flintshire  cattle,  description  of  the,  64. 

Flooding  after  calving,  treatment  of,  545. 

Fluke-worm,  the,  a  cause  of  jaundice,  464. 

Foetus,  retention  of  it  for  a  long  time  with- 
out injury,  543. 

Food,  its  clianges  in  the  stomachs,  429. 

Food,  how  conveyed  into  the  reticulum,  430. 

Food,  the  diflfercnce  in  the  quantity  of,  very 
trifling  in  animals  of  diftcrent  sizes,  but 
of  the  same  breed,  246. 

Forehead  of  a  bull,  the,  should  be  short  and 
broad,  274. 

Forehead  of  Firby,  description  of  the,  ib. 

J'orelieadof  the  Devon,  description  of,  14. 

Forehead  of  the  Nortii  Highlanders,  do.,  97. 

Forehead  of  tiie  old  Banft;  do.,  lOL 


INDEX. 


593 


Foul  In  the  foot,  description  of,  565. 
Foul  in  the  foot,  most  prevalent  in  low, 

marshy  countries,  5Gi). 
Foul  in  the  foot,  mode  of  treatment  of,  ib. 
Foul  in  the  foot,  probable  advantages  of 

neurotomy  in,  568. 
Fowler,  Mr.,  an  improver  of  the  long-horns, 

193,219. 
Fowler,  Mr.,  account  of  the  sale  of  his 

stock,  194. 
Free  martens,  usually  barren,  538. 
Free  martens,  dissection  of  three,  ib. 
Free  martens,  a  few  cases  in  which  they 

have  bred,  539. 
French  cattle,  the  chronic  pleurisy  to  which 

they  are  subject,  407. 
Frontal  sinuses,  description  of,  273,  274. 
Frontal  sinuses,  use  of  the,  275,  276. 
Frontal  sinuses,  intlanimation  of  the,  na- 
ture and  treatment  of,  275. 
Frontal  sinuses,  worms  in  the,  276. 

Galla  oxen,  the  enormous  horns  of,  382. 
Gall-bladder,  the  structure  and  use  of,  459. 
Gall-stones,  their  composition,  462. 
Gall-stones,  frequent  cause  of  jaundice,  463. 
Galloway,  the  greater  part  of  the  cattle 

were  horned  at  the  middle  of  the  last 

century,  154. 
Galloway,  the  present  breed  of,  156. 
Galloway  bull,  a  perfect  one  seldom  found, 

161. 
Galloway  cows  not  good  milkers,  ib. 
Galloway  cows  occasionally  have  horns,  282. 
Galloway  farmers,  description  of,  163. 
Galloways,  Mr.  CuUey's  description  of,  157. 
Gangrenous    inflammation   of  the    lungs, 

symptoms  and  treatment  of,  402. 
Garget,  t!ie  cause  of,  552. 
Garget,  the  efficacy  of  iodine  in,  553,  55"!. 
Garget,  the  state  of  the  veins  of  the  udder 

in,  367. 
Gas,  tlie  kind  of,  extricated  in  hoove,  443. 
Gavcl-kind,  its  impediment  to  the  improve- 
ment of  agriculture,  162. 
Gentian,  the  best  tonic,  582. 
Ginger,  the  best  aromatic,  ib. 
Girth,  the,  of  cattle,  should  be  both  deep 

and  wide,  12. 
Glamorganshire  cattle,  early  history  of,  50. 
Glamorganshire  cattle,  deteriorated  when 

they  were  neglected  for  the  growth  of 

corn,  51. 
Glamorganshire    cattle,    again    gradually 

improving,  ib. 
Glamorganshire  hill  cattle,  description  of 

them,  55. 
Glanders  in  cattle  on,  313. 
Glauber's  salt,  inferior  to  the  Epsom,  586. 
Gloss-anthrax,  the  symptoms  and  treatment 

of,  326. 
Gloucestershire  cattle,  description  of  the 

old  breed  of,  35. 
Gloucestershire  cattle,  history  of  the  pre- 
sent breed  in  the  hilly  country,  ib. 
Gloucestershire  cheese,  the  good  quality  of 

it  depends  more  upon  the  pasture  than 

the  breed  of  cows,  38. 


Gloucestershire  cheese,  single  and  doub'.?, 

the  ditference  between,  38. 
Grains,  the  best  method  of  keeping  them, 

on  a  large  scale,  for  dairy  cows,  255, 264. 
Grainsick,  the  treatment  of,  435. 
Grainsick,  part  of  the  food  discharged  by 

vomiting,  437. 
Gutta  Serena,  cause  and  treatment  of,  293. 
Gut-tie,  the  nature  and  treatment  of,  490. 

Haddington. — See  East  Lothian. 

Hair,  cattle  should  be  covered  with  a  thick 
pile  of,  13. 

Hamilton,  Duke  of,  the  valuable  improve- 
ments he  effected  in  Arran,  74. 

Hampshire,  the  breeds  of  cattle  in,  215. 

Haunch,  description  of  the,  272. 

Haw,  description  of  the,  290. 

Haw,  inflammation  of  the,  ib. 

Haw,  method  of  extirpating  the,  291. 

Head,  section  of  the,  273. 

Healing  power  in  animals,  illustrations  of 
the,  501. 

Heart,  description  of  the,  349. 

Heart,  theory  of  its  action,  351. 

Heart,  the  muscular  columns  and  tendi- 
nous cords  of  it  stronger  in  the  ox  than 
the  horse,  351. 

Heart,  a  muscle  running  across  the  right 
ventricle,  peculiar  to  the  ox,  352. 

Heart,  description  of  the  bone  of  it,  353. 

Hebrides,  history  and  description  of  the,  65. 

Hebrides,  the  inner,  the  number  and  value 
of  the  cattle,  67. 

Hebrides  history,  disgraceful  management 
of  cattle  formerly,  ib. 

Hebrides,  accoun.ls  of  the  misery  of  the 
cattle  and  the  cottagers  in  the  winter,  68. 

Hebrides,  reasons  of  this  strange  misma- 
nagement, ib. 

Hebrides,  present  management,  69. 

Hebrides,  no  crosses  with  any  other  breed 
has  succeeded  in  these  islands,  ib. 

Hebrides,  management  of  the  dairy  in 
them,  71. 

Hebrides,  20,000  cattle  annually  exported 
from  them,  ib. 

Hebrides,  the  outer,  description  of  the  cat- 
tle of,  ib. 

Hebrides,  mode  of  treatment,  72. 

Hellebore,  black,  makes  the  best  scton, 
300,  583. 

Hemlock,  the  treatment  of  poisoning  by, 
446. 

Hemorrhage  from  the  nose,  on,  311. 

Ilemorriiage  after  parturition,  the  treat- 
ment of,  545. 

Herd-book,  the  short-horned,  compiled  by 
Mr.  a.  Coates,  234. 

Herefordshire  cattle,  description  of  the,  31. 

Herefordshire  cattle,  comparison  between 
them  and  the  Devons,  19,  31,  32. 

Herefordshire  cattle,  their  propensity  to 
fatten,  31. 

Herefordshire  cattle,  comparison  between 
the  old  and  new  breed,  ib. 

Herefordshire  cattle,  have  been  crossed 
with  advantage  by  the  Devons,  32. 


594 


INDEX. 


Herefordshire  cattle,  Mr.  CuUey's  errone- 
ous opinion  of,  ib. 
Herefordshire  cow,  inferior  in  shape  to  the 

ox,  ib. 
Herefordshire  cow,  not  good  for  the  dairy, 

35. 
Hernia,  the  nature  and  treatment  of,  500. 
Hernia  in  calves,  management  of,  501. 
Hide  of  cattle,  should  be  thin,  mellow,  and 

not  too  lean,  13. 
Hidebound,  the  treatment  of,  570. 
Higjilanders,    comparison    between    thera 

and  the  Welsh  cattle,  61. 
Hips,  the,  of  cattle  should  be  large    and 

round,  12. 
Hiring  husbandry-horses,  the  old  system 

of,  in  Ayrshire,  138. 
Hock,  description  of  the,  272. 
Holderness  cattle,  the  old,  248. 
Holderness  cattle,  their  improvement,  ib. 
Holmes,  the,  among  the  Shetland  islands, 

description  of  the,  85. 
Homer,  his  account  of  murrain,  581. 
Honeycomb. — See  Reticulum. 
Hooped  form  of  the  barrel,  in  cattle,  im- 
portance of,  12. 
Horns,  description  of  the,  272. 
Horns  are  elongations    of,   and    hollowed 

like,  the  frontal  bones,  278. 
Horns,  the  different  breeds  of  cattle  dis- 
tinguished by,  9,  281. 
Horns,  description  of,  in   foreign   cattle, 

282. 
Horns,  beautiful  ones,  manufactured,  281. 
Horns,  the  influence  of  sex  on  the,  282. 
Horns,  as  connected  with  the  age  of  the 

beast,  279. 
Horns,  the  uses  of,  283. 
Horns,  the  danger  of  cutting  them,  276. 
Horns,  fracture  of  tlicm,  how  treated,  278. 
Horns,  the  degree  of  fever,  how  estimated 

by  means  of  tliem,  280. 
Horns,  tenderness  of  the  roots  accounted 

for,  ib. 
Horned  and  hornless   breeds,  comparison 

between  them,  283. 
Horny  covering,  composition  and  growth 

of  the,  279. 
Hoose. — See  Catarrh. 
Hoose,  in  calves,  the  treatment  of,  559. 
Hoove,  the  cause  of,  436. 
Hoove,  symptoms  and  treatment. of,  438. 
Hoove,  medicines  administered  in,  do  not 

enter  the  stomach,  440. 
Hoove,  objections  to  puncturing  the  rumen 

in,  ib. 
Hoove,  danger  of  a  large  incision,  441. 
Hoove,  when  the  rumen  is  punctured,  it 

sliould  be  with  a  trocar  and  canula,  ib. 
Hoove,  the  use  of  the  probang,  or  stomach- 
pump,  recommended,  442. 
Hoove,  the  nature  of  the  gas  which  is  ex- 
tricated in,  443. 
Hoove,  the  treatment  of  when  the  gas  has 

escaped,  444. 
Hoove,  a  singular  case  of,  ib. 
Howell  the  Good,  his  laws  respecting  cat- 
tle, 61. 


Howick  red  ox,  an  account  of,  535. 

Hubback,  the  iiither  of  the  improved  short* 
horns,  account  of  iiim,  229. 

Humblc-covvs,  Dr.  Johnson's  curious  deri« 
vation  of  the  word,  150. 

Huntingdonsiiirc,  breeds  of  cattle  in,  209. 

Hydatids  in  the  brain,  symptoms  and  treat- 
ment of,  294. 

Hydatids,  numerous,  found  in  the  liver  of 
a  cow,  460. 

Hydrocephalus,  treatment  of,  295. 

Ileum,  description  of  the,  407,  4G7. 

In-and-in,  the  principle  of  breeding  adopted 
by  Bakewell,  192. 

In-and-in,  the  question  considered,  525. 

Indian  cattle,  an  account  of  the,  270. 

Inflammation,  the  nature  and  general 
treatment  of,  355. 

Inflammatory  fever,  causes,  symptoms,  and 
preventions  of,  356. 

Inflammatory  fever,  treatment  of,  357,  359. 

Intelligence  of  cattle,  the  comparative  de- 
gree of,  286. 

Intestines,  description  of  the,  467. 

Intestines,  the  diseases  of  the,  471. 

Intestines,  inflammation  of  the  external 
coat  of  the. — See  Enteritis. 

Intestines,  inflammation  of  the  mucous  coat 
of. — See  Diarrhoea  and  Dysentery. 

Inverness,  description  of  the  cattle  of,  81. 

Inversion  of  the  rectum;  494. 

Inversion  of  the  womb,  544. 

Iodine,  the  admirable  use  of,  583. 

Ireland,  the  establishment  of  the  short- 
horns in,  183. 

Irish  butter,  account  of,  188. 

Irish  cattle,  the  middle  horns  an  aboriginal 
breed,  179. 

Irish  cattle,  long-horns,  probably  derived 
from  Lancashire,  182. 

Irish  cattle,  long-horns,  two  diSerent  kinds 
of,  183. 

Irish  cattle,  numbers  of,  imported  into 
England,  186. 

Islay,  island  of,  superiority  of  the  cattle 
there,  66. 

Jaundice,  causes  of,  symptoms  and  treat- 
ment, 462. 

Jejunum,  description  of  the,  467,  469. 

Jenner,  Dr.,  his  discovery  of  the  preventive 
power  of  tlie  cow-pox,  556. 

Joint  murrain,  its  treatment,  356. 

Joints  opened,  the  treatment  of,  564. 

Joints,  swellings  of  them,  the  causes  and 
treatment  of,  562. 

Journeys  of  the  Scotch  cattle  to  the  south, 
description  of  the,  122. 

Jugular  vein,  description  of  the,  335. 

Kent,  description  of  the  various  breeds 
in,  46. 

Kerry,  the  cow  of,  description  of,  179. 

Kidneys,  anatomical  structure  of  the,  503. 

Kidneys,  inflammation  of  the,  causes, 
symptoms,  and  treatment  of,  514. 

Kidneys,  calculi  in,  symptoms  and  treat- 
ment of,  516. 


INDEX. 


595 


Kincardineshire. — Sec  Mcarns. 
Kinross,  account  of  the  cattle  of,  121. 
Kintail,  account  of  the  cattle  in,  96. 
Kintore  o.x,  description  of  the,  103. 
Knee,  description  of  the,  272. 
Kyle  Rhea,  description  of  the  ferry  of,  81. 
Kyloe,  origin  of  the  term,  66. 

Lanarkshire  cattle,  account  of  the  breeds 

of,  13y. 
Lancashire,  the  various  breeds  of,  200. 
Lancashire,  many  short-horn  breeders  in 

the  central  districts,  201. 
Lancashire,  the  long-horn  breed  has  gra-  ' 

dually  declined  in  value  there,  ib. 
Lancashire,  fruitless  experiments  to  restore 

them,  203. 
Laryngites,  the  treatment  of,  395. 
Lay  cock,    Mr.,   an  account  of  his  dairy, 

262,  263. 
Lead,  the  usual  preparations  of,  583. 
Legs,  tlie,  of  cattle  should  be  short,  12. 
Leicestershire,  account  of  the  cattle  in,  208. 
Leicester  new  breed,  inquiry  into  the  value 

of,  196. 
Leicester  new  breed,  improved  the  whole 

breed  of  long-horns,  198. 
liciccstcr   new    breed,   superseded  by  the 

short-horns,  199. 
Leprosy,  the  nature  and  treatment  of,  572. 
Letting  bulls,  the  system  originated  with 

Mr.  Bakewell,  195. 
Letting  bulls,  the  advantages    and  disad- 
vantages of  the  system,  ib. 
Lice,  how  produced,  and    the  method  of 

destroying  them,  573. 
Like  produces  like,  the  grand  principle  of 

breeding,  522. 
Lime,  the  chloride  of,  an  excellent  disin- 
fectant, 361. 
Lincolnshire  cattle,  description  of,  242, 251. 
Lincolnshire,  an  account  of  the  Turnhill 

cattle,  252. 
Linlithgov/shire. — See  West  Lothian. 
Linseed,  experiments  on  its  fattening  pro- 
perties, 213. 
Linseed  meal,  excellent  for  poultices,  584, 
Linseed  oil,  a  good  purgative,  ib. 
Lip,  upper,  the  use  of  the  numerous  glands 

in,  316. 
Lips,  description  and  use  of,  315. 
Liquids,  the   circumstances    under  which 

they  enter  the  rumen,  432. 
Liver,  the  structure  and  functions  of,  458. 
Liver,  on  inflammation  of  the,  459. 
Liver,  a  case  of  enormous  enlargement  and 

of  disease,  460. 
Liver,  tiie  difficulty  of  detecting  chronic 

inflammation  of,  461. 
Liver,  on  hemorrhage  from  it,  461. 
Liver,  a  case  of  abscess  in,  460. 
Lochabar,  description  of  the  cattle  of,  81. 
Long-horns,  the,  appear  to  have  originated 

in  Craven,  188. 
Long-horns,   two    distinct    breeds    of,  the 

smaller  and  the  larger,  189. 
Long-horns,  Mr.  Culley's  account  of  the 

old,  189. 


Long-horns,  the,  history  of  the  improve- 
ment of,  190. 

Loss  of  cud,  nature  and  treatment  of,  445. 

Loss  of  cud,  more  a  symptom  of  disease 
than  a  separate  disease,  ib. 

Lungs,  the,  their  structure,  375,  400. 

Lungs,  inflammation  of,  symptoms  and 
treatment  of,  400. 

Lungs,  inflammation  of,  acute  and  epide- 
mic, its  occasional  devastations,  401, 403. 

Madness,  causes  and  treatment  of,  306. 

Mandana   ox,  account  of  its  docility,  5, 
►     315. 

Mange,  the  nature  and  treatment  of,  571. 

Manyplus,  internal  construction  of  the, 
423,  424,  426,  428,  449. 

Manyplus,  the  manner  in  which  it  reduces 
the  food  to  a  pulpy  mass,  433. 

Manyplus,  the  diseases  of,  449,  451. 

Manyplus,  the  occasional  strangely  hard- 
ened state  of  its  contents,  450. 

Mawbound,  the  symptoms  and  treatment 
of,  435. 

Mearns  cattle,  description  of  the,  110. 

Meat,  the  average  quantity  of,  annually 
consumed  in  London,  257. 

Meath,  the  improvement  of  Irish  cattle 
commenced  in,  182. 

Mercury,  the  different  preparations  of  it 
used,  535. 

Merionethshire,  an  inferior  variety  of  the 
Angleseys  in  the  hill  district,  62. 

Merionethshire,  description  of  the  better 
breeds  of  the  vale,  61. 

Mesenteric  glands,  their  structure  and  use, 
471. 

Mesenteric  glands,  enlargement  of  them,  ib. 

Mesentery,  description  of  the,  467,  468. 

Middle-horns,  the,  were  probably  the  ori- 
ginal cattle,  10. 

Mid-Lothian,  description  of  the  cattle  of, 
145. 

Milch-cow,  the  cottar's, interesting  descrip- 
tion of  the,  112. 

Milk,  the  average  quantity  of,  yielded  by 
the  Yorkshire  cow,  245. 

Milk  fever,  its  nature  and  treatment,  546. 

Milk  fever,  the  importance  of  purffing  in, 
548,550.  P    S    g     . 

Milk  trade,  the,  in  London,  261. 

Milk  vein,  description  of  the,  340, 

Milk  vein,  importance  of  a  large  one,  244. 

Montgomery  cattle,  small  in  the  hill  dis- 
trict, 63. 

Montgomery  cattle,  in  the  lower  country, 
fair  milkers  and  good  feeders,  63. 

Moor-ill,  the  nature  and  treatment  of,  474. 

Morgan,  Sir  Charles,  introduced  the  short- 
horns into  Monmouthshire,  56. 

Motor  organic  nerves,  account  of  the,  335. 

Mouth,  account  of  the  bones  of  the,  314. 

Murrain,  the  nature,  symptoms,  and  treat- 
ment of,  379,  380. 

Murrain,  accounts  of  its  early  appearance 

in  Europe,  383. 
Murrain,  spreads  in  England,  386. 
Murrain.contagious  as  well  as  epideraic,388. 


596 


INDEX. 


Murrain,  experiments  on  inoculation  with 
its  virus,  38D. 

Murrain,  its  devastations  led  to  the  founda- 
tion of  veterinary  scliools,  393. 

Nairn,  description  of  the  cattle  of,  99. 
Nagore  cattle,  an  account  of,  269. 
Navel-ill,  tlie  nature  and  treatment  of,  5.57. 
Neck  of  cattle,  description  of,  332,  338, 

340,  343,  345. 
Neck  of  cattle,  comparison  between  it  and 

that  of  the  horse,  343. 
Nerves  of  the  leg-,  cuts  of,  305. 
Net  or  knot,  the  nature  and  treatment  of,* 

4S9. 
Neurotomy  might  be  practised  on  cattle, 

303. 
Neurotomy,  the  probable  advantage  of  it 

in  foul  in  the  foot,  568. 
Neurotomy,  description  ofthe  operation,304. 
Neurotomy,  cuts  illustrative  of,  305. 
Nitre,  its  value  in  cattle  practice,  586. 
Nitrous  etlicr,  spirit  of  it,  when  useful,  585. 
Norfolk,  the  native  cattle  of,  171. 
Norfolk  polled  cattle,  their  origin,  ib. 
Norfolk  Galloway  Scots,  principally  grazed 

there,  172. 
Norfolk,   its    supply  of  fat   cattle  for  the 

Smithfield  market,  258. 
Northamptonshire,  breeds  of  cattle  in,  209. 
Northamptonshire,  its  supply  of  fat  cattle 

for  the  Smithfield  market,  ib. 
North   Uist,  the  island  of,  comparison  of 

breeding  and  grazing  there,  70. 
Nose,  bleeding  from  the,  311. 
Nose,  leeches  in  the,  ib. 
Nose,  polypus  in  the,  ib. 
Nose,  its  membrane,  inflammation  of,  312. 

CEsoPHAGEAN  Canal,  cuts  of  it,  423,  424. 
(Esophagus,  the  structure  of,  414,  426. 
Oesophagus,  obstruction  in  the,  treatment 

of,  415. 
CEsophagus,  the   manner   of  opening   in 

choking,  420. 
ffisophagus,  rupture  of  the,  421. 
ffisophagus,  stricture  ofthe,  ib. 
(Estrus  bovis,  the  history  of  its  several 

states,  574. 
Opened  joints,  the  treatment  of,  561. 
Ophthalmia,  its  nature  and  treatment,  292. 
Opium,    the  best  anodyne,  antispasmodic 

and  astringent,  585. 
Orkney    Islands,  the  cattle    of,  and  tlieir 

treatment,  86. 
Ox,  zoological  description  of,  2. 
Ox,  the  degree  of  intelligence  which  he 


Ox,  British,  early  history  of,  ib. 
Ox,  African,  docility  of,  4,  5. 
Oxfordshire,  description  of  the  cattle  of, 
214. 

Pad  on  the  upper  jaw,  description  and  use 

ofthe,  317. 
Palsy,  causes  and  treatment  of,  301,  303. 
Pancreas,   the    structure,    functions,    and 

diseases  of,  466. 


Pantas,  the  nature  and  treatment  of,  474. 

Papillas  ofthe  rumen,  description  of  them, 
and  of  their  uses,  430. 

Paps  in  the  mouth,  treatment  of,  337. 

Parotid  glands,  inflammation  ofthe,  symp- 
toms and  treatment  of,  335. 

Parturition. — See  Calving. 

Paunch. — See  Rumen. 

Pembrokeshire  cattle,  description  of,  48. 

Pericardium,  inflammation  ofthe,  350. 

Pericardium,  the,  often  penetrated  by  sharp 
substances  that  have  been  taken  into 
the  rumen,  ib. 

Perthshire,  an  account  ofthe  various  breeds 
of  cattle  in,  118. 

Pharyno-itcs,  the  symptoms  and  treatment 
of,  3J4,  395. 

Pharynx,  description  of  the,  337. 

Pharynx,  inflammation  of  the,  394,  395. 

Pharynx,  the  mode  of  puncturing  it  in  ab- 
scess situated  there,  396. 

Phrenzy,  symptoms  and  treatment  of,  296. 

Phthisis. — See  Consumption. 

Placenta,  the  retention  of  it,  in  abortion, 
532. 

Placenta,  the,  should  be  discharged  soon 
after  calving,  545. 

Placenta,  method  of  separating  it  from  the 
womb,  ib. 

Pleurisy,  its  symptoms  and  treatment,  405. 

Pleurisy,  chronic,  symptoms  and  treatment 
of,  407. 

Pleuro-pneumonia,  interesting  account  of 
it,  ib. 

Pneumonia,  the  symptoms  and  treatment 
of,  400. 

Pneumonia,  acute  and  ep'idemic,  401. 

Points  of  cattle,  a  description  of  the  prin- 
cipal, 12. 

Poisons,  a  list  ofthe  various,  and  the  mode 
of  treating  them,  445. 

Polled  cattle,  an  account  ofthe,  154. 

Polled  and  horned  cattle,  a  comparison  be- 
tween them,  283. 

Polypus  in  the  nose,  on,  311. 

Poultices,  when  useful,  586. 

Probang,  the  use  of,  in  hoove,  recom- 
mended, 442. 

Pregnancy,  the  usual  period  of,  527. 

Pregnancy,  symptoms  of,  533. 

Presentation,  natural,  the  management  o£, 
534. 

Presentation,  unnatural,  do.,  536. 

Puck,  the  disease  so  called,  362. 

Puncturing  the  rumen  in  hoove,  objec- 
tions to,  441. 

Puerperal  fever. — See  Milk  Fever. 

Pulse,  cause  ofthe,  353. 

Pulse,  importance  of  attention  to  the,  ib. 

Purgatives,  the  usual  beastly  method  of 
administering  them,  330. 

Purging  cattle,  the  occasional  difficulty  of, 
accounted  for,  431,  496. 

Purging  cattle,  the  method  of  proceeding 
when  this  occurs,  ib. 

Quarters,  importance  of  their  being  long 
and  full,  15. 


INDEX. 


597 


Quarter-evil,  its  nature  and  treatment,  356. 
Quarter-evil,   a    peculiar  kind   of,  iu   the 

North  Riding  of  Yorksiiirc,  3G2. 
Queen    of  Scots,    Mr.    Mure's    beautiful 

heifer,  a  description  of  her,  166. 

Rabies,  the  causes  and  symptoms  of,  306. 

Radnorshire  cattle,  much  crossed  with  the 
Hereford^,  and  a  valuable  breed,  58. 

Rectum,  description  of  the,  467,  470. 

Rectum,  the  treatment  of  inversion  of,  494. 

Red-water,  the  nature  and  causes  of,  504. 

Red-water  has  more  to  do  with  the  diges- 
tive organs  and  the  food  than  any  other 
cause,  505. 

Red-water  is  most  frequent  in  low  marshy 
woody  countries,  ib. 

Red-water,  acute,  the  nature  and  treatment 
of,  506,  507. 

Red-water,  tlie  importance  of  bleeding  and 
purging  in,  ib.,  510. 

Red-water,  clironic,  the  nature  and  treat- 
ment of,  508,  509. 

Red-water,  the  prize  essays  on  it  in  the 
'  Quarterly  Journal  of  Agriculture,'  511. 

Renfrewshire,  the  old  breed  there  super- 
seded by  the  Ayrshire,  125. 

Reticulum,  the  interior  construction  of  it, 
4-24,  426,  427. 

Reticulum,  the  action  of  it  in  the  return  of 
the  food  to  the  stomach,  424,  430. 

Reticulum,  the  diseases  of  the,  448.   • 

Rheumatism,  the  cause  and  treatment  of, 
561. 

Rliodes,  Messrs.,  an  account  of  their  dairy, 
262,  263. 

Ribs,  the  number  and  proper  form  of,  367. 

Ribbed  home,  the  importance  of  being,  12. 

Riding  oxen  in  Mandara,  an  account  of 
the,  5,  315. 

Rings,  the,  on  the  horn,  as  indicating  the 
age,  279. 

Rings,  the,  on  the  horn,  as  indicating  the 
age,  uncertiiinty  of,  80- 

Ross,  description  of  the  cattle  in,  96,  97.' 

Ross,  the  different  crosses  of  cattle  in,  97. 

Ross,  the  cattle  generally  more  adapted  for 
grazing  than  the  dairy,  98. 

Ross,  average  produce  of  the  cows,  ib. 

Rottenness. — See  Dysentery. 

Rumen,  the,  viewed  externally,  422,  423. 

Rumen,  the,  viewed  internally,  424,  426. 

Rumen,  general  description  of  it,  425,  427. 

Rumen,  description  of  its  papillae,  and  their 
uses,  429. 

Rumen,  the  fluid  swallowed  sometimes 
enters  it,  431,  496. 

Rumen,  this  accounts  for  the  occasional 
difficulty  of  purging  cattle,  ib. 

Rumen,  an  account  of  the  diseases  of  it,  433. 

Rumen,  the  strange  substances  often  found 
in  it,  ib. 

Rumen,  calculi  in  the,  symptoms  of,  434. 

Rumen,  calculi  in,  tlie  effect  of,  435. 

Rumen,  distention  of  it  by  food,  the  symp- 
toms, and  treatment  of,  435,  436. 

Rumen,  distention  of  it  by  gas,  438. 

Rmncn,  inflammation  of  the,  436. 


Rumination,  description  of  it,  432. 
Rupture  of  the  parietes  of  the  abdomen. — 

See  Hernia. 
Rupture  of  the  bladder,  symptoms  of,  520. 
Rupture  of  the  oesophagus,  treatment  of, 

421. 
Rupture  of  the  womb,  treatment  of,  542. 
Rutlandshire  has  no  peculiar  breed,  208. 
Rye,  ergot  of,  its  use  in  parturition,  586. 

Salivary  glands,  description  of  the,  332. 

Salt,  its  use  in  food  as  a  medicine,  556. 

Sapped. — See  Constipation. 

Saplicna  vein,  the,  when  it  should  be' 
opened,  348. 

Scotch  cattle,  description  of  their  journey 
to  tlie  south,  122. 

Scott,  Sir  Robert,  first  introduced  turnips 
into  Kincardineshire,  112. 

Selkirkshire,  the  original  breed  of  cattle  in, 
153. 

Septum,  the  nasal,  why  not  perfect  in  the 
ox,  309. 

Setons,  their  occasional  use,  586. 

Shealings,  description  of  the,  72,  81. 

Shcalings,  Mr.  M'Lean's  admirable  re- 
marks on  them,  82. 

Sheep  imsbandry  compared  with  that  of 
cattle,  unanswerable  defence  of,  117. 

Sheeted  ox,  description  of  it,  28. 

Shetland  Islands,  general  description  of 
them,  84. 

Shetland  Islands,  description  of  the  cattle 
there,  85. 

Shetland  Islands,  treatment  of  the  cattle, 
ib. 

Shewt  of  blood,  its  nature  and  treatment, 
356. 

Shoe  of  the  ox,  description  of  it,  569. 

Shooting. — See  Dysentery. 

Short-horns,  the,  liistory  of,  226. 

Short-horns  supposed  to  be  originally  im- 
ported from  the  Continent,  ib. 

Short-horns,  description  of  the  old  unim- 
proved ones,  227. 

Short-horns,  the  commencement  of  their 
improvement,  ib. 

Short-horns,  the  mode  in  which  their  im- 
provement was  effected,  228. 

Short-horns,  tlieir  excellence  consists  in  a 
combination  of  qualities  before  believed 
to  be  incompatible,  226. 

Short-horns,  the  question  of  their  capacity 
for  work,  241. 

Sliort-horns,  their  early  maturity  should 
preclude  their  being  put  to  work,  ib. 

Sliort-Iiorns,  the  prevailing  colours  of,  242. 

Sliort-horned  bulls,  the  advantage  of  cross- 
ing different  breeds  with  them,  240. 

Short-horned  cow,  her  milking  qualities 
much  improved  latelj^,  246. 

Short-horned,  an  account  of  the  cross  be- 
tween  it  and  the  Kyloe,  247. 

Short-sigiited,  many  cattle  appear  to  be, 
392. 

Shoulders,  a  slanting  direction  of  them,  the 
importance  of,  14. 

Shropshire  cattle,  the  old,  225. 


598 


INDEX. 


Shropsliire  cattle,  the  cross  between  them 

and  tlic  Holdcrness,  225. 
Shropshire,  the  Ilcrefords  prevail  througli 

the  whole  of  the  county,  ih. 
Silver,  nitrate  of,  its  use  as  a  caustic,  587. 
Sinclair,  Sir  John,  the  great  improver  of 

cattle  in  Caithness,  88.- 
Skelcton  of  the  ox,  cut  of  the,  272. 
3kibo,  descrii)tion  of  the    small  breed  of 

catlle  go  called,  94. 
Skin,  the  cause  and  importance  of  its  soft 

mellow  feelingf,  570. 
Skin,  diseases  of  the,  ib. 
Skull,  cavity  of  the,  cut  of,  273. 
Skull,  fracture  of  the,  treatment  of,  293. 
Skull,  fracture  of,  almost  invariably  fatal, 

ib. 
Slinking. — See  Abortion. 
Smelling,  on  the  sense  of,  309. 
Smithfield,  the  average  number  of  cattle 

and  sheep  annually  sold  there,  256. 
Smithfield,  the  yearly  numbers  of  cattle  sold 

tiiere  from  1732  to  183U,  ib. 
Smithfield,  parts  of  the  kingdom  by  which 

it  is  supplied  at  different  periods  of  the 

year,  258. 
Smithfield,  the  mode  of  sale  there,  ib. 
Smithfield,  cruelties  practised  there,  ib. 
Snajte,  a,  in  the  gullet  of  a  cow,  the  cause 

of  hoove,  444. 
Soft  palate,  description  of  the,  337. 
Somerset,  Mid.,   description  of  the  cattle, 

28. 
Somerset,  North,  ditto,  ib. 
Somerset,  West,  ditto,  ib. 
Somerset,  principally  devoted  to  grazing, 

29. 
Sore  teats,  treatment  of,  552. 
Sore  throat,  the  symptoms  and  treatment 

of,  395. 
Speed,  the  disease  so  called,  362. 
Spinal  cord,  the  comparative  smallness  of, 

accounted  for,  287. 
Spine,  comparison  between  it  in  the  ox  and 

horse,  372. 
Spleen,  structure  and  function  of  the,  457. 
Spleen,  hemorrhage  from  the,  458. 
Sprain  in  the  leg  and  foot,  symptoms  and 

treatment  of,  564,  565. 
Staffordshire,  the  old  cattle  of,  222. 
Staffordshire,  history  of  the  improvement 

of  the  cattle,  ib. 
Staffordshire,  description    of  the    present 

long-horns,  223. 
Staffordshire,  a  cross  between  them  and  the 

Derbyshire  cattle,  224. 
Staking,  several  cases  of,  451. 
Sternum,  description  of  the,  367. 
Sternum,  the  width  of  the,  sometimes  com- 
pensates for  flatness  of  the  sides,  371. 
Stimulants,  the  propriety  of  administering, 

when  it  is  difficult  to  i)urge  cattle,  431. 
Stirlingshire,  the  general  management  of 

cattle  in,  119. 
Stomachs   of   cattle,  cuts   of  them,   422, 

423,  424,  426. 
Stomach-pump,  the  use  of  it  in  hoove  re- 
commended, ib. 


Stone  in  the  bladder,  symptoms  and  treat- 
ment of,  518. 

Stone  in  the  kidneys,  ditto  and  ditto,  516. 

Stone  in  the  ureters,  ditto  and  ditto,  51 7. 

Stone  in  the  urethra,  ditto  and  ditto,  519. 

St.  Pancras,  the  establishment  of  a  veteri- 
nary school  at,  394. 

Strangulation  of  the  intestines,  symptoms 
and  treatment  of,  489. 

Strangullion,  description  of  it,  336. 

Strathaven,  the  management  of  calves 
there,  140. 

Strathaven,  the  cruelty  sometimes  practised, 
141. 

Strathaven,  account  of  extraordinary  calves 
reared  there,  ib. 

Stricture  of  the  oesophagus,  treatment  of, 
421. 

Subcutaneous  abdominal  vein,  the  question 
when  it  should  be  bled  from,  348. 

Subcutaneous  abdominal  vein,  the  anatomy 
of  it,  349. 

Sublingual  glands,  description  of  the,  337. 

Submaxillary  vein,  description  of  the,  335. 

Submaxillary  artery,  ditto,  ib. 

Suffolk  cattle,  were  originally  duns,  174. 

Suffolk  cattle,  description  of  the,  ib. 

Suffolk  cattle,  milking  properties  of,  175. 

Suffolk  cattle,  the  bull  cast  off  far  too  early, 
177. 

Sulphur,  an  excellent  purgative  and  altera- 
tive, 587. 

Summerings  of  cattle  in  Wexford,  descrip- 
tion of  them,  184. 

Surrey  has  no  distinguishing  breed,  265. 

Sussex  oxen,  description  of  the,  40. 

Sussex  oxen,  resemblance  and  difference 
between  them  and  the  Devons,  ib. 

Sussex  oxen,  ditto,  Hcrefords,  41. 

Sussex  oxen,  their  working  qualities  con- 
sidered, 42. 

Sussex  oxen,  curious  instance  of  the  speed 
of  one,  43. 

Sussex  oxen,  average  weight  of,  ib. 

Sussex  cow,  description  of  her,  44. 

Sussex  cow,  not  good  for  the  dairy,  ib. 

Sussex  cow,  extraordinary  quantity  of  milk 
and  butter  yielded  by  one,  45. 

Sussex,  a  breed  of  Idack  cattle  in,  46. 

Sussex,  West,  no  distinguishing  breed  in, 
ib. 

Sutherland,  general  description  of,  91. 

Sutherland,  decrease  of  the  breed  of  cattle 
in,  ib. 

Sutherland,  strange  increase  in  the  number 
of  sheep  in,  ib. 

Sutherland,  comparison  between  the  former 
state  of  cattle  husbandry  and  the  present 
state  of  sheep  husbandry,  92. 

Sutherland,  tile  manner  in  which  the  change 
was  effected,  93. 

Sutherland,  its  happy  effects,  ib. 

Sutherland,  description  of  the  breed  of  cat- 
tle in,  93. 

Sweetbread,  description  of  the,  375. 

Swelling  of  the  joints,  the  causes  and  treat- 
ment of,  562. 

Swiss  cattle,  illustrations  of  vanity  in,  6, 


INDEX. 


599 


Swiss  cattle,  curious  account  of,  as  con- 
nected with  consuin])tioii,  413. 

Switzerland,  the  disposition  of  cows  to  abor- 
tion at  the  setting  in  of  hoar  frost,  533. 

Tail,  descriptfSn  of  the  bones  of  the,  272. 

Tail,  should  be  level  with  the  bones  of  the 
back,  1.5. 

Tail,  description  of  it  generally,  302. 

Tail-slip,  ridiculous  notions  of  it,  301. 

Tankcrville,  Lord,  account  of  the  wild  cat- 
tle in  his  park,  8. 

Tape-worm,  an  account  of  the,  497. 

Tapping  in  drops}',  a  description  of  the 
operation,  498. 

Tar,  its  use  in  cattle  practice,  .'587. 

Taunton,  the  vale  of,  dcscrijition  of  the 
cattle  in,  27. 

Tavistock,  the  South  Devons  purest  about, 
22. 

Teeth,  the  form  and  structure  of  them,  in 
ruminants,  318. 

Teeth,  regarded  as  indicating  the  age,  ih. 

Teeth,  cuts  of  them,  at  different  ages,  319, 
&c. 

Teeth,  curious  process  of  diminution  of, 
commencing  at  three  months,  319. 

Teeth,  when  the  mouth  can  be  said  to  be 
full  of,  322. 

Teeth,  the  grinders,  the  age  imperfectly 
estimated  by,  324. 

Tempest,  Sir  H.  Vane,  first  introduced  the 
short-horns  into  Ireland,  184. 

Tom  poral  artery,  description  ol  the,  335,337. 

Temporal  bone,  description  of  the,  372,  374, 
384,315. 

Temporal  vein,  description  of  the,  335. 

l^ctanus,  symptoms  and  treatment  of,  298. 

Thighs,  they  should  be  full,  long,  and  close 
together  when  viewed  from  behind,  12, 
15. 

Tiiigh-bone,  description  of  the,  272. 

Thrush  in  the  mouth,  symptoms  and  treat- 
ment of,  331. 

Thymus  gland,  description  of  the,  365. 

Tibia,  or  leg-bone,  description  of  the,  272. 

Tipperar}',  description  of  the  cattle  in,  185. 

Tongue,  description  of  it  and  its  uses,  324. 

Tongue  of  the  horse,  reason  of  its  being 
tied  down  by  the  spur  of  the  os-hyoides, 
326. 

Tongue  of  the  ox,  reason  of  its  not  being 
tied  down,  326. 

Tongue,  method  of  distinguishing  between 
that  of  the  horse  and  ox,  373. 

Tonics,  when  admissible  in  the  treatment  of 
distemper,  486,  587. 

Torsion,  the  method  of  castration  by,  560. 

Trachea,  description  of  the,  373. 

Tracheotomy,  description  of  the  operation 
of,  374. 

Tracheotomy,  cases  in  which  it  should  be 

performed,  ib. 
Trysts,  the,  of  Inverness  and  the  north,  de- 
scription of  them,  83. 
Tumours,  bony,  about  the  eye,  manage- 
ment of,  289. 


Tumours,  bony,  about  the  eye,  an  advan- 
tageous way  of  firing,  289. 

Turnhill  cattle,  description  of  the,  252. 

Turnips,  history  of  the  first  introduction  of 
them  into  tlie  Mearns,  112. 

Turnips  introduced  into  Berwickshire  in 
1755,  150. 

Turpentine,  liquid,  its  uses  as  a  digestive 
and  a  diuretic,  587. 

Turpentine,  oil  of,  its  medicinal  use,  587. 

Turpentine,  oil  of,  might  possibly  destroy 
the  worms  in  the  bronchial  tubes,  399. 

Typhus  lever,  nature  of  the,  363. 

Typluis  fever  frequently  follows  inflamma- 
tory fever,  364. 

Typhus  fever,  symptoms  of,  ih. 

Typjius  fever,  treatment  of,  365. 

Typhus  fever,  the  kind  of  cattle  most  sub- 
ject to  it,  ib. 

Typhus  fever,  prevention  of,  ib. 

Tyree,  the  island  of,  comparison  between 
the  profits  of  breeding  and  grazing  there, 
70. 

Two[)enn3%  Mr.  Bakewell's  bull,  account 
of,  193. 

Udder,  description  of  the,  245. 

Ulcers,  foetid,  use  of  chloride  of  lime  for, 
361. 

University  of  London,  the  establishment  of 
a  veterinary  school  at  the,  394. 

Upper  jaw-bone,  description  of  the,  272, 
309,  314. 

Ureters,  description  of  the,  515, 

Ureters,  larger  than  in  the  horse,  ih. 

Ureters,  stone  in  the,  symptoms  and  treat- 
ment of,  517. 

Urethra,  description  of  its  curve,  ib. 

Urethra,  stone  in  the,  symptoms  and  treat- 
ment of,  519. 

Urinar;^  calculi,  symptoms  of  their  pre- 
sence, 516,  517. 

Urinary  calculi,  composition  of,  516. 

Urus,  account  of  the  ancient,  3. 

Vanity,  illustrations  of,  in  cattle,  6. 
Veins,  the  largeness  of,  in  the  ox,  compared 

with  the  arteries,  374. 
Veins,  description  of  the,  366. 
Veins,  varicose,  the  nature  and  treatment 

of,t6. 
Verdigris,  its  use  in  cattle  practice,  584. 
Vertebrse  of  the  spine,  description  of,  272. 
Veterinary  schools,  their  origin,  2,  393. 
Veterinary  schools,  their  establishment  put 

an  end  to  the  epidemics  which  devastated 

Europe,  393. 
Veterinary  schools,  establishment  of  that 

at  Edinburgh,  394. 
Veterinary  schools,  establishment  of  that 

at  St.  Pancras,  ib. 
Veterinary  sciiools,  establishment  of  that 

at  the  University  of  London,  ib. 
Vinegar,  of  little  use  in  cuttle  practice,  588. 
Virgil,  his  beautiful  description  of  the  mur- 
rain, 381. 
Vitriol,  white,  the  use  of,  588. 


600 


INDEX. 


, '  Voice  of  Humanity,'  the,  recommended, 

259. 
Vomiting,  how  far  it  may  be  produced,  456. 
Vomiting-,    true,   rare    and    attended  vvilli 

danger,  ih. 
Vomiting,  a  case  of,  457. 

Waistell,  Mr.,  the  original  proprietor  of 
Hubbucii,  22'J. 

Waistell,  Mr.,  account  of  his  fat  four-year- 
old  ox,  235. 

Waller,    Messrs.,    the    first    improvers    of 
Irish  cattle,  182. 

Warbles,  how  produced,  574. 

Warbles,  history  of  the  fly  and  its  several 
states,  ib. 

Warts,  their  nature  and  treatment,  576. 

Warwickshire,  the  cattle  of,  220. 

Warwickshire,  the  long-horns  still  preva- 
lent there,  ib. 

Water  in  the  head,  symptoms  and  treat- 
ment of,  295. 

Water-drop-wort,  the  treatment  of  poison- 
ing by,  446. 

Webster,  Mr.,  of  Canley,  an  improver  of 
the  long-horns,  190,  220. 

Wilby,  a  farrier,  stands  first  among    the 
improvers  of  the  long-horns,  190. 

Welsh  cattle,  the,  were  some  of  them  white 
with  red  ears,  48. 

Western  counties,  their  supply  of  fat  cattle 
for  the  Smithfield  market,  258. 

West  Highland  cattle,  the  points  in  ivhich 
they  arc  valuable,  67. 

West  Highland  cattle,  the  secret  of  profit- 
ably breeding  and  grazing  them,  79. 

West  Lothian,  description  of  the  cattle,  144. 

West  Lothian,  management  of  them,  ib. 

Westmorland  cattle,  account  of  the,  200. 

Wexford,  management  of  cattle  in,  184. 

Wicklow,  description  of  cattle  in,  34,  185. 

Wight,  Isle  of,  description  of  the  cattle,  215. 

Wild  cattle,  account  of,  7. 

Willowbank,  account  of  the  dairy  at,  141. 

Willoughby,  Sir   C,  first   introduced    the 
short-horns  into  Oxfordshire,  219. 

Wiltshire,  North,  description  of  the  cattle 
there,  215. 

Wiltshire,  North,  until  lately  occupied  by 
the  long-horns,  217. 

Wiltshire,    North,    value    of   the    present 
cross-breed,  ib, 

Wiltshire,  North,  method  of  rearing  in, 
217. 

Wiltshire,   North,    cheese    equal    to    the 
Gloucester,  218. 

Wiltshire,  South,  description  of  the  cattle 
of,  ib. 

Wind-pipe,  description  of  the,  373. 

Wintering  grounds  of  Dumbartonshire,  de- 
scription of,  122. 


Withers,  hollowncss  behind  Ihcm,  disad- 
vantage of,  15. 

Womb,  inversion  of  the,  treatment  of,  541. 

Womb,  rupture  of  the,  ditto,  542. 

Wood-evil,  nature  and  treatment  of,  474. 

Worcestershire,  description  of  the  cattle  of, 
22J. 

Worcestershire  contains  some  of  the  best 
Herefords,  ib. 

Worcestershire,  the  Herefords  and  Dur- 
hams  struggling  for  superiority  on  the 
grazing  lands,  ib. 

Worms  in  the  frontal  sinuses  of  cattle,  27G. 

Worms  in  the  eye,  treatment  of,  293. 

Worms,  an  account  of  the  various  intesti- 
nal ones,  496. 

Wortley  farmers'  club,  an  account  of  the, 
251. 

Wounds  of  the  eye,  management  of,  289. 

Yellows,  the  (see  Jaundice,)  462. 
Yew,  the  treatment  of  poisoning  by,  446. 
Yew,  eaten  with  impunity  by  the  cattle  in 

Hanover  and  Hesse,  447. 
Yew  mixed  with  other  food  may  be  eaten 

without  danger,  ib. 
Yorkshire  cow,  tlie  history  of  the  establish- 
ment of  the  present  one,  243. 
Yorkshire  cow,  description  of  her,  244. 
Yorkshire  cow,  average  quantity  of  milk 

yielded  by  her,  245,  261. 
Yorkshire  cow,  the  question  of  the  average 

quantity  of  butter,  245. 
Yorkshire,  East  Riding,  an  account  of  the 

cattle  of;  251. 
Yorkshire,  North  Riding,  description  of  the 

cattle  of,  248. 
Yorkshire,  North  Riding,  the  native  cattle 

of,  were  long-horns,  ib. 
Yorkshire,  North  Riding,  account  of  the 

first  Holderness  established  there,  ib. 
Yorkshire,  North   Riding,  history  of  their 

improvement,  ib. 
Yorkshire,  North  Riding,  general  manage- 
ment of,  249. 
Yorkshire,  North  Riding,  the  cows  princi. 

pally  supply  the  metropolitan  dairies,  ib. 
Yorkshire,  West  Riding,  description  of  the 

cattle  of,  250. 
Yorkshire,  West  Riding,  the  prevalence  of 

the  half  horns  accounted  for,  ib. 
Young  calves,  the  danger  of  taking  them 

too  soon  from  their  dams,  310. 

Zinc,  the  preparations  of  it  which  are  used 

medicinally,  338. 
Zygomatic  arch,  the  peculiar  construction 

of  it  in  the  ox,  277. 
Zygomaticus   muscle,  description    of  the, 

338. 


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